38 LIFE OF 



the Royal Society. I have had a correspondence with him upon 

 the subject ; and I see that the erroneous conclusions- which 

 have been drawn relative to the influence of common electricity 

 upon plants, have made a strong impression upon his mind. 



" Relative to climate : the public attention is at the present 

 moment pointedly directed to the important fact of the disper- 

 sion of the enormous collection of ice in the North, to which 

 Sir Joseph Banks, and probably almost every philosopher, who 

 has directed his attention to the subject, has attributed an inti- 

 mate connexion with our cold weather in the spring ; and con- 

 sequently this is the precise moment in which an amelioration 

 of our spring weather from these causes is anticipated ; therefore 

 it is a bad moment for a paper, attributing the change in our 

 climate to local causes, to appear before the Royal Society. 



" France, you know, has made very little good wine for 

 several years, yet no change of culture has taken place in 

 France likely to influence the temperature of its climate within 

 the last seventy years ; and the fact that Europe has grown 

 milder by the destruction of its forests, appears to be universally 

 admitted. I, however, make these remarks merely for your 

 consideration, and am ready to act just as you wish me to do. 



" Mrs. Knight and my daughters beg to be kindly remembered 

 to Mrs. Williams and family. 



" Yours sincerely." 



To ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS. 



"May 2, 1826. 

 "MY DEAREST F , 



" Our meeting passed off as usual yesterday, and the apparent 

 feeling of the members was so friendly that I could almost call 

 it affectionate. I said a few words to them respecting the mag- 

 nitude and increased importance of the Society, and suggested 

 the consideration whether the office of president ought not to 

 be held by a person of higher rank and consequence than myself, 

 and requested that whenever it appeared to them that a bene- 



