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Dec 21/95
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
I have gone into Callitris,
& am satisfied that, whatever shd
be done with Widdringtonia, Tetraclinis
should stand. It differs wholly from
Widdringtonia & Callitris in the
character of its articulations -- as
indeed the two last do from
one another, & if you throw in the
geographical Element you have
3 as good genera as can well be --
Tetraclinis -- N. Africa
1833)
Pachylepis alias Widdringtonia (1842)
S. Africa
180
Callitris Australia.
With love & hearty good wishes
from us to you all Evr affy yrs
JDHooker |
|
[145]
Jay 14/96
9
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
Of course Oliver's name
must disappear form the title pages
of the "Icones." The only draw- back
which I see to your undertaking
the editorship is the labour & the
responsibility involved. I speak
feelingly, having regard to the
Botanical Magazine; which is
of both
even less as I have not to drive
others in harness. It might be
well to add Hemsely's name, as
assisting -he being so prominent
in the Herbarium. You can think
it over. I cannot but think |
|
146/252
19/96.
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
If you think that I can
be of any use I will gladly help:
reviewing the sheets of Icones, though
I must own that my eyes are
not so good as they were -- still
I may here & there spot a
blunder so big that others have
overlooked it.
I would not trouble about
Reeve -- if there is any chance of
Dulam resenting it -- for I know
what good men Dulam are, &
how useful -- I do not see |
|
affects the useless attempts at classifying
y
varieties. Which with from Herbm specimens is
impossible to any good purpose
I think the herbarium descriptive
work of Hemsley, Brown & Rolfe is
really excellent. -- Though I do
wish you could limit on diagnoses
proceeding the general descriptions
where these are long -- which is not
the case in the "Decas" just received
characters hold
where the descriptions a good
mean between a bold diagnosis &
a descripton. If, as no doubt they
are, these are careful, they quite
suit the requirements of utility with
speedy publication. -- 6-7 lines
with a postscript of dimensions &c
might be the rule.
I should have told you that |
|
we see the women in the labourers
plots. Technical Education
turned into that direction
would do more good than
would the training of young Ladies
to flower
1
gardening.
E affy yours
Jos. D. Hooker
Mr. Darwin is vastly pleased
with the "Index". -- |
|
Soper & Reeve before him have
been thorns in my side. They move
in very narrow grooves, but I have
so often sinned in withholding copy
for weeks & months, which is a
worry to the printers -- who visit on the
publisher; that have got callous --
to the greivances[sic] of both, -- & to my
punishment.
I have not a single one of
the Tibetan implements you desiderate,
Except a Tobacco Pipe, & this being
wholly of brass is hardly suitable:--
it is further my only objective
memento of my "durance Vile vile,"
when it was a Solace of a sort.
Your request reminds me that
I have still your inscribed slab! |
|
Ar
2
148
March 21/96
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
I have been long concocting
this letter to you about the Library
Catalogue -- you must deal with
it as you think fit; & let me
know if I can in any way assist
with your project.
Evans came up to me the
other day, about some scheme
for transferring a part of the
Kew cryptogamic collection to
the British Museum which he
had in his head -- I would
not enter into the matter with |
|
152
Decr 15/96
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
KE
My dear Dyer
I will do Mueller
before long & I have just sent
off Hodgson. These Society
obituarys are becoming a tax, or
rather have been thid to me, but
I am nearly at the end of my tether!
I am having a lot of
correspondence about Banks.
Mr Ings has sent me some
letters of Solander Cunningham &
Anderson which I shall give to
Herbm.
It is good news that you |
|
will undertake Finances for the
R.S. I feared it might go into
Brittens' hands. I have been
poring over the vols of Ceylon
Flora & trying my hand at some
of the genera -- Carex and Fimbristylis
with Clarkes work, & find it
necessary with the latter to fall
back on Bentham a good deal.
As you told me, I find that it
will take 2 vols to finish the
work. If I undertake it I must
think about it for a couple of
years. It will be drudgery &
the Govt. must gild the pill.
I have just heard from King |
|
154
Jay6/97
Ans
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
I return Poulton with
many thanks, it has interested me
greatly. He makes too much of Huxley --
He is quite wrong about Huxley's
answer to the Bp. at Oxford, & it's
effect is all through Newton's desire
to belittle belittle both, calling it a
'drawn battle'! I have written to
F. Darwin about it. As to Pangenesis
, it was as the 'parting of the ways' with
Darwin and me. I never could even
grasp
entertain the notion of what were
neither molecular nor atom.
Your estimate of Hodgson is very
just -- as we knew him in the |
|
mildewed condition of his later
life. He was a very different being
as I knew him at Darjeeling (i.e.
when well there), full of animation
& brimming over with information.
irreverence,
I could understand Yule's irreveren
but I cannot the objection founded on
his so called marriage, or alliance
to a "Mohomdea Lady"! as Hunter,
with what I can only suppose to be with
humourously calls it her. She was
Katman
just a girl out of the Bazaar, at
du
a Hindoo I suppose, who Hodgson no doubt
bought. At Darjiling she lived in one
room of a hut behind H's bungalow,
with one native woman to attend on
her, & Hodgson told me that he had
no communication with her, & very rarely |
|
the house is being turned upside down
for a children's party.
Evr affy yrs
Jos. D. Hooker |
|
Jay 26 /97.
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
As soon as I can get to Kew
I will go into the matter of the
Cypripedia. The Indian Orchideae
want revision throughout -- the
task was too heavy a one for a
Flora that had to be brought out
within a reasonable period, & my
copy is full of notes errata and
addenda.
I had not heard of the
discovery of Antherozoids in Cycas
& Salisburia -- it is a very
far reaching one.
Scotts researches interest me
greatly, though overleaping my |
|
good many genera of Orchideae,
Liparis, Erica & Dendrobium
amongst these -- & there are
some genera in which it is hard
to say whether the leaves are
when fully developed, coriaceous
or membranous, even where they
were obviously plicates & there is
variation. A genera was made
for the evergreen Beeches, but never
adopted; & the evergreen Oaks might
claim the same dignity.
As to my not having taken up
the name -- was it published when
I did the Orchids? -- I began in 1882
& finished in 1886, if I remember
aright
I am thirsting to know more |
|
in England, & 100 gone to America.
It has cost me £50 already & I
shall never see 1d. of it back.
Nevertheless I am more than
satisfied with its reception here & in
America & Australia, & find myself
proud of having given Banks a
lift up amongst his posterity.
Sir Saul Samuel has sent me a
printed list of a large collection of
Banksian correspondence that he
brought from Lord Brabourne! Also
a volume of Records of N S Wales
1783-1789. full of most curious
matter, including Bank's efforts in
the cause of the Colony &c &c &c.
