90 THE LIFE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS 



level of such productions, in the absence of useless sneer 

 at matters which differed from the ways and customs of 

 his own land. He was made a welcome guest in Soho 

 Square ; and the fact that he dined with The Club one 

 evening exemplifies the hospitality and the ready accept- 

 ance which were held out by Banks and his friends to 

 European strangers of worth. 



Banks 's house was the " rendezvous of those who 

 cultivate the sciences. They assemble every morning in 

 one of the apartments of a numerous library, which con- 

 sists entirely of books on Natural History, and is the com- 

 pletest of its kind in existence. There all the journals 

 and public papers, relative to the sciences, are to be 

 found ; and there they communicate to each other such 

 new discoveries, as they are informed of by their re- 

 spective correspondents, or which are transmitted by the 

 learned foreigners who visit London, and who are all 

 admitted into this society. A friendly breakfast of tea 

 or coffee supports that tone of ease and fraternity which 

 ought universally to prevail among men of Science and 

 letters." 



Our traveller places on record the services specially 

 rendered by Sir Joseph to the science of Botany : " he 

 has become the guardian of several herbals executed by 

 naturalists of great reputation. Had it not been for the 

 attention and the fortune of Sir Joseph Banks, these col- 

 lections would have been dispersed in distant quarters ; 

 or, perhaps, lost by the negligence of heirs. Whereas, 

 united as they now are in one repository, they are easily 

 accessible to such as incline to consult them." What at- 

 tracted him most of all, as being more in his own depart- 

 ment, was the show of mineral products. Banks allowed 

 him to select a few items : mostly varieties of Iceland 

 spar, which he presently gave to the Paris Museum of 

 Natural History. 



The reception of Faujas at a dinner of the Royal Society 



