ART. X. On the Structure and Characters of the Octopus ven- tricosus, Gr. (Sepia octopodia, Pent.), a rare spe- cies of Octopus from the Firth of Forth. By R. E. GRANT, M. D. F. R. S. E. &c. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Honorary XI. Meteorological Observations made in Jamaica by the late JOHN LINDSAY, Esq. Surgeon, Jamaica. Com- municated by W. C. TREVELYAN, Esq. M. W. S. &c. 317 XII. A Description of the genus Malesherbia of the Flora Peruviana; with Remarks on its Affinities. By Mr DAVID DON, Libr. L. S.; Member of the Impe- rial Academy Naturæ Curiosorum, of the Werne- XIII. Account of a Gelatinous Quartz or Siliceous Sinter, XIV. Experiments to compare the specific Heat of Air un- der a constant volume, with its specific Heat under a constant pressure. By Mr HENRY MEIKLE. Com- XV. On the Detection of Arsenic in cases of Poisoning. XVI. On a Chemical Composition of 'Zinkenite and Jame- sonite. By H. ROSE, Member of the Royal Aca- demy of Berlin. And Description and Analysis of Pyrochlore, a new Mineral. By F. WÖHLER, XVII. The Law of the Preservation of Species, illustrated by the Phenomena of the seed of the Stipa pennata. By Mr JOHN MACVICAR, Lecturer on Natural His- XVIII. Account of the Observations and Experiments made on the Diurnal Variation and Intensity of the Mag- netic Needle, by Captain Parry, Lieutenant Foster, and Lieutenant Ross, in Captain Parry's Third Voyage; with Remarks and Illustrations. By PE- TER BARLOW, F. R. S. Mem. of the Imperial Aca- demy of St Petersburgh, &c. (With a Plate.) ART. XX. On the Marine Live Cockles, said to have been found at a great distance from the Sea in York- shire. In a Letter to Professor JAMESON. By W. C. TREVELYAN, Esq. M. W. S. &c. XXI. Notice of Fresh Water found in the Sea at a great XXII. Description of Anatina villosiuscula, a new Spe- cies, and of Venerupis Nucleus, a Species new to the British Fauna. By Mr WILLIAM MAC- GILLIVRAY, M. W. S. &c. With Figures. Com- municated by the Author, XXIII. Account of the Capture of a colossal Orang-Ou- tang in the Island of Sumatra, and Description of its Appearances. By Dr CLARK ABEL, XXIV. On the Lead-Mines in the South of Spain, XXV. Letter of Professor BUCKLAND to Professor JAME- SON, and of Captain SYKES to Professor Buck- XXVI. On the growth and preparation of Straw used in XXVII. Remarks on Dr LATTA's Observations on the Arc- tic Sea and Ice. In a communication from the Rev. Mr SCORESBY to Professor JAMESON, XXVIII. On the Coniometer. In a Letter from Professor XXIX. List of Rare Plants which have Flowered in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, during the last three months; with Description of a new XXX. Celestial Phenomena from April 1. to July 1. 1827, calculated for the Meridian of Edinburgh, Mean 4. Tit-Lark caught at Sea. 5. Egyptian Antiquities in Liver- 7. Conclusions of M. Dureau de la Malle's Inquiries respecting the Ancient History, Origin, and Native Country of the Cereales, and especially Wheat (Triticum hibernum and æstivum), and Barley (Hordeum vulgare and hexastichon). 8. Instructions for Collecting and Preparing Fungi for Herbariums, and for Preserving them from the Attacks 10. New mode of applying Graphite, or Black Lead, in Draw- 1. Essay on the Theory of the Earth. By Baron GEORGE CU- VIER; with Geological Illustrations by Professor JAME- SON. Fifth edition. Translated from the last French edition, with numerous additions by the Author and 2. Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex, containing a general view of the Geological relations of the South Eastern part of England; with Figures and Descriptions of the Fos- sils of Tilgate Forest. By GIDEON MANTELL, Esq. F. R.S. THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. Historical Eloge of the late Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Baronet, President of the Royal Society. By Baron CUVIER *. THE works which the distinguished individual of whom we have now to speak has left behind him, are confined to a few pages, and these of but little importance; yet his name will shine with lustre in the history of philosophy. Impelled by an ardent love of science, in his youth, abandoning the pleasures which an independent fortune held out to him, he braved the dangers of the sea, and the rigours of the most opposite climates. During a long series of years, he made use of all the advantages which affluent circumstances, and the friendship of men in power, afforded him, for its benefit; lastly, and it forms his chief claim to our respect, he always regarded those who laboured for its advancement, as having an acquired right to his interest and assistance. During the war of the revolution, which carried its ravages into almost every part of the two continents, the name of Sir Joseph Banks was every where a palladium for those of our countrymen who devoted themselves to useful researches. If their collections were seized, it was only necessary for them to apply to him to have them returned; if their persons were detained, the time 1821. Read to the Royal Academy of Sciences of France on the 2d April OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1826. necessary for transmitting them intelligence, was the only delay which their restoration to liberty experienced. When the seas were shut up against us, they opened at his voice for our scientific expeditions. Geography and Natural History are indebted to him for the preservation of precious labours; and, without him, our public collections would still, at the present day, and perhaps for ever, have been deprived of a part of the riches which adorn them. It will, without doubt, be admitted, that the benefit accruing to science from services like these, is fully equivalent to that resulting from the authorship of books; and if, in this discourse, it is principally the acknowledgment due to noble actions that we have to express, it is not too much to augur of our hearers, that this feeling will not be less intensely participated by them, than that of admiration for great discoveries would have been. Sir Joseph Banks, Knight Baronet, Counsellor of State to the King of England, Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, President of the Royal Society of London, and Foreign Associate of the Academy of Science of the Institute of France, was born in London, in Argyle Street, on the 13th February 1743. His father's name was William Banks Hodgenkson, and his mother's Marianne Bate. Some trace the origin of his family to one Simon Banks, a Swede, who settled in Yorkshire in the time of Edward III., and who would have been the eighteenth progenitor of Sir Joseph. Others say that his family came from Sweden only a century before, and had seen but two generations in England. It appears that Sir Joseph's grandfather practised medicine in Lincolnshire, and that the success which he met with in his profession, afforded him the means of acquiring a pretty large fortune. Having risen to considerable importance in the county, he was invested, in 1736, with the office of Sheriff, and sat in one or two Parliaments as representative of the town of Peterborough. Joseph Banks, like the greater number of young Englishmen born in easy circumstances, after having been confided for some time to the care of a clergyman, was sent to a public seminary. His parents at first made choice of that of Harrow, near London, from whence they removed him to Christ's Col |
