46 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
his communications, as fully to compensate for 
the brevity of his connection, and naturally to 
demand from the Society some tribute of respect 
to his memory. In compliance with the expressed 
wish of the Council, the following Memoir has 
been prepared. 
The lives of men devoted to the pursuit of 
knowledge rarely abound in external incident: 
their most interesting biography is furnished, 
where it is attainable, by the history of their 
minds—of the circumstances which influenced 
their views, and determined their inquiries, and 
modified the conception and execution of their 
different works. 
It is fortunate, that in a diary of reflections and 
observations, which Mr. Bowman began to keep 
at an early age, and extracts from which have 
been kindly supplied to me by his family—we 
possess some interesting data, for tracing the pro- 
gress of his studies, and the formation of his cha- 
racter, up to the period when he was able to 
devote himself entirely to science, and became 
honourably known to the world. 
He was born in 1785, at Nantwich in Cheshire, 
