MEMOIR OF DB WEIGHT. 77 



reason to apprehend ;i serious deficiency in his friend's 



resources ; but his fears were ultimately disappointed 

 by the exemplary good faith of the party. The, only 

 point of difference between them, consisted in a race of 

 disinterestedness and liberality. By the debtor's mode 

 of accounting, a considerable arrear of interest arose 

 to l)r Wright, while, by his own calculation, the 

 whole debt was extinguished. The point at issue, in 

 this friendly dispute, was finally adjusted by the pur- 

 chase of an equivalent, in the form of a piece of plate, 

 which was marked with an inscription, to commemo- 

 rate the sense which was entertained of Dr Wright's 

 disinterestedness, and of the mutual respect which the 

 parties preserved for each other. 



The literary distinctions conferred on Dr Wright 

 in the year 1788 were his election as Fellow of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, and his admission as a 

 member of the Society of Natural History and the 

 Royal Physical Society of that city. 



In the year 1789 Dr Wright found the studies of 

 his nephew so far advanced as to qualify him for a very 

 interesting appointment of a temporary nature. Mi- 

 Stanley, a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, proposed 

 to follow the footsteps of that distinguished naturalist, 

 in exploring the volcanic territories of Iceland, and in 

 examining the phenomena attending the boiling and ex- 

 ploding springs, for which that island is so remarkable. 

 Mr STANLEY was to be attended by a number of 

 scientific individuals; and Dr Wright had sufficient 

 influence to get his nephew attached to the expedi- 

 tion, in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist, an ap- 



