394. Obituary :—Sir J. E. Smith. 



his Thesis De Generatione. The " Sketch of a Tour on the Con- 

 tinent," though long superseded as a companion to the tourist, is still 

 curious to the naturalist, as showing the state of science at that time. 

 It contains, too, a fund of good sense expressed with facility ; and to 

 those who enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of the author, will 

 always remain valuable, as furnishing the truest image of his mind, 

 reviving his liberal opinions in their recollection, and his easy and 

 elegant manner of communicating them. 



In the year 1788, when he had returned and was settled in London, 

 he with some other naturalists projected the establishment of the 

 Linnsean Society, which had for its object the cultivation of Natural 

 History in all its branches, and especially that of Great Britain. This 

 Society, which has grown now into considerable importance, was a 

 scion of the Royal Society, and had its origin in the jealousy which 

 some of the members of the parent Society entertained of the pre- 

 ference which they alleged was given to Natural History in their 

 Transactions ; while its then President was thought to favour the sub- 

 ject, to the exclusion of others of equal, if not of greater importance. 

 There are still some who recollect the argumentative and vehement 

 eloquence by which this side of the question was supported by a re- 

 verend Prelate. 



It was during this stormy period that Sir James Smith, in conjunc- 

 tion with the late Bishop of Carlisle, Sir Joseph Banks, and others, 

 laid the foundation-stone of the Linnsean Society. Its first meeting- 

 was held April 8, 1788. The Society then consisted of fifty Fellows, 

 and about twice as many more Foreign Members, Dr. Smith being 

 the first President, Dr. Goodenough the first Treasurer, and Mr. 

 Marsham the first Secretary. Of these original Fellows, how few are 

 left ! and of those who are, their hoary locks, still seen oecasionally 

 at the meetings of the Society, remind us of the respect and gratitude 

 we owe to them as fathers. May their declining years derive con- 

 solation from the success of this their early project ! 



At the first Meeting, the President delivered a Discourse, judicious 

 and appropriate, On the Rise and Progress of Natural History. . We 

 find him also about this time producing a paper which was read before 

 the Royal Society, entitled Observations on the Irritability of Ve- 

 getables. It chiefly regards the mode of impregnation in the Bar- 

 berry ; and attracted considerable attention at the time, being trans- 

 lated into other languages, and appearing in different publications. 



The next considerable work which we find him undertaking, is the 

 re-publication of the wooden blocks of Rudbeck, which had fallen into 

 his hands with the Linnsean collections. Linnaeus was possessed of 

 about 120 of these blocks, which had escaped the fire at Upsal, where 

 almost the whole impression of the second volume, and all but three 

 copies of the first, were burnt. As Rudbeck was the founder of a 

 school at Upsal destined afterwards to give laws to the rest of the 

 world, the re-publication of this fragment of his great work was a 

 tribute of gratitude to his profound and varied learning. 



From 1789 to 1793, our author was engaged in various publica- 

 tions relating to his favourite science. Most of them terminated in 



being 