There is a mention in it of a short
Memoir of Sir J. B. "written from |
|
distinction, & one wholly to my
liking.-- As for P.C., except steps
were taken to include many other
scientific men, it would have been
out of place, I think. What
you tell me of Sir Stewart Bailey's
opinion, & that of his fellow
councillors immeasurably heightens
the satisfaction with which I
regard the gift -- thank you for telling me.
I have written thanking Lord
Hamilton, the only one of the
council of whom I have any
personal knowledge, & that is
the slightest. I have told him how
great was the pleasure of seeing |
|
Stracheys name with mine -- he
having been at work exploring the W. end
of the Himalayas whist whilst I was
exploring the E. just half a century
ago.
I am disappointed at not
seeing your name in the list, which I
quite expected to do -- this only
delayed, that is very sure, & will in
my day I feel very sure.
I was writing to Harriet when
your letter came -- or rather inditing my
epistle I should say -- I inclose it with
my love.
I've had a wonderful day at
Windsor, Eton & Slough, which will
keep till we meet at the Naval |
|
Marine Villa
South Terrace
Littlehampton
My dear Dyer
Scott wrote to me a few
days ago, asking my opinion of
the claims of the 4 botanical
candidates for F.R.S. & I gave
it emphatically for Seward;
at the same time saying all
I could for Gamble. I have
studied Seward's work carefully
& read his last "Fossil Plants",
through & through, & am much
struck with his grasp of the
subject, clear views & excellent
style, scientific & literary --
adding to this that he has been |
|
up for now three years, & Gamble
only two I felt that his
claims were the greatest.
Gambles' Bambuseae is no
doubt excellent -- but it is founded
on Munro's work, which it very
closely follows. Perhaps his India
Forest trees is his best claim.
I have had several long
discussions with Stapf. about his
claims, & hope I have done
some good. The order is, in a
systematic point of view, by far
the most puzzling of Phanerogams --
& I should not be surprised to
isee startling innovations before
they are done with. Stapf. has
introduced great improvements in the
Indian clavis (of Fl.B.I) & as to |
|
Ans
16
Hant 7/99
THE CAMP.
SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Dyer
Thanks for your letter.
The approval of the residence selected
by my father-- simply applied to
the site in respect of proximity to
the Garden. The Board never troubled
their heads further The £200 covered,
or should have covered, rent, rates,
taxes & repairs, which of course it
did not. From some correspondence o
his with my Grandfather I find he
re
nt
paid re paid £178 the first year --
he undertaking painting papering &c.
or rather Sp Relieving Gent
for the rooms, where it
Popham of this which was not
& any--thing further would have involved responsibility
& that was the last thing they would desire. |
|
£90. I think it was the Carron
Cmpy (Iron-founders, hence "Carronards")
that undertook this. I find by the
correspondence alluded to, that in Novr 1841
he had overdrawn his account at the
Bank by £1,600! & had then no end
of outstanding bills, including upward of
£60 to Cuming and upward of £80 to
Taylor & co for work done on "Musci
Exotic Flora"
Exotici" 20 years previously!! a bill never
before presented! & which I guess he
works
disputed -- I knew that these & the
had cost him large sums.
Brit. Jungermanniae
You may imagine his horror at such a
bill being presented in the middle of his
Kew embarckment.
Also I find that Aiton in making
over charge, claimed all the books &
documents in his house as private
ahead!
property -- & had them all sent to
his brother's. Helois. This my father |
|
as a Member. As soon as I get the
Ceylon Flora off my hands I shall set to
work to get more.
I went to the Levee yesterday
taken by Sir E Fanshawe as usual, &
spent a delightful day with him, Lot.
accompanying me -- leaving this morning.
He had to present a Grandson, a quiet youth
just appointed to a Halifax Regt and
smothered in military millinery, the
extravagant gaud of which is a thing to
dream of. -- How the Govt. can sanction it is
a marvel. The very waistcoat, worn under
the shell-- jacket is one mass of gold embroidery on
White Satin! -- beautiful indeed. His outfit
& his pay
cost £500 & £300 a year is the best he
can do with in a very quiet cavalry Regiment
for which no examination is required!!!
ra
Jos D Hooker
I shall go & see Paget. Except Sabina
Smith he is quite my oldest friend. |
|
The Camp
Dec2/
My dea Dyer
Though I fear I must not
congratulate you on the honor
that you have received, I must
express my sincere pleasure : feeling
that you deserved it. I own to it's
touching my pride, that it should
down
go down as an honor to my family,
both on your own account & on
Harriet's. Also I am proud of it
in view of the lustre it reflects on
Kew. Happily it need not carry
with it, in your case, as it does & ever
will in mine, the keen sense of the
neglects my father's services met
with at the hands of the govt. |
|
1167
Jan 3 1900
THE CAMP.
SUNNINCDALE.
My dear Dyer
I shall be delighted to
have the Pisum in Bot. Mag. -- of
which I knew nothing till Mr
Burkill came to me about it
last Monday. I could get it
into the April number if Miss
Smith has drawn it.
I wrote to Rayleigh at once
pointing out that a site for the
Laboratory any where near the
Garden boundary, would ruin
one of the finest landscapes within
the fume distance of London, & be
an eye-sore for the Gardens for a |
|
With best love to Harriet &
Frances
Ever affectionately your
Jos D Hooker |
|
216 ADC; 49 Boissier: & so on..
We go on the 2d to Bournemouth,
weather permitting.
Thanks for the hints about
strychnine & iron -- I had the
former but was obliged to give it
up. I really want nothing now
but will tell my Dr what you
say. I have followed your advice
as to Port wine.
I congratulate Harriet on the
Cat's recvey -- love to her
Ev affy
Jos D Hooker
The enclosed should I think be
with the Treub papers. |
|
Brewery at Halesworth which he was
(& disinclined!)
totally unfitted to manage, led to the
a great part of
dissipation of the fine property which he
inherited; to which must be added a
rather reckless expenditure in travelling,
London society, & the purchase of books on
Ornithology, Entomology, Botany &c. &c. &c & on
the British Jungermanniae, Muscologia, &c.
With love to Harriet & the children if
with you (though no longer childs)
Ev affey y
Jos D Hooker
I should be glad of some hardy
perennials, Asters &c when the beds are
being sorted -- do not trouble about Nama-
I cannot keep them, my soil is so light -
that they have no hold.
We return to the Camp on Monday. |
|
1172
Decr 13 1900
THE CAMP.
SUNNINCDALE.
