390 SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 



II. 



THE very imperfect manner in which the attempts to write 

 Sir Joseph Banks's Life have been made we have already 

 had occasion to remark, as well as the errors which have 

 been introduced into the accounts hitherto given of that 

 eminent person. There is but too much reason to fear that 

 this work ill supplies the defect in our scientific history, 

 owing, among other things, to his having strictly ordered all 

 his letters and other manuscripts to be destroyed. But errors 

 have been corrected, and it is hoped that some important 

 particulars have been given. 



Among the accounts hitherto offered to the world those of 

 the French writers are beyond all comparison the most 

 erroneous and indeed fanciful. The l Biographic Universelle ' 

 may be cited as peculiarly abounding in such inventions. 

 The statement that Sir Joseph allowed Dr. Solander a salary 

 or pension of 400/. a-year I believe to be wholly groundless : 

 the sum would have been preposterous, especially considering 

 that the Doctor enjoyed a considerable place in the British 

 Museum. The institution of the Copley Medal is said to be 

 for " the experiments the most useful to the preservation of 

 lives," whereas it is for the "best paper on experimental 

 philosophy in the year." The group called the " Society 

 Islands" is said to derive its name from the "caractere doux 

 et sociable des habitans," and Otaheite is said to be the chief. 

 Now Otaheite is 150 miles distant, and belongs to the 

 Friendly Islands ; and Cook tells us himself that he named 

 the others Society Islands, six in number, " on account of 

 their being contiguous to each other." 



