CE is candidate for office of secretary to Commission of Inquiry into state of University of Cambridge.
Received royal warrant to appoint commission of inquiry into state of Cambridge University. Asks JH to attend between 16 and 22 Oct. Also inviting Adam Sedgwick and John Romilly. Wants joint meeting with Oxford inquiry commission, headed by Bishop of Norwich.
Thanks for his encouragement. Regarding the Hoggerts.
As president, TW asks JH to chair next annual soirée of Leeds Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society. Names distinguished predecessors. Describes members and activities.
JH is touring France and may not return before November. Presumes JH will not accept TW's invitation [see TW's 1850-9-3] to preside at annual soirée.
The publisher [John] Murray wants a new edition of JH's Admiralty Manual. Suggests revisions for WW to make in WW's paper in that volume.
Has no intention of standing as MP for Cambridge. Thanks him for his generous offer. Would be pleased to pass on £200 to his cousin Thomas Baldwin.
Was pleased with JH's reply to his offer. Has just returned from Poole. Remembers Mary Baldwin. Long discussion on politics.
JDH thanks Humboldt for mention in ASPECTS OF NATURE. JDH mentions his imprisonment by the Rajah with [Archibald] Campbell. He writes regarding geography of the Himalayas. He discusses heights of certain peaks determined by the Surveyor General & Captain Thullier & also determining elevation using native & cultivated vegetation as indicators, e.g. at Lhassa. He describes the location, extent & nature of mountain groups with reference to landmarks & some mention of the different people, vegetation, snowline & climate. His description covers: Chumalari, Kinchin-Junga [Kanchenjunga] between rivers Teesta & Arun, Dwhalgiri [Dhaulagiri], Gossain-Than between Gundule & Gogra, Jewahir, a group dividing Soubansiri & the Morass, Patchion Valley, Donkiah between Matchoo [Mo Chhu] & Lachen, Mansarovar, Kamtchoo[?] Lakes, U & Tsang provinces, Dingchaun Province, Ramtchin, Kiong-lah range incl. Odoos & Mateltons, Yarou river, Mendoling & Darjeeling. He discusses the boundaries of Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, China & Bhutan mentioning Puri. JDH presents theory that Himalayas are spurs of a larger mountain chain, but does not think they are 'the mountain Axis in Asia'. Thomson thinks Karakoran & Miztagh are continuation of the' axis' from Mansarowar: a 'noued' on the Sutlej & Indus rivers. Discusses the monsoons in Sikkim, Garrows, Rajmahal Mts , Bhutan Mts & Khossyeh [Khasia]. Discusses the vegetation in Tibet: Lonicera, Rhododendron, Zarruchillia, Ranunculus, Graphalinea, Saussurea, Artemisia, Erejeron, Astragalus, Valeriana, Loniera, Rosa, Berberis, insects & animals he has seen & how the pines differ there. Rocks & geological formations in the Himalayas incl: Gneiss, Granites, fossilferous limestone, Mica, Clay, Sandstone & coal, hot-springs with sulphurous salts, moraines & glaciers that show Himalayas are sinking. JDH will visit Cachar, Chittagong & Arracan before leaving for Calcutta [Kolkata] & England. Hodgson is ill & JDH heard about Prince of Prussia's accident.
JDH is travelling again. He has written to Humboldt, who mentioned JDH in his ASPECTS OF NATURE. JDH has received letter from WJH reporting safe arrival of his collections & also letter from Jock Smith on progress of Rhododendrons. JDH is collecting seeds for WJH as well as tree ferns, incl. three Alsophila & one with the coriaceous frond pinnate of Blechnum. He does not have much seed of Taenitis. [Hugh] Falconer [HF] informed JDH that Colvile was ill but recovered, however [Archibald] Campbell wrote that [Brian Houghton] Hodgson is still sick & his mind 'out of order'. JDH is now east of China & adding a lot to his collection, especially grasses, ferns & Orchideae with the recent addition of some Labiatae & Compositae & the expectation of Nepenthes. He has found a Geniosporum that smells of Patchouli & a Plectranthus patchouli that doesn't. HF says Kashmir shawls are scented with Kortus not Patchouli. The last Kew Annual JDH has is from Feb. JDH will send two Podostemon spp. He discusses Triurideae with reference to Mier's paper & Gardner & Lindley attributing them to Naiads or Smilacineae based on the characteristics of their albumin. JDH has found Nymphaea & Griffith's floating Eriocaulon in marshland but not his Hydropeltis. He mentions the presence of oaks. JDH writes about Jung Bahadur [Prime Minister of Nepal]: his character & expectations of meeting the Queen, & the tendency of 'orientals' to kill family members to gain positions of power. JDH asks about the distribution of Griffith's collections. He questions whether WJH has confused two species of Balanophora with the two sexes & a third with Phaeocordylis.
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