My dear Dyer
I was sorry to miss you
to-day, as I wanted to tell you
how thorough I found your
vindication of the position of Kew
to be -- & how ably put together
& expressed. With such a wooden
headed Treasury it is I fear hopeless
to expect much : -- except indeed
a man like Chamberlain could
be got to grasp the situation &
act. -- A fire proof building for
our own collection should be
vehemently urged, whatever else
is done, & it would be well that
you should be prepared with a |
|
plan of one, however rough.
I spent several hours with
Strachey last Monday; he is
much better, but far from well,
& desponding- he is up & about,
but feeble.
I had a talk with him about
Blanford, for whom something ought
to be done in recognition of his
services to India & to Science.
Over & above his great labour in
zoology & geology in India, Persia
& Abyssinia, he is Editor & in
great part author of 11 volumes
of Indian zoology. If you agree
I will urge his claim of a Royal
Medal. I feel ashamed when |
|
the microscope that Henslow used,
if so I will give it.
What a good paper Gunther has
made on the Swainson letters -- I
must do something with Bentham's
correspondence.
Ever affecty yr
Jos D Hooker |
|
(175
Aug 12
1
THE CAMP.
SUNNINCDALE.
My dear Dyer
I am really obliged for
your note about Plagius grandiflorus.
The plant puzzled me, & I lost
a good deal of time over it.; for
it does not agree with De Candolle's
description. I am sending for
fresh specimens for Bot. Mag.
I was very much impressed
with the Coronation affair. We left
we
the house were staying at, at about
8 &, were set down at the Abbey at
9.30, we had front seats in the
nave, where the G.C.s were located
902 |
|
the procession passing us at little
more than hand-shake distance:
but the weather was so gloomy &
the windows of the abbey so blocked,
that the diamonds did not sparkle.
The variety of costumes was very
striking, their gorgeousness was depressing --
The Lords Peers' coronets the most hideous
head-gear conceivable. & the caps
of maintenance little better, the crowns
were very becoming -- though the jewels
did not scintillate, for want of light
of course we saw nothing of the ceremony,
the "Theatre" being crammed with
the nobility &c &c The cheering was both
hearty and solemn:- vy effective. My
blue mantle was a horrid nuisance, |
|
Thanks very for information
about Gelsemiums -- Bot. Mag. is a
man-trap & I feel it on both ankles. |
|
good collector & systematist, I suppose
all that remains to be done is to
acquaint the Agent General with our
views, Will you do so please?
This is a queer place -- miles & miles
of red brick houses of all sizes often in
gigantic terraces & blocks 5--6 stories high
with hideous blank interspaces of grass &
rubbish -- a sea without shore or ships,
land without trees -- architecture
uniformly vile -- where all the people come
from to inhabit the legions of big houses is
a mystery to me -- the whole place is
only half baked to look at -- the shops
are excellent, & air splendid.
With best love to Frances in which
Lady Hooker joins, & with the requests
that she will let us know in a few
days how her Mother goes on.
Evr affy ys
Jos. D. Hooker |
|
The place is doing her also much good
Our appetites are voracious, & we get all
the fresh air we can.
The town is very attractive for
its gardens & the excellence of the private
houses in literally all the suburbs. The
roads every where good & they are timly
literally lined with flowering trees &
opposite the houses & in their gardens
shrubs to an Extent I have never seen
elsewhere. For at least a mile of
every road out of the town there are
eithers
seats at every few yards, & either gas or
electric lights. There is not a public house
to be seen, nor any poverty. It is in fact
a resort of the rich. Many fine houses
belong to wealthy Leeds & even London
tec
people & the architecture of the houses
great & small is a lesson to London
Villadom.
We are most comfortable in our
th
quarters, facing the huge belt of meadow |
|
(literally pages of)
me no end of citation & laudation to my
great astonishment. For my physical &
geological observations, he concludes
shrewd
"The volumes abound throughout with shrew
comments on all he observes, & the thorough
character of his observations is testified to
by the fact, that, since his journal was
written, no additions to our knowledge
of any importance, have been made by
subsequent observers in the districts which
he visited." ! I am praised too for
the accuracy of my survey, as being right
er
la
where leater surveyors have challenged it.
The "Tibet Messenger" has telegraphed me
a most handsome tribute. All this has
wakened me up.
I hope I shall see George when he returns.
I am affy yr
Jos. D. Hooker |
|
for a month: the Devon Peninsula is it's
headquarters, & the forms are startling -
yet never suggesting a specific difference
--
to me at least. In every case I have
to dissect a flower under water, which
with the removal from the mounting
often takes 2 hours. I sketch every one,
& all parts on the Herb sheets & keep the
"preparations" gummed on slips of paper in
a capsule on the sheet.
The Madras Herbarium specimens have
been a heavy labor -- I very much want
the drawings that Harriet has in hand.
Thanks for the photo of the house; it
looks very nice & will no doubt
prove so.
I made an effort to see the Antarctic
sketches with my legs bandaged up to |
|
the knees (but not painfull), & they are
marvellous in number interest &
execution -- No naval exped ever did
& bodies
the like -- the heads of birds by Dr
Wilson are the perfection of orni
-thological drawing & coloring -- they are
absolutely alive.
I hope you will enjoy your short
holiday with Harriet.
y
Ever affy
Jos D Hooker. |
|
was confined to species illustrative of
Insect life.
The Dioscorides reproduction must be
of extraordinary interest. I long to see it.
&out of
I have had to keep in & out of bed the last
few days from the incessant calls of a
diarrhoea. I think that, thanks to my
youth & a good doctor, I am all right
again. I am at my desk now, clothed &
with my right bowels (I hope).
Harriet will be glad to hear that Mrs
Gray is much better -- Miss Loring
writes that the doctors do not think
that the attack was paralytic, though it
certainly affected both speech & muscles of
the trunk & limbs.
Lady H is suffering agonies from
rheumatism in the right leg.
Eve affy y
Jos D Hooker.
I am concerned about poor John Smith. I
made not very long ago,
I have been making enquiries about him from |
|
the Charity Organ "Soc" & the clergymen
of his parish, all speak well of him
I am told
& he has good testimonials from various
posts mostly temporary, which he has
held. Some friends contribute a few
shillings for his weekly support, in
which I join, & Lady Hooker sends him
some warm clothing. I am assured
that he is thoroughly dependable, & really
sedulously seeks employment. Should
you hear of any small place where lowly
honest service is required, I am sure
he would deserve it. As far as I can
make out he has never lost character &
his condition is really distressful. |
|
June 211907
THE CAMP.
SUNNINCDALE.
My dear Dyer
I should earlier have thanked
you for your letter of 6 & kind congratu
-lations upon the Swedish award. This
was indeed an undreamed of honor, &
the circumstances under which it
was presented were in every way most
so were
gratifying. Not less to me the few
kind words from Sir E Grey with
which he transmitted the medal to
me a week ago. Prain proposes to
print the correspondence in the Bulletin
Proud as I may well be of the medal, & all
it means it
does not eclipse the Linnean on various
accounts.
