liament; and Joseph was
brought up as the son of a rich man. In 1760 he went to Oxford, where he
showed a decided taste for natural science and was the means of introducing
botanical lectures into the university. In 1764 he came into possession of
the ample fortune left by his father, and in 1766 he made his first
scientific expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing back a rich
collection of plants and insects. Shortly after his return, Captain Cook
was sent by the government to observe the transit of Venus in the Pacific
Ocean, and Banks, through the influence of his friend Lord Sandwich,
obtained leave to join the expedition in the "Endeavour," which was fitted
out at his own expense. He made the most careful preparations, in order to
be able to profit by every opportunity, and induced Dr Daniel Solander, a
distinguished pupil of Linnaeus, to accompany him. He even engaged
draughtsmen and painters to delineate such objects of interest as did not
admit of being transported or preserved. The voyage occupied three years
and many hardships had to be undergone; but the rich harvest of discovery
was more than adequate compensation. Banks was equally anxious to join
Cook's second expedition and expended large sums in engaging assistants and
furnishing the necessary equipment; but circumstances obliged him to
relinquish his purpose. He, however, employed the assistants and materials
he had collected in a voyage to Iceland in 1772, returning by the Hebrides
and Staffa. In 1778 Banks succeeded Sir John Pringle as president of the
Royal Society, of which he had been a fellow from 1766, and held the office
until his death. In 1781 he was made a baronet; in 1795 he received the
order of the Bath; and in 1797 he was admitted to the privy council. He
died at Isleworth on the 19th of June 1820. As president of the Royal
Society he did much to raise the state of science in Britain, and was at
the same time most assiduous and successful in cultivating friendly
relations with scientific men of all nations. It was, however, objected to
him that from his own predilections he was inclined to overlook and
depreciate the labours of the mathematical and physical sections of the
Royal Society and that he exercised his authority somewhat despotically. He
bequeathed his collections of books and botanical specimens to the British
Museum. His fame rests rather on what his liberality enabled other workers
to do than on his own achievements.