Notice of British Naturalists. 'l53 



In 1769, he published a volume on British fishes ; and in the 

 same year he began a work on Indian Zoology, which however, 

 proceeded only to twelve plates, and was afterwards republished 

 in Saxony. Of this he observes: — "my mind was always in a 

 progressive state ; it could never stagnate ; this carried me fur- 

 ther than the limits of my own Islands ; and made me desirous 

 of forming a zoology of some distant country, with which I might 

 relieve my pen by the pleasure and variety of the subjects." In 

 1770, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Dron- 

 theim. In 1771, the honorary degree of doctor of law, was con- 

 ferred upon him by the University of Oxford. About this period, 

 he married a second wife ; the fortwne he now possessed, allowed 

 him to indulge his natural taste for hospitality ; and being thus 

 comfortably settled, he entirely lost, as he informs us, his desire 

 of ^rambling. In 1785, appeared his great work on the " Arctie 

 Zoology ; which was shortly after translated both into German 

 and French. He was now elected a member of the American 

 Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, an attention which was 

 peculiarly gratifymg to him ; and he observes on the occasion, 

 that " there science of every kind began to flourish, and among 

 others of natural history." 



From this time he continued to print other occasional works ; 

 among them a pamphlet entitled, ' American Annals ; an incite- 

 9nent to Parliament men to inquire into the conduct of the com- 

 manders in the Avnerican war ;' and he was now much engaged 

 in his duties as a magistrate and a landlord. His health continu- 

 ed good till within two years of his death, when, in 1798, he 

 quietly sank into the grave at the age of seventy-two. In person 

 he was rathej" above the middle height, well proportioned, and 

 somewhat inclined, in the latter part of his life, to corpulency. 

 His complexion -was fair ; and his countenance peculiarly open 

 and benignant. 



While many may stand higher in general estimation for their 

 genius and abilities, few surpass Pennant in his unceasing indus- 

 try and his continual endeavors to be useful to his fellow men. 

 Mild and amiable in temper he avoided politics as far as he could, 

 in an age peculiarly subject to political excitement ; and this, re- 

 fined a disposition originally tender and gracious. He fulfilled 

 his domestic duties in a manner truly exemplary ; and his writings 

 abound in passages which prove that he never forgot his con- 



Vol. XXXVII, No. 1.— July, 1839, bis. 20 



