In sending you the MS. I rely upon you not to let the authorship be known to anyone without first asking me, because, although I have published poetry already,[36] it has been anonymous, and I do not want it to be known that I have this propensity. And on this account, if these verses were to appear in the biography, it would require to be without my name, or headed in some such way as 'Memorial verses by a friend.' In this case I should modify any of the lines which might lead to the author being spotted. Should you decide against admitting them, I do not think that I should publish them anywhere else, because where such a personality is concerned, independent publication (without the occasion furnished by the appearance of a biography) might seem presumptuous even on the part of an anonymous writer. Yesterday I received a letter from the Frenchman who translated my book on 'Mental Evolution,' asking me to let him know whether he might apply for the translation of the biography. His name is De Varigny, and he does some original work in vertebrate 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? FOOTNOTES: [24] He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1879. [25] The Brit. Assoc. Lecture, 1878. [26] The present Master of Balliol. [27] Now Lord Kelvin. [28] His book entitled 'Jelly-Fish, Star-Fish, and Sea Urchins,' gives a full account of Mr. Romanes' researches on these primitive nervous systems. [29] Diagram for a lecture on 'Mental Evolution.' [30] See _Nature_, vol. xxi. p. 207. [31] Mr. Romanes used to describe with much amusement the ludicrous nature of the experiment as seen by passers-by. He drove in a cab well into the country, released the cats, and mounted the roof of the cab in order to get a good view of the cats speeding away in different directions. [32] A letter written at the end of April 1881. [33] International Medical Congress. [34] See 'Life &c. of C. Darwin,' vol. iii. p. 210. [35] _Charles Darwin_: a memorial poem. [36] A few stray poems in magazines. CHAPTER III 1881-1890 LONDON--GEANIES 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.