264 BRITISH BIRDS. 



have been hurt at Pennant's making full use of the 

 material contained in White's letters for his second and 

 subsequent editions of the " British Zoology," without 

 due acknowledgment ;* and Pennant makes no mention 

 of the Selborne naturalist in his " Literary Life." 

 " Little did he anticipate," says Professor Bell, .... 

 " that his correspondent would be commemorated with 

 ever-increasing admiration and esteem, while his own 

 more pretentious book is only regarded of value because, 

 at the time of its publication, it filled a gap in British 

 Natural Science, and contained some matter of import- 

 ance, the best of which was really not his own." 



It was, however, probably to Pennant that White owed 

 his first introduction to Daines Barrington, his other 

 correspondent ; and to whom the remaining sixty-six 

 letters of the " Natural History of Selborne " were 

 addressed. Writing to Pennant in 1768, White says, 

 " I have received from your friend Mr. Barrington one 

 of the naturalist's journals, which I shall endeavour to 

 fill up in the course of the year." 



In 1766 Pennant made the acquaintance of another 

 very eminent man, Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), the 

 zoologist, and companion of Cook in his circumnavigation 

 of the globe. The commencement of Pennant's friendship 

 with Sir Joseph Banks was signalised by a gift from the 

 latter of a copy of Turner's " Avium Historia," a book 

 which even at that time was described as scarce. From 

 Sir Joseph Banks, Pennant received much kindness and 

 help, notably in the case of his " Arctic Zoology," 

 pubhshed in 1785 (three volumes and supplement, 4to), 

 which, although mainly a compilation, proved to be 

 by far the most valuable of Pennant's zoological works, 

 and which was translated into German, French, and 

 Swedish. Of Pennant's contributions to natural history 

 there is but little to be said ; they derived their great 



* But such acknowledgment was rare at that time, and Pennant 

 does refer to the help he received from White, p. xiii., preface, and 

 p. 498, appendix to the 1768 edition of the " British Zoology." 