Yours is the first intimation I
have had of the deputation of the B.S.
coming on visitation my birthday. Lady |
|
our friend Strachey has come down
has
in the world & had to give up his
beautiful house in Lancaster Gate &
retire to Hampstead. He is just my
age & very infirm. It is very sad &
I feel it deeply.
With love to Harriet.
Ev affctnly yr
Jos D Hooker |
|
are many Padangs & I have had to ask
him which. My description of the 60 species
of the Paris Herbarium is printed in the "Nouvelles
Archeau", but not yet published. I have
now full descriptions of about 170 species from
China proper. I have just sent to Paris
a paper on the few (about 15) known Turkish
species & their distribution; they harmonise
with the Malay Peninsula, but not with
Maln archipelagan or those of China proper.
I shall be glad of your criticism where it
appears in the forthcoming Bulletin. I think
my treatment of the subject is novel, but it
will not set the Thames on fire.
My whole life since I came here has
been directed to Impatiens -- much of it is
pure taxidermy, for Herbm. specimens are perfectly
useless without accompanying drawings of the
floral organs, not one of which can be even
imagined except as dissected & laid out. I can
defy the sharpest eyed botanist to say from the
dned flowen who the the schels, Noweve, big, an
2 or 4 in number.
So I brag away like any other slippered
pantaloon. |
|
A superb Impatiens arrived for
Kew today, collected by one of Sander's
scouts in Siam. Whence Kew had only
4
species, it is allied to the Jenkin ones.
Ever affectionately yors
Jos. D Hooker
Lady Hooker thanks you very much
for your letters, which gave her
great pleasure & joins me in best
wishes for the New Year.
I am reading Galton's Life -- it
is very curious & interesting. |
|
Feb 2 8 1909
THE CAMP,
NEAR SUNNINCDALE.
My dea Dyer
I have re-read your
essay & enjoyed it even more than
I did the first perusal. I do
not see how it could be improved
except by saying less of me. I am
much interested in Gondwana
land. I attended several
discourses on it's plants at the
Linnean meeting, but owing to my
it is hideously
deafness & his wretched delivery (with
carried away very little of it -- & this
this reminds me that
delivery of the successive addresses
at the Jubilee meeting convinced me
that no one should be allowed to
speak or lecture that had not taken |
|
lessons in elocution.
I cannot but conjecture that
there was more migration across the
after
Mediterranean before or during
Miocene times than the existing
Flora of the Atlas evidences. &
that the desication of the Saharan
region has obliterated much of it.
but I am so ignorant of all that has
been done towards the geology of that
vast area, during the last 1/4 century
that I have no grasp of the subject.
I am enjoying what Darwin called
the privilege of old age, to be ignorant
& not ashamed.
Balsams occupy all my time. I have
detailed descriptions of nearly 400 species.
Their geographical distribution is
wonderfully interesting -- I am now |
|
describing the Indo-Chinese species for
the "Flore Générale de Indo-Chine."
of some 28 species, not one of which is
Chinese or Malayan. In a little
contribution to the Bulletin I have
sketched a plan for effectually comparing
some contiguous Balsam floras of
Asia. I am sorry that I cannot give
you a copy of my paper on they Chinese my
paper on the Chinese Balsams in the
Paris Herbm. I was only allowed enough
to send one to the various bodies & people
that had loaned me materials. & If
you care to see it I will send it on
to you. You have of course the "Hook.
Icones" -- for which I am preparing
another part.
Have you got a copy of my essay on the
flora of British India? as it appeared
finally in the Gazetteer?
Of course the species of Balsam are all |
|
My description of the Burdwan
coal flora in my Himalayan Journals
had entirely left my memory -- I am
amused at your idea of my being
father to Godwam land.
The only work in which I can
remember discussing the types of
India & Mediterranea genera
across Africa is in the Marocco
book. p. 404 seq
Bees are the principle pollinating
agents of the Himalayan & American
Balsams in my garden, which have
very short spurs.
Burkill has been observing &
describing in India, the pollinating
actions of many insects -- but not in the
matter of Balsams.
Ever affy ys
Jos D Hooker |
|
fact or
years that any fiction
is tame after it. I think
however that "Janet's
Repentance" which
finished yesterday is
far from perfect -- in
as a whole
plot or quite true to
nature - though itself
quite as flush of truths
to nature of the most
delightful & refreshing
description. |
|
Kew Nov 28/
74
My dear Dyer
Will you kindly
glance at the
enclosed dedication
& let me know if
any thing occurs to
in style or matter
that should be
improved
I am not feeling well |
|
Monday
Dear Dyer
Will you be so kind as to
look at the enclosed letter for
the Trustees BM. & show it to
Mr Bentham. Giving me an
opinion (which I know will
be candid).
I showed Oliver a much
longer one, of which this is a
condensation. He did not
approve, & suggested what
accompanies it on a sep
slip in his handwriting. |
|
The enclosed Magnolia is
called fuscata in MacLeay's
Greenhouse, but the flower
is far smaller & the bud
differently shaped from
ours.
Vy ty ys
Jos D Hooker |
|
De
16/74
Wednesday
Dear Dyer
II should like to
confer further with you
about the Laboratry
before writing to
the Board - Any time that
is convenient to you
Yrs
JDHooker |
|
much the other way.
I shall certainly remonstrate
with Allman about sending
his paper to the Royal: what
will be regarded as a snub
to the Linnean. Though I am
sure he does not intend it
as such. Bentham may not
quite like the idea of turning
the Council Room into a
meeting room. but I am quite
sure he will not oppose it,
or be "dis-pleased". Let Allman
Matter
put this from the chair in the
Council; & I hope that the
trial of it will be carried.
I am so vexed with
myself for having disheartened
you the other night, & am
myself much concerned that I |
|
should have left you under
"impression that my "sympathies
"are opposed to the Biological
"side of Botany" -- I am quite at
a loss to think what I said to
lead you to think ths-&
whatever it was, I exceedingly
regret it. Our conversation was
a mixed & muddled one, personal
in two respects & general in many
more. Personally I felt for
myself, that I was committed
in the matter of the Cape Flora.
Personally I felt for you, that
your acquirements & powers
are being expended on labors
that do not tend to give you
that scientific position to which
you are so well entitled: and
as regards us both,
personally, I felt that I had
individually profited
by
your |
|
& eminently wise ones. My warm
participation in them surely
showed no want of sympathy
with Biology as opposed to System
Had you declined the systematic
work & come forward to devote
your attention to pure physiology
at Kew, I hope & believe you
would have found me as
sympathetic -- Assuredly I should
have as strongly lifted up my
voice against your devotion
of so much time & labor to
both
to what is unremunerative with
pecuniarily & in point of
position, & as I think productively too.
