The "man-essay" [Descent] is "very interesting but very difficult".

Cat-like behaviour in dogs.

Thanks for information from Louis Agassiz;

wishes he could feel he deserves what Alexander Agassiz says of him.

Believes AG’s cases of incipient dimorphism are due to mere variability. Has found examples in Nolana and Amsinckia; believes such variation is the basis for the development of dimorphism. Was unaware of variations in Phlox.

Sensitivity of Drosera and Dionaea.

Sends questions on expressions of Laura Bridgman.

Has finished Descent. Believes that parts, like that on moral sense, will aggravate AG.

Working on an essay on expression.

CD’s sons, George and Francis, are to visit the U. S. Can AG supply any letters of introduction?

Questions AG on earthworm activity in North America and would welcome information from northern Canada if AG has a correspondent there.

Thanks for AG’s book, How plants behave [see 8363].

Is correcting proofs of Expression.

Spiralling of tendrils.

Has worked hard on Drosera.

Is interested in tracing the "nerves" of Dionaea which follow the vascular bundles. Finds he can paralyse half of the leaf by pricking it at a certain point.

Wishes AG to carry out two experiments on D. filiformis.

Has received AG’s Dubuque address [Am. J. Sci. 3d ser. 4 (1872): 282–98].

Has received, through AG, a letter on Dionaea [from W. M. Canby] which has greatly interested him. CD asks AG to question his correspondent on whether it catches large or small insects.

Mary Treat will observe Drosera filiformis.

Astonished by Agassiz’s argument; has sent AG’s memorandum to Nature [see 8786].

Is working on cross- and self-fertilising plants and has temporarily stopped work on Drosera.

CD is deeply pleased by AG’s article on him in Nature [10 (1874): 79–81].

Is preparing book on "Drosera and Co." for the printers. Reports observations on digestion in Drosera and Pinguicula.

Profoundly grateful for AG’s article in Nature; he is especially pleased by what AG says about teleology.

Remarks on his work on Pinguicula. Notes its digestive power; it absorbs nutritious matter from leaves and seeds as well as insects.

Thanks for Sarracenia, which is as wonderful as any orchid.

Asks AG to observe Pinguicula.

Has read AG’s semi-theological review [Nation 18 (1874): 348–51] with interest

and has obtained the book [C. Hodge, What is Darwinism? (1874)].

Read AG’s article [see 9753] on longevity and duration of varieties with great interest.

Death of Mrs Hooker.

Hopes Insectivorous plants will be out in the spring.

No Summary available.

No summary available.

JDH thanks Asa Gray for sending him some apples. He & Mr Smith compare the variety sent, the 'Northern Spy', to English apples including the 'Ribstone Pippen' & the 'Nonsuch'. Discusses his work on the Rubiaceae family including the genera: Psychotria, Cephaelis, Nonateleiae[?], Rudgea ,Palicourea, Chasalia & Grumilea. Next he will work on Borreroids, including Hedyotoids. George Bentham is working on Compositae, currently struggling with Gnaphalia. JDH's wife, Frances Hooker, has finished translating Decaisne & Maout & Hooker himself did some work on the introduction. [John Gilbert] Baker is working on Monocots. [Thomas] Thomson is neglecting his work on the FLORA INDICA & there are problems with the printing & the length. JDH intends to take over editorship & organize it into a shorter manual with the different orders contributed by expert authors. JDH's mother, Lady Maria Hooker, is ill in Torquay but recovering. JDH thanks Gray for Cytinus, Apodanthes, a paper on Galax & his attention to Rubiaceae. JDH must put off his trip to California, he worries he is getting too old but takes comfort that Sir H. Holland just went over the Blue mountains of Jamaica aged over 80. Murchison has Hemiplegia & has resigned himself to death, his likely successor as President of the Geographical Society is Sir H. Rawlinson. Letter appears incomplete & is unsigned but is written in the hand of Joseph Dalton Hooker.

JDH writes to Asa Gray about his work on Pinus, including the nomenclature & synonymy of various species, including P. edulis, P. fremontia, P. llaveana, P. cembroides, P. perryana, P. chihuahuana, P. tuberculata, P. insignis & P. torreyaan. He has begun working on Oaks & finds them even more confusing. JDH has received Gray's letter of 4 June & bag of Torreya seeds. Mentions a Wardian Case of Sikkim Rhododendrons, [part of the letter following this mention is missing]. JDH refers to some RBG Kew staff & mentions that he pays his wife £100 per annum for working 4, 4 hour, days a week. JDH has been elected the new President of the Royal Society over Spottiswoode & the Duke of Devonshire. JDH has reservations about Gray's plans to employ a German Professor, he suggests an American or Swiss man would be better. William Thiselton-Dyer would not take the job as Professor, he has been offered lucrative positions abroad before but is determined to stay in Britain. The following day JDH will go to Cheshire to visit Mr Tollemache, who is an intimate friend of William Gladstone & previously brought Gladstone to visit RBG Kew.

JDH thanks Asa Gray for sending him some boxes of roots. He has received useful information regarding North American Pines from George Engelmann, whom he wishes would also study American oaks. Mentions: a case of Sikkim Rhododendrons for H. Hunnewell, death of John Torrey, sending Bolander subtropical plants including hardier palms. Some boxes from Gray arrived smashed, some things were lost possibly including the Pinguicula & Chaptalia. JDH owes Charles Sprague Sargent a letter. Ashes are hopeless, the arboretum has been hard work the past winter. JDH will go to France with Thomas Henry Huxley [THH] who has been recommended a holiday for his health. George Bentham is working on Mimosas for Martius' Flora. William Thiselton-Dyer is to withdraw from the Horticultural Society & give a series of lectures on botany at South Kensington for the National School teachers. JDH explains what form the lectures will take, they are modelled after THH's zoology lectures. JDH has been unwell but is recovered & has resumed work on the Vaccineae for GENERA PLANTARUM. Welwitsch affair not yet settled. Owen's wife has died. The Royal Commission will recommend that RBG Kew become the national herbarium with a separate Paleontological one at the British Museum [of Natural History].

JDH thanks Asa Gray for sending Elliottia & asks if anyone has fruit of it. He is unsure where to place it in relation to other genera. He is sure Cyrilla is near Ilex & Olacineae[?]. JDH has received the Aquilegia[?] roots & copy of BOTANICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. Mentions the visit of Mr & Mrs Sargent &, quoting [Charles] Dickens, describes the lady as "plump and conformable". Asks where Gray saw Rodgersia podophylla advertised. Mentions the reputations of [John Louis Rodolphe] Aggassiz & Humboldt. Calls the idea of trying to disprove [Charles] Darwin's theory before Congress "humiliating". Mentions some excellent apples. [The letter is unsigned and possibly imcomplete.]