James Smithson 15 



Wollaston, Young, and Davy, saying that "he was distin- 

 guished by the intimate friendship of Mr. Cavendish, and 

 rivaled our most expert chemists in elegant analyses " ; while 

 at the annual meeting of the Royal Society held on Novem- 

 ber 30, 1830, the President, Da vies Gilbert, after referring to 

 other members recently deceased, said : 



" The only remaining individual who has taken a direct 

 and active part in our labours, by contributing to the ' Trans- 

 actions,' is Mr. James Lewis Smithson, and of this gentleman 

 I must be allowed to speak with affection. We were at 

 Oxford together, of the same college, and our acquaintance 

 continued to the time of his decease. 



" Mr. Smithson, then called Macie, and an undergraduate, 

 had the reputation of excelling all other resident members of 

 the University in the knowledge of chemistry. He was early 

 honored by an intimate acquaintance with Mr. Cavendish ; he 

 was admitted to the Royal Society, and soon after presented 

 a paper on the very curious concretion frequently found in the 

 hollow of bambu canes, named Tabasheer. This he found to 

 consist almost entirely of silex, existing in a manner similar 

 to what Davy long afterwards discovered in the epidermis of 

 reeds and grasses. 



*' He was the friend of Dr. Wollaston, and at the same 

 time his rival in the manipulation and analysis of small n'-o n - 

 tities. 'Aya6ij 8 s Iptc rfie ppotota'.. 



" For many years past Mr. Smithson has resided abroad, 

 principally, I believe, on account of his health ; but he carried 

 with him the esteem and regard of various private friends, 

 and of a still larger number of persons who appreciated and 

 admired his acquirements." 



His writings exhibit clearness of perception, terseness of 

 language, and accuracy of expression. He was an intimate 

 friend of Cavendish, and later of Arago ; he was a corre- 

 spondent of Black, of Banks, of Thomson, and of most of the 