With regard to the British
Association, I feel acutely that
I should not have alluded
A
to it -- though I did it
Thought
in a general way & with no reference |
|
ualy
should
It is an advantage to me that
by that its means get papers, my
own & others too, speedily & well
published. & for this it is worth
my while to sacrifice some
in securing
time & trouble for its welfare.
Linnean was to demand
If the
I time & trouble
this annualy, like the Brit. Ass
I should abandon it to younger
hands. If the Linnean offered
me no more advantages than
the B.A. I should equally
abandon it. True the disinterested
desinterested motives (of which I
hope I am not void) that inspire
me to keep either, are the
same in kind, but altogether
different in degree. The Linnean
well worked, is an unmixed good,
not so the Brit Assn.
I intend to arrange this coming
month for giving the Ro Chair to |
|
Stokesay June 28th
1876
Dear Dyer
Thanks for your letter. I
cannot tell you how vexed
I am about the cheque & the
trouble you have had.
I am distressed about the theft
of Bain's portrait, it certainly
points to persons who have
personal
an interest in the man.
Reeve never sent me over the
magazine proofs, for which he
had abundant time &
which he faithfully promised.
The descriptions must be
delayed till next month now |
|
th
8 Windsor Terrace W.
Glasgow 32
Sept 6/ 76
My dear Dyer
We have just arrived
from Loch Lomond, & found your
3 letters & enclosures -- very many
thanks for all the trouble you
have taken.
I return the two India Office
drafts signed herewith, also
Backhouses letter which I am
particularly glad to have
seen, as he is a punctiliously
conscientious man & not
given to overpraising!
I must confess however that
all that is done is not half |
|
that should be done, in the
especially
Arboretum
Strachey is I suppose back
in London now, he was to
be at Aviemore last week.
I hope that what we wrote
about Mr Talbot is the right
thing. I puzzled good deal
over it & thought much over
it since, but to no further
avail. I am most anxious
to stand well with the I.O.
Thenls for what you have
done about Eaton. I had
quite forgotten Lyallia which
should of course be figured
& the them Uncinia.
I dare say that the Calcutta |
|
Garden is very bad indeed.
I do not see how it can be
considering
otherwise under the depressing
conditions it exists under: but
Mudel is a disagreeable conceited
Jackanapes & wants a setting
down himself.
I wrote to Duthie that he
must take Thwaites opinion
as to the destination of the
rubbers which he takes out,
& that opinion must depend
on the state of the plants on
their arrival, and on those of
the 40 cases sent to Ceylon
-if the 40 cases have
arrived in fair order, then
or all
some of th Duthie's if in good
order or if the 40 contents of the |
|
i.e. with several duckings!
I have
of wind & rain
interested in
been much
my old
visiting
haunts some of which are
unchanged & others unrecogni
=sable. We have not met
a single fr tourist friend till
one of
today when 2 Miss Coles Whom
I had met at Miss Sullivan's
turned up on board the
Loch Lomond Steamer --
Mrs Hooker is an excellent
traveler, climbs & walks like
a mountaineer, & is indifferent
to bad weather.
Please say everything from me
to Mr Smith
& believe me ever
sincerely yours
Jos D Hooker |
|
Glasgow Sunday
Sept. 10.76
My dear Dyer
I think it is settled that
we shall try Skye, the we
including Mrs Lyell Ruamond
& Arthur, Mr Symonds*2 & Miss
Turner - & then my wife &d
will proceed to Aviemore &
after a few days with the
Grants, turn south & home
via the Coleviles near
Dunfermline. We are quite
overwhelmed with invitations
& have made a perfect
holocaust of them.
The feature of the Association
has been Tait's Lecture on Force |
|
which consisted of an aggravated
assault on Tyndall, most
able, most humorous, most
cruel & simply execrable in
tone gesture & matter. It has
greatly disgusted his friends,
especially poor Andrews who
insisted on Tait lecturing, &
Sir W. Thomson who has
twice spoken to me about
it with great concern
Andrew's address I thought
very poor. Wallace's excellent,
Evan's & Merrifield's both good
but Newtons miserable.
The absence of familiar faces |
|
at the Association is quite
remarkable.
I hope to report favourably
on your application by tomorr
but objects were raised
in the Committee on the grounds
that according to the wording
the application should have
come from the Linnean.
I forward Newton's letter
& shall act (with Bentham)
accordingly. I could not
last
get to the Committee of
Recommendations, but
shall I hope to the next.
The distances here are so
enormous, that one can |
|
hardly do anything in town
& at the Association in the
same day.
Ever mostsincerely yours
Jos. D. Hooker |
|
scenery, & one mountain tract
limited lofty & savage in a high
degree, with a rather contemptible
latter the
lakelet in its bosom, the theme
of more misrepresentations, articles
& description, than any spot on the
globe known to me -
Of the rock scenes the finest is the
Queraing, which consists of the one
side of a mountain top of basalt
being dislocated in as singular &
striking a marvel as it is possible
to imagine:-- no description had
given me any idea of its remarkable
character -- nor can I say after seeing
it, to what it is indebted for its
unique character; whether to in action,
sea action or convulsions, but should
suspect the latter, with much subsequent
aerial action. The substrata is a
black tough basalt, with little vegetation
though I found Silene acaulis, Arabis
petraea, Oxyria, Antennaria & other
rocks
subalpines. These blasted place (the |
|
352
is overhung by the savage black & most
rugged cliffs of the saw-topped, Cuilathion
Coolins ( written
this was very fine;-- not so the Lake
itself, which instead of being girdled
by black cliffs plunging into its blacker
waters was encircled by green sloping
Engler
banks! Laden with transported boulders.
From thence Mrs Hooker & I ascended a
rocky mountain about 1000ft higher
& obtained one of the finest views I ever
looked upon of the Western Islands from
Morvern
Rum & Egg to Mull & almost the whole
Scotch coast from Ben Cruachan & Argyle
round to Sutherland. The look down
from the top - sheer down - to the Lakes
& sea below was indescribably grand
as were the other Coolin peaks cones
& sierras that surrounded us.
The glacial features of the valley cannot
be exaggerated in point of interest &
the pitch-black rocks being very steep &
glaciated, & the erratics scattered like
as if titanic pills had been emptied
over all the valley & at all elevations, which
for 2000 ft up they hang 'on by the eylids' to |
|
cliffs & were strewed over ledges &
were so poised on sloping cliffs that
you saw them
you would fancy they were sliding down
being held in position by the exceedingly
rough surface of the rock, the hypersthene
cristels of which project from its surface
like studs on a boot heel, & render
it easy & safe to move along slopes of
30o & upwards, without ever a suspicion
of slipping. The walk back from our
elevated position & along the dreary
valley was a terrible fatigue & we
did not get to the Sligachan Hotel till
near 8 PM. Except for about 4 miles
of a pony-back, Mrs Hooker walked &
we
climbed it all, & bad as it was much
preferred it to the bog trot that we had
to the Storr on the previous trip.
