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Mental Evolution. 
[September, 
Who will not be reminded of an unfortunate attempt to ape Germany in 
matters military ? Since the date of Dr. Akin’s letters, however, matters have 
become in England much worse. Examinationism is more and more rampant, 
and is eating away the intellectual life of the nation. More and more we are 
producing crammed puppets instead of discoverers and inventors, and with a 
marvellous infatuation we seem well content with this state of things, and 
even, Heaven help us, entertain a sort of contempt for original research. Dr. 
Akin rightly holds that the mere admission of “ Science ” at University exam- 
inations, on the same footing as “ Classics ” and “ Mathematics,” will be of 
no avail. So long as honours and the more tangible prizes, such as fellowships, 
can be obtained by merely passing examinations in the researches of others, 
what the candidates are to be examined in is a matter of supreme indifference. 
But we do worse ; we formally exclude original investigation. We do not 
allow it to pass current in the land, and we close our ears to all warning voices, 
whether, like that of Dr. Akin, they come from afar, or are uttered in our midst 
like that of Dr, H. C. Sorby.— Ed. J. S.] 
II. MENTAL EVOLUTION. 
By J. Foulerton, M.D., F.G.S. 
f N a ledture recently delivered by Mr. Romanes, F.R.S., 
at the Royal Institution, on the subject of Mental 
Evolution, he said he had two objedts in view — 
first, to show how Mental Evolution, supposing it to be 
true, could be traced through all the forms of animal life, 
from the earliest appearance of irritability, as manifested by 
the diredt and immediate contraction of the simplest organic 
forms on the application of stimuli, to the highest mani- 
festations of thought as exhibited by man ; and secondly, 
knowing that these last or highest phenomena of Mind were 
not admitted by a certain school, most ably represented by 
Mr. Mivart, to be the produdt of Evolution at all, but to 
constitute an entire break in a chain of Mental Evolution 
continuous up to that point, he would endeavour to prove 
that there was in reality no such break. 
I will not stop to discuss the fadt, admitted by all, that 
Mental Evolution is true up to a certain point, and that all 
the phenomena of sensation, reflex adtion, intelligence, &c., 
common to man and the lower animals, have been so brought 
about ; nor the way in which Mr. Romanes traced this 
through the various kinds of animals, from the lowest up to 
man ; but will confine my observations solely to those mental 
phenomena manifested by the human species, which im- 
measurably transcend anything of the kind to be found in 
