IT was Mr. Romanes' wish that some of his essays should be collected and republished. The following selection has been made, I trust, with due care, and serves to show the range of his thought and the versatility of his mind. Those who knew him well will doubtless still feel that the man was even greater than his works. His conversation was so suggestive, his personality so genial and loveable, that one cannot but feel how inadequate is the printed page. Except for the correction of a few obvious misprints the Essays are reprinted as they stand in the pages of the magazines and reviews from which they are by courteous permission extracted.