34 MEMOIR OP PALLAS. 



With what we have designated a Monograph of 

 Antelopes. Here the general description is some- 

 what altered, and sixteen species are enumerated; 

 and to the minute account of the Grim, that of the 

 Cervicapra is added ; the second fasciculus contains 

 the Apis j^thiopicus and the coney or cavia, both 

 of which are somewhat further illustrated ; the third 

 is wholly occupied with bats, and another new 

 species is added, the Cephalotes of Geoffrey; and 

 the last treats of the crane before mentioned, and 

 the crested and mitred guinea-fowls of Africa. 



But the work, together with Pallas's residence in 

 Berlin, were brought to a sudden close, by his being 

 invited by the Empress Catherine II. to accept of 

 the professorship of natural history in the Imperial 

 Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg ; and although 

 in this instance his father and other relatives again 

 refused their assent, yet his own ardent zeal for his 

 favourite science induced him, without a moment's 

 hesitation, to accede to the invitation, and to hasten 

 his departure for a country where his curiosity was 

 so likely to be amply gratified. He accordingly 

 quitted his native land in June 17^7, and arrived 

 in Petersburg on the 10th of August. 



His stay, however, was likewise very short in 

 this capital, as his services were almost immediately 

 put in requisition in connexion with an important 

 and extended scientific expedition. The reigning 

 Empress was excited to promote this measure by a 

 somewhat curious circumstance. At the time of 

 the transit of Yenus over the suns disk in 1763, the 