The Geology of the Island is most-
interesting, but not objectiory so
it must have taken much time
patience experience & knowledge
to have recognised the Miocene,
Lias, & lower beds that are
here |
|
my discovery of the fossil wood in Kerguelans
land will find its place in the geological
history of the Southern regions. I am greatly
disappointed at none of the later
Expeditions having searched there for
leaf-beds.
e have had here Mrs Lyell & son &
daughter, Miss Lyell (Sir Cha- sister)&
Mr Symonds -- they left yesterday for
the Gair Loch & we follow tonight.
Tomorrow night we sleep at Inverness,
& on Saturday reach Aviemore, & then
as soon as Scotch hospitality will let
us away, go to Stirling to see my sister
an
& a an old college & India friend for a
night - then to Sir J Colvilles for 3
nights near Dunfermline & so
home. A letter might reach me at
Aviemore, - but P.O. Stirling would
be safer.
The weather has been perfect on
the whole & the sea beautifully calm.
With Kind regards to Oliver and
Smiths. Ever my dear Dyer
Your truant friend
Jos.D.Hooker |
|
Sept. 25 76 [36
The Doune Monday
Aviemore
My dear Dyer
I have your three letters &
enclosures received here. That
very
of Prestoe is quite distressing. &
I am quite at a loss what to
do. Please write him a note
by next mail expressing our sympathy
& tell him that I shall go to
the C.O. about it as soon as I
return, but that with only his
"Strictly private & confidential
letter" to act upon, I cannot
do much. The best thing I
can think of would be that
some friend of the Garden in
Trinidad would draw up
a brief statement for the Gardeners |
|
B. A.- I wonder at Lane Fox
What you tell me respecting the
Heveas is most disheartening.
All I can hope for is that if they
are killed, it may bring about
a better state of things as regards
pernaiial
the financial relations of the I. O. & Kew.
-that subject must soon
be grappled with -- but for a row
with Markham, the best thing
would be an official repre-
representation from Kew, approved
by Strachey . whose scientific
I am not surprized at Thwaite's
position Ld Salisbury acknowledges.
not quite liking the job.- he is
getting old & as the "Times" says
of dizzy it age brings experience
but with it the reluctance to |
|
concentrate my attention when
subjects new to me, & to take
them all in when I do!
Ever & very affe
JosD Hooker |
|
3
Alderley Grange
Oct 1/76
My dear Dyer
Thanks for your
capital letter. We arrived here
yesterday afternoon after a long
night journey from Stirling
which we left at 9 on the
previous evening. The most
interesting thing I have seen
since I last wrote is Sir. Mr. Stirling
Maxwell's house at Keir near
Stirling -- he was not at home
us
but the house keeper took me
over & I was amazed at the
wealth of articles of historic
interest & beauty, pictures,
portraits, engravings, glass, china,
old -- silver -- & stone work, furniture,
fittings &c &c &c & all arranged with |
|
Nylander's collection. Nor did
I suppose that it was a very
extensive one: he used to
profess to care little for any
Herb. of his own if I remember
aright. I have still to get
from Oliver a list of the collections
he does buy to let Berkeley
know, as if I understood B.
aright we are both (Kew & Berkeley
buying the same things.
Gammie I suppose can be
easily replaced, not so Hartog -
that is to say not so by a better
the pay is so small -- what do
you say to Traill? I doubt
however anyone's satisfying
Thwaites now, -- I hope that Hartog |
|
will be early informed by Thwaites -- it
is better that he should leave
at once than hang on if he is
not to succeed
I am aghast at the Linnean
proceeding. I feel persuaded that
Edgeworth's work was worthless
& that it is his brain that is
wrong. & that probably not one of
his drawings is truly accurate, whilst
no inconsiderable number are
simple chimaeras -- having nothing
in the remotest degree resembling
them except amongst diatoms,
Radiolarians & God knows what
organisms that he may have
seen in wood-cuts of Science gossip,
subsequently
dreamt of, & had on the brain
when his eye was vacantly
gazing at a pollen cell under
the microsscope. In fact they are |
|
clearly products of a deceived
imagination. but my dear fellow
draw
the
you must not take up
sword; - you have quite just extinguished
it will not do for
Balfour
yourself in
you to establish the position of
Censor General, especially in a case
like this, which is so bad, that
every one knows it, & it is best
passed over in silent contempt.
The plates damn themselves -
I will speak to Bentham when I
return -- but I did so as strongly
as possible before the paper went
in; & again when you & I heard of
the publication. It is Curry &
Allman who are most to
blame, as is W. Smith in not
putting his opinion in writing
for the Council.
On to the R. S. address, I fancy |
|
Kew Nov 12/
76
Dear Dyer
Your welcome letter arrived
last night. We were pretty anxious
to hear how you were impressed
with N Italy. & I am very glad
indeed to get your early impressions,
which are always worth a dozen
of recollections after reaching home.
I do not wonder at your rapture
over Verona & St Marks at
Venice- but wonder that the
rest of the other features of the
latter did not impress you more,
especially the grand rising of the
seen from
masses of buildings as everywhere
the Canals & sea. Also I always
thought that I never had realised
the power of painting till I
saw the Titians & Paul Veronese in |
|
or Academia I forget which
the Scuola I wholly agree with you
about the Tintorettos -- I never
could abide them.
Everything goes on quite quiet
here, but the R.S. absorbs more
& more of my time, & this
in re
struggle between the Brit Mus
Challenger collection, is about to
come off. I am sent for to the
Treasury on Wednesday, & shall
fight hard for Thomson having
supreme control under a
Consult of the R S. The Treasury
are apes to have meddled in
the affair, & I do not think the
Admiralty have acted well in
transferring the collection to
the Treasury out of funding funk |
|
of the Brit Mus I expect.
sent
The estimates are in &I hope
we shall get the advance
men.
the Herb. A Bailiff of the
Parks has been appointed
in the shape of a 1/2 pay officer of
R.E.- who has been a road
surveyor in Yorkshire. He is to
have some £4-500 -- & I think
has £1200 a year of his own.
The appt is said to be Mitford's
making! Callender disapproves of it.
Humphrey's has been making
tender enquiries after you. I
have told him that you may
be back about 22nd, but
pray do not let this hurry you
but stay on:-- he wants you for
some examination.
