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SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 



IT is rare to observe a name among the active and 

 successful promoters of science, and which yet cannot 

 easily find a place in its annals from the circumstance of 

 its not being inscribed on any work, or connected with 

 any remarkable discovery. Almost all the philosophers 

 of both ancient and modern times have left us writings in 

 which their doctrines were delivered, and the steps made 

 by their labours were recorded. The illustrious excep- 

 tion of Socrates almost ceases to be one, from the memory 

 of his opinions being preserved by two of his disciples 

 in their immortal works ; and the important discoveries 

 of Archimedes and of Pythagoras arc known distinctly 

 enough in the books of ancient geometry, to leave no 

 doubt resting upon their claims to the admiration and 

 the gratitude of all ages. The lost works of the ancient 

 geometers evidently afford no exception to the general 

 remark, since they once existed, and contained the dis- 

 coveries of their authors. 



It must, however, be observed, that the circumstance 

 of a cultivator of science having left no works to after 

 ages is merely accidental. He may have enriched philo- 

 sophy with his achievements, and yet never have recorded 

 them himself. Thus, had Black only made the great 

 discovery of latent heat and specific heat, he would have 

 been justly considered in all times as one of the greatest 

 benefactors of natural science, and yet the history of that 



