PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 63 



Foreigners and strangers were welcome ; and although 

 suitable introductions were rigidly exacted, these helped 

 to swell the crowd of inquiring visitors. The house was 

 a vast museum ; in which books, pictures, rarities from 

 all parts of the world, and innumerable botanical speci- 

 mens, delighted the varied company, and gave magical 

 effect to Banks's frequent soirees and less formal gather- 

 ings. Over all these things Dr. Solander reigned as 

 Librarian and Curator ; while Banks 's sister, who was 

 devoted to him, had been mistress of the house. Miss 

 Banks was quite a lady of fashion at this time. 



Two years later, in March, 1781, Banks was honoured 

 by the King with a baronetcy. 



Among the crowd of persons that thronged the rooms 

 at Soho Square at this period was William Herschel. He 

 was known to a few friends as a man devoted to Science. 

 He had already contributed papers to the Philosophical 

 Transactions. The discovery of the planet which was at 

 first called Georgium Sidus, and his application to the 

 improvement of telescopes, suddenly and dramatically 

 put him into " the full blaze of fame." Herschel was of 

 a singularly modest disposition ; and his researches 

 would have been hampered through pecuniary difficulty 

 but for the generosity of his fellow-philosophers. Hornsby 

 and Maskelyne, and the other astronomers, far from dis- 

 playing jealousy, recognized Herschel' s merit and lent 

 themselves to the support of his claims for distinction. 

 Dr. William Watson, his neighbour at Bath, wrote to 

 Sir Joseph Banks enthusiastically in praise of the man 

 and of his new telescope ; and further urged that, as the 

 King had heard of him and was deeply interested in the 

 new discoveries, some appointment at Court would be 

 a suitable way of helping Herschel ; thus providing him 

 with an income which would make up for the loss of that 

 which he had earned in his musical profession. 



Thus prompted, Banks forthwith determined to use 



