262 Presidentship of Sir Joseph Banks 1819 



Greece. He began as an officer of artillery, in which capacity 

 he assisted in training a part of the Turkish army, and 

 he then took the opportunity of travelling far and wide in 

 the East. His wonderful eye for topography, combined 

 with his interest in classical geography, enabled him to 

 identify ancient sites, and to* throw so much light on the 

 Greek and Roman classics that his works form one of the 

 most valuable sources of information on the subject. 



1819. The Annual General Meeting of 1819 was held on 8th 

 July and was attended by twenty-three members, with Sir 

 Joseph Banks in the chair the last Anniversary at which 

 he appeared. The Treasurer announced that the expenses 

 since the last General Meeting amounted to m 8s. and that 

 there was a balance in his hands of 72 as. lod. The con- 

 tribution for the ensuing year was fixed at 2 from each 

 member. The increasing unwillingness of the Club to put 

 in force the regulation as to absentees was again markedly 

 evident on this occasion. There were five members who 

 had not appeared at the Club for more than twelve months, 

 one of them for more than five years. On behalf of the 

 greatest defaulter the meeting was glad to accept the state- 

 ment that " serious indisposition " accounted for his absence, 

 and no action was taken in regard to the others. Two 

 members had died in the course of the year Samuel Davies 

 and Samuel Lysons. To fill the two vacancies thus caused 

 Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Sir Alexander Johnston 

 were balloted for and elected. 



One of the resolutions passed at the previous Anniversary 

 was modified, so as to run as follows : " For the future, in 

 the absence of the President, the senior Vice-president of 

 the Royal Society, being a member of the Club, shall take 

 the chair, and in case no one of them shall be present, that 

 the Treasurer do, as usual, preside." 



It is the duty of the writer of this volume to animadvert 

 on the singularly negligent manner in which Mr. Daniel 

 Moore kept the records of the Club during his tenure of 

 the office of Treasurer. But for the pious care of one of 

 his successors, Joseph Smith, these records for more than 



