Praises CD’s biography of Erasmus Darwin;

asks CD to answer some queries he is circulating. Is particularly interested in "visualizing faculty" in CD and Dr Darwin.

Thanks CD on behalf of herself and sister [E. A. Wheler] for the gift of Erasmus Darwin. Comments to amplify parts of it.

Does CD believe in the "Word of the Lord", i.e., Genesis?

Thanks for English edition [of Erasmus Darwin]. John Murray has not answered letters of German publisher. Questions CD about persons mentioned in book, in order to annotate German edition.

Thanks for Erasmus Darwin.

Thanks CD for a copy of Erasmus Darwin.

Thanks for Erasmus Darwin.

Thanks CD for signing a memorial.

Encloses latest report on his new potatoes. Believes the plants should be grown from seed every fourth year to preserve yield and disease-resistance.

Sends a book on shorthand

and a paper, probably by Erasmus Darwin, entitled "Moral and physical hermeneutics", on the subject of temperance.

Thanks for Erasmus Darwin. It is a rare life and an unmatched illustration of the transmission of intellectual strength.

Supports CD’s theory but doubts that butterfly life-cycle is consistent with it. Metamorphosis of butterflies is not comparable to that of other insects.

Comments on butterfly fertilisation of flowers.

Intends to get his ideas on the "wearing out" of varieties printed.

This year’s crosses were failures.

German edition of Erasmus Darwin will not appear until next year.

Thanks CD for noticing some difficulties in his hypothesis. Concedes that there is no proof that higher plants are more intolerant of carbon dioxide than lower plants. Argues that the main difference between the lowlands and the high mountains in Palaeozoic times would be the much greater climatic fluctuations that would occur on the mountains. Discusses carbon dioxide diffusion in the Palaeozoic atmosphere. Thinks that the large number of species and genera peculiar to high mountains favours the assumption that "their diffusion must date from a geologically remote period" [see ML 2: 20–2].

Congratulations on Erasmus Darwin; likes CD’s part better than Ernst Krause’s.

Received false notice of Asa Gray’s death.

Gray and JDH engaged in comparing widely separated but floristically similar regions.

Encloses a report on JT’s potato varieties by William Meredith, one of the many individuals in the country who are growing them.

Her brother-in-law, Edward Wheler, died on Sunday.

Sends some corrections for Erasmus Darwin.

Sends some doggerel verse about a literary dandy who is critical of Darwin and Spencer and approves of Ruskin.