Two seeds of Welwitschia have |
|
June 26/77
My dear Dyer
I must answer your
notes however briefly if
to say how gratified I am
only
at having received them.
I sent your wife & books
by passenger train yesterday
to Betws-y-coed. -- & have no
news of any consequence about
the Gardens. Except that I found
had (between ourselves) signs
of yielding on the part of the
Board in the matter of the
Wall. I have sent two
most vigorous remonstrances
& have held out the prospect |
|
of the counter--cries of "Jobbery
& "Kew in danger" -- together
with a deputation of the
Horticultural interest on
our side. Mitford has
promised to be firm, & will
be so I do not doubt.
but the opposition of Engleheart
& the Selwyn people & Stock
& Co is furious. If danger
threatens I must leave it to
you & Smith to go move the
Gardening papers & Horticultural
interest in our favor.
I have written complaining of
stuff
the atrocious stuff that Carless |
|
to let Carless bring in his bad
stuff till Smith shut the
gates in the faces of the carts.
Gregory has just left; he
is quite disposed to take
Morris & I am to write him
a letter for him to take to
C.O. about him. He will
write to Ceylon to treat Hartog
liberally & send him home
with enough to pay his debts.
Morris is quite set upon
going. & will I think quite
suit.
I have nearly done 3 months
Bot. Mag & will ask Oliver
to look after it -- as heretofore.
JosDHooker
Evr affectionately ys |
|
Salt Lake City
Utah
Aug 7
My dear Dyer
I received your wellcome
of July 13
letter at Denvers two days ago --
it had arrived after me all round
Colorado. I need not say I am
most glad to hear of your being
settled & not altogether overwhelmed
with the duties, though for the
present they must be very hard
& trying. Mrs Hodgson most
kindly wrote me a little account
of her visit to you & Harriet -
which made me very glad.
As for me I never worked
harder in my life -- there is so
the incessant
much to learn
collecting & packing
travelling adds enormously to
the drudgery.
I am very pleased |
|
to have picked up the knowledge
have of the
I already
trees & especially of the Pines
of Colorado & hope before I get
back to have such a knowledge
of the habits & habitats of the
Western Conifers as no one else
has. The association of so
many species is a feature
quite new to me, & such as
exists no where else. To find 8
or 10 Conifers on one Mt. is a
marvellous feature in vegetation.
Thus in Colorado we have between
5 &10000 ft -- Pinus edulis, ponderosa,
aristata & flexilis Abies Douglasii
Menziesii & Engelmannii (varieties of
one) -- Picea concolor & Juniperus
virginiana, occidentalis & communis,
all abundant. Of these except &
two of the Junipers none are found |
|
Of other plants
East of the R. M
I have collected as diligently & largely
of 4000 ft
as I can -- & have some 500 sp
from all Elevations up to 14000 ft
Here we are going into the Mts
East of us (the Wahasatch) (E of Salt
Lake) which will give us a glimpse
of W. Colorado vegetation & the
perhaps we shall find Pinus
monophylla which replaces
Edulis & extends W. to Nevada
Nevada
This done we
Taxodium grove
the
getting to the Calendar by
Carson &
rear by Silver city (off the line
by
of rail). & so by Calavera &
Mariposa to San Francisco. There
I hope to visit the Red wood
Taxodium &c) district to the
North & Monterey to the South
& then home by end of September. |
|
Gray is a splendid companion
though 65 he is as active as a
cat & full of eagerness to see
& show me every thing. I do
wonder that he has never
written a general view of the
Bot. Geog. of N. Am. -- it would
be so easy & instructive -- We
shall have to do something of
the kind for Hayden's Survey
Reports. The Stracheys make
capital travelling companions
always good natured lively &
much enduring.
Thanks for the Garden Reports
which Gray likes much as do I.
I am glad that you washed
our hands of Rivers Boilers. The
Board have (I feel sure) a letter
from me recommmending that the
whole heating system should be |
|
referred to a Committee of Experts.
I cannot understand Board going
in for nothing but Rivers untried
Boilers. I advocated 4 improved
saddles & 2 accessories which
might be Rivers
I quite expected that the F.C. would
would advocate a reduced height of wall
& did all I could to prevent it,
I do hope that you have carried
the point of going on with the
wall out of the money voted for
painting the Fern house. The F.C.
was convinced that the wall
must be heightened. -- If the Board
give the Kewites the victory (real
or apparent) in this matter, I must
remonstrate even more vigorously.
Their reports & remontrances were
most unfair to me & false. By
rights I should have been present
at the deputation to have defended |
|
Myself
As to Wilkie & the contractor
am in utter despair. The only
way is to report to the Board
all negligence & bad material
& establish a law upon the
works sept Dept
I am not impressed at what
you tell me of the quicksands
under the P.H. I always was
given to understand that the
bottoming & ground work which
was a contractors work was
very bad & that moreover the
site of the building was a bog.
whereas the upper works
if iron glass & store were
wonderfully good -- It is well you
detected the faulty piers -- but
you & Smith must continue to
put your eyes upon everything
I cannot tell you how much |
|
I am partly pulling through
though troubled
pretty well
& completely
with diarrhea
on Mule or pony back
covered with bruises chiefly
from tearing through the Aspen
bushes on the Mountains &
slipping on stones. I got up to
14300 on Gray's peak without difficulty
(on my legs) but I have not
the wind & muscle I had &
indeed the Mountain climbing
here is pretty severe work. When
near the lip of G.P. in a severe
hail storm, the Electric fluid
fizzed out at the side is my head
like the fiz out is a half drawn
S. W. bottle. Followed by a loud
clap of thunder -- soon after
I had a shock in my arm followed
by another clap. The fluid also
fizzed from the horse's ears, & a Mr
Darrell (son of Judge D. of Bermuda |
|
but have not nearly so varied
arboreous
or grand an
as
The tree vegetation
vegetation. The as the Nevada.
Sierra
of the Nevada is indeed unrivalled
for a temperate, climate, especially
(indeed almost entirely) due to the
magnificence of the conifers which
far exceeded my imagination in
statelyness & bulk though I cannot
call them beautiful, & feel sure that
as ornamental features they will be
utter failures & worse.
Your letter has been a great pleasure
to me. I thank you especially for your
interest in Charlie in respect of whose
future I intensely agree with you. I did
hope that I should have interested
him in some higher branch of his
profession -- or at least in the theory of
it. I so keenly feel the deficiencies of
my own early education & fancy (perhaps
quite wrongly) that if I had had
the advantages that modern thought
& education has extended to
Medicine & Surgery, I should have been |
|
a much better naturalist than I am
I also cannot help thinking that the
I do) regret the loss of a good foundation in
time will come when Charlie will (as
physiology & organic chemistry, & in the
history of medicine & surgery. However
must content myself with what
purposes, & be thankful if he uses
he chooses to think enough for his
it well
There is I fear some bungling about
at the I.Office
Willy's position which was to have
been in the shipping dept. he had
better see Strachey about it, who was
to sail on 21st of this month.
