8 



knowledge of Greek for consulting the early writers in that language, 

 and gave to the world, The Geographical System of Herodotus, in- 

 cluding the Expedition of Darius Hystaspes to Scythia; The Site of 

 Babylon j The Temple of Jupiter Ammon ; The Periplus of Africa, &c; 

 and A Dissertation on the Locality of Troy. 



The attention of this great investigator of everything connected 

 with the surface of our globe, extended itself from mountains and 

 plains to the waters of the ocean j and produced a most curious in- 

 vestigation of the currents prevalent in the Atlantic, and of accumu- 

 lations caused by certain winds in the English Channel. 



And lastly, I would mention a very ingenious mode of ascertain- 

 ing distances, and connecting with their bearings the actual localities 

 of spots in the Great Desert, by noting the average rate at which 

 camels travel over those worlds of sand. 



This is a very imperfect catalogue of the works published by Major 

 Rennellj and I am happy to add that several more exist in manu- 

 script, destined, we may hope, at no distant time, to appear. 



Major Rennell has been honoured by the Copley Medal from this 

 Society j by the Gold Medal from the Royal Society of Literature 5 

 he was a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France 5 and 

 a Member of various other Societies. 



Our regret for such a man, exerting his intellectual powers with 

 so much energy and to such useful purposes, throughout the course 

 of a long life, and up to his eighty-eighth year, must always be 

 strong and sincere 5 but we console ourselves with the reflection 

 that he had attained the utmost ordinary limit of human life, amidst 

 the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and that his memory 

 is revered. 



Mr. Chenevix was undoubtedly a man of considerable ability, ac- 

 quirement and industry. We have from him seven different commu- 

 nications to the Philosophical Transactions: 



An analysis of the arseniates of copper. — Observations on Dr. 

 James's powders, with a method of preparing a similar substance in 

 the humid way. — Observations and experiments upon oxygenated and 

 hyperoxygenated muriatic acid. — An analysis of corundum. — Obser- 

 vations on the chemical nature of the humours of the eye. — Inquiries 

 concerning the nature of a metallic substance, under the title of 

 Palladium. — On the action of platinum and mercury on each other. 



In the latter years of his life, which could not have reached three- 

 score, he appears to have abandoned chemistry, and to have fallen on 

 speculations wholly unworthy of being noticed from this place. 



The only remaining individual who has taken a direct active part 

 in our labours, by contributing to the Transactions, is Mr. James 

 Lewis Smithson, and of this gentleman I must be allowed to speak 

 with affection. We were at Oxford together, of the same College, 

 and our acquaintance continued to the time of his decease. 



Mr. Smithson, then called Macie, and an undergraduate, had the 

 reputation of excelling all other resident members of the University in 

 the knowledge of chemistry. He was early honoured by an intimate 

 acquaintance with Mr. Cavendish j he was admitted into the Royal 



