brate physiology. I think he has done my book very well. Yours ever sincerely, G. J. ROMANES. Can you suggest a subject for a Rede lecture which I have to give in May ? CHAPTER III LONDON GEANIES 1881-1890 ONE may now for a short space turn away from the scientific side of Mr. Romanes' life and speak a little of other aspects. No one was ever a more incessant worker and thinker. If he went away for a short visit, his writing went too; and if in Scotland wet weather interfered with shooting, he would sit down and write something, perhaps a poem, perhaps (as he once said playfully when condoled with on account of heavy rain and absence of books, 'I don't care, I'll write an essay on the freedom of the will') an article for a magazine. A great deal of reviewing, chiefly in Nature,' filled up some of his time, and he also turned his attention more and more to poetry. In the postscript of a letter written in 1878 to Mr. Darwin he says: 'I am beginning to write poetry!' and poetry interested him more and more as years went on. Of this, more later. He much enjoyed society; he ceased to mingle exclusively with scientific and philosophical people, and as time went on he became acquainted with many of the notabilities of the day. And, as has been said, it is impossible perhaps to exaggerate the outward pleasantness of those years. He was able to devote himself to his work; he had an ever-increasing number of devoted friends. both of men and women, and he was intensely happy in his home life. His children were a great and increasing interest to him, and he was an ideal father, tender, sympathetic, especially as infancy grew into childhood. He shared in all his children's interests, and lived with them on terms of absolute friendship, chaffing and being chaffed, enjoying an interchange of pet names and jokes, and yet exacting obedience and gentle manners, and never permitting them as small children to make themselves troublesome to visitors in any way, or to chatter freely at meals when guests were present. He had very strong feelings about the importance of making children familiar with the Bible. He used to say that as a mere matter of literary education everyone ought to be familiar with the Bible from beginning to end. He himself was exceedingly well versed in Holy Scripture. He also thought a good classical training very desirable for boys (and girls also), and had no very great belief in science being taught to any great extent during a boy's school career. Memory, he considered, ought to be cultivated in childhood, and he did not think that the reasoning powers ought to be much taxed in early years. He used to say that Euclid could be learnt much more easily if it were begun later in boyhood. He also much wished that foreign languages should be taught very early in life, and with little or no attention to grammar. Perhaps a few words of reminiscence from one of his children may not be unwelcome. MEMORIES.-G. J. R. I remember that when my father was particularly amused at anything, he used a certain gesture, which, according to the Life of Darwin,'' must have been precisely similar to that of Darwin, and was probably unconsciously copied by my father. He never used the gesture except when very much tickled at hearing some amusing story; when the climax of the story was reached he would burst into a peal of hearty laughter, at the same time bringing his hand heavily but noiselessly down upon his knee or on the table near him. When we were at Geanies, our greatest delight was to go out shooting with father.' We used to tramp for hours together over turnip and grass fields behind my father and the gamekeeper. We used to enjoy the expeditions so much better if our father was the only sportsman, for then we had him all to ourselves. We were very small then; our ages were ten, nine, and six respectively, but we were good walkers and we never became tired. What little sunburnt, healthy, grubby children we were to be sure! When Bango, the setter, pointed at a covey, we all had to stand quite still while our father walked forward towards the dog. Directly the covey rose I shall never forget the we all ducked' for safety. joy and pride we felt when a bird fell, and we ran 1 Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, by Francis Darwin, vol. i. p. iii. with shouts of triumph to pick it up. Then the delight of eating lunch under a hedge or in a wood! That was a time of jokes and fun, and we talked as freely and unrestrainedly as we liked about all kinds of subjects. Then came some more tramping in the turnips, and we would journey homewards, a weary but very happy little party. The counting of the game would follow, and our pride was very great when the number of brace was high, for we felt that we had been helping our father to slay the partridges. In fact, we thought that Sandy, the gamekeeper, was a very useless personage when we went out, for did we not mark as well as, or better than, he did? And surely we could carry the game bags; they were not very heavy even when they were full to bursting! There was something very beautiful in the respect and reverence which George Romanes felt for children and for child-life, and a sonnet 'To my Children' expresses these feelings : 'Of all the little ones whom I have known Ye are so much the fairest in my view- That not because ye are my very own If months bestow such purpose on the years, May not the years work out a greater plan? Vast are the heights which form this vale of tears,' L |