Thanks for the Telegraphs & Echo
the last of which has diverted us
amazingly -- Mr Proctor has so
overdone it, that it can only do us
all good -- but I do regret to see
an English paper adopt the
unscrupulous tone & language of
all American ones, & be ready to
give publicity to any communication
without any enquiry into its truth
I am sorry that the delay of news
of me caused any anxiety but it |
|
was not my fault as you know
by this time.
explaining my blunder in so doing.
Yes I took the Camera, & wrote
Strachey lent his Camera to Harriet
& asked me to bring it -- I found
this in the drawer where she was
sitting & took for granted it was
what Strachey wanted. It is all safe
at Boston. I hope that I have
not inconvenienced you.
I cannot tell you how pleased I
am to hear that you have had
the wall carried out. I did not
in the least expect it seeing the
mood the 1s Comm. was in: & I felt
much aggrieved at the thought
of you being troubled. In fact I
had been real down in the mouth
about it, not daring to hope
that you would succeed with the
Board in getting it continued.
I do not wonder that you quake at
must
Smiths absence -- but we
remember how he quaked at
my much longer absences, & how |
|
much more of my work he did in my
I did of his in
absence than
his absence.
Thanks for
interesting letter
Kirks very
note on the Dacrydea to the
I sent a
Icones with a figure of the new one
he sent - & I hope that all is right
about them.
As to Astilbe & Spiraea I well remember
having great difficulty in unravelling
them in the collections when I did the
Saxifrageae, & can quite believe that
I made amess -- I am not surprised
at Clarke's method of work -- but am
much disgusted, as he promised faith-
fully to follow the precepts laid down
as to my referring him to you as "Subeditor"
the idea is absurd, what I told him was,
that in any doubt or difficulty as to
citations & methods & s forth you
would I felt sure gladly tell him
what my practice was, as you
had followed it in regard to the
Dipterocarpeae & in correcting proofs of
other orders for me. We shall have
difficulty I fear in working with the
man & possibly the best solution |
|
will be that he publish in the
Linnean according
to his own
sweet will
as to his
bothering you on the official correspondence
on the subject, it is intolerable.
The Railway disturbances have not
affected us, & indeed we have had
no let or hindance hitherto of any
Kind -- as to Indians I have not
seen a score
them altogether; we
(that had gorged itself & could scarce move);
have killed but one rattlesnake seen
seen one grizzly bear (in confinement at
a Railway station) -- had no
earthguages here yet & altogether had
a hum-drum life of very hard
work indeed.
San Francisco is a horrid place
& the country about it vile looking --
bare red hills all around: still
the quantity of interesting herbaceous
plants one sees is astonishing, &
in spring the whole country is said to
be enamelled with flowers (which
I can well believe) where nothing but
red earth & dust is now to be |
|
seen. Bolander has cut Botany & taken
to education, we called twice on him to
was out both times &
day -- but he has not ever returned our
call: he may yet, but Gray has reason
to Monterey to see the forest of Cup.
to think him strange. We go hence
macrocarpa & P[inus]. insignis, then N. to
Mendocino County to visit the forests
of Red wood (Sequoia) &c; then if possible
to Shasta Butte to find out what is
meant by Picea grandis: & I hope
to get away from Boston on the steamer
of the 22d. -- What with narrow
gauge lumber trains, 2--, 4--, 5-- horse
wagons, ponys, mules & our legs
we get over a monstrous deal of ground
regardless of expense, fatigue, & wear
sleep & food, & pick up an
enormous deal of Botany en-route.
This is a queer climate, fancy my
being cold during the day, with an overcoat
on & my thick scotch plaid -- all through
the strong W. wind over the Pacific:
which blows, usually with thick fog
at this season, every afternoon. You see
ladies wrapped in furs every where.
I was delighted to see the Pacific again |
|
Newhaven
Connecticut
Sept 22 / 77
My dear Dyer
I have at last returned to
Eastern American civilization &
without regret, for I am pretty
well fagged out with the hard
work of our occidental trip. I
have stopped here a day to
spend it with my friend Prof
Eaton who with his new bride
staid at Kew in 1866 & was much
with us -- he was & is a great fern
man, & is bringing out an illustrated
book on the Ferns of the U States.
New Haven is a wonderfully pretty
all
place & this indeed may be said
of the Eastern States that I have
seen -- they are all so green varied in
scenery wooded watered & grassed with
the ocean in addition on the sea-board.
We travelled Eastward day &
night for 6 days & nights from |
|
Nat Hist at the Central Park & the
Park itself; briefly meeting (through
Grays forthought) Bickmore the head
that
of one & Olmstead of the other. At
3 PM I took the train to here, where
I spent today (Sunday) & go on tomorrow
to Boston & Cambridge. Here are
Marsh, Dana & Brewer from the
first & last of whom (Dana I have
yet
not seen)I have got some most
valuable information. -- Marsh is busy
with the huge Dinosaurs which
have been discovered at 9000 ft elev. in
the Rocky Mts. & of which I think I
told you I had seen bones at
Arkansas Canon & which it appears
bones
were procured for Marsh. This
(if it was a beast)
beast must have been 70 ft. long
& Marsh identifies it sits with
the Wealden
Brewer (a Dutchman, originally
Brouwer), is a sharp Botanist who
accompanied one of the Paupir Surveys |
|
as far as my experience goes,
always symptomatic of disease of the
heart & not of one disease only.
opinion
My sre is that the dilatation
akes steady progress--as
evidenced by the more frequent
attacks of palpitations & other
cardiac disturbance.
I have never urged him to be
again examined because I feel such
that the result would be so
unfavorable & that it would greatly
alarm him & do no possible good
Next to his sudden death I
dread a longering dropsy - with years
of inability to do anything but
drag about after his work.
This is about all I can say
I have never lost an opportunity of
gathering up al the information
could get from him as to his |
|
symptoms.
So much of what is to both of us
I am sure, a most distressing subject
I have not seen very much of the
Association -- I send you Spottiswoode's
Address. Flower promised me his
on the Linnaeus classification of
Mammals. -- which he highly lauded
considering the material, it was
Huxley gave
thought very well of
to day
only a verbal address I did not
hear it as I spent most of the
day with Glasnevin with Moore
& shall go again for another day
I find he falling off in his
Garden (since 1864), but quite the
contray -- it is quite admirable
The collection of Tree Ferns is
suprisingly fine & the Conifers have
grown amazingly since I last saw
them. Suringar is here & the |
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