1787 Sir William Watson; Professor Pictet 179 



at the age of 72. The knighthood bestowed upon him in 

 1786 was a tardy recognition of his distinction as a physician 

 and of the remarkable gentleness, courtesy and kindliness 

 which endeared him to so wide a circle of friends. Dr. 

 Pulteney has preserved a typical example of his calm and 

 sympathetic nature. " Not many years before his death 

 he was waked one morning very early by his servant, who 

 came to inform him that his house had been broken open, 

 and that his plate (which was of considerable value) was 

 stolen. ' Is that all/ said he, coolly ' I was afraid you 



had brought me some alarming message from Mr. 



concerning whose dangerous situation I have been very 

 uneasy all night/ " 1 



The foreign guests this year though not numerous were 

 of some eminence. The " M. Buchetti," invited by Joseph 

 Planta on May 24th, may have been the Italian Jesuit 

 and man of letters who made translations of Moschus, 

 Bion and Theocritus. He travelled far and wide through 

 Europe and died at Venice in October 1804. Professor 

 Pictet, the guest of Mr. Aubert on May 3ist, was probably 

 the young friend and companion of De Saussure whom he 

 succeeded in the chair of philosophy at Geneva, a position 

 which he retained till his death in 1825. When, after its 

 incorporation into France, Geneva regained its independence 

 as a part of Switzerland, and scientific studies could be 

 resumed, Pictet devoted himself more especially to the 

 pursuit of meteorology and actively promoted the establish- 

 ment of meteorological stations on some of the mountain 

 tops of his native country. He was elected into the Royal 

 Society in 1791. He published in 1793 an account of his 

 tour of three months through England, Scotland and Ire- 

 land. He deserves to be remembered as the founder of 

 the periodical publication the Bibliotheqite Universelle. 



M. Tenon, introduced by Sir Joseph Banks, together with 

 M. Colomb on 7th June, was a distinguished French surgeon. 

 Commissioned by the Academic des Sciences to visit England 



1 Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Progress of Botany in Eng- 

 land, vol. I. 



