JDH asks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer to take special note of how Wilson Saunders cultivates plants from the Cape [Cape Peninsula, South Africa] so they can emulate the techniques in the pits at RBG Kew. He also wants to know where Saunders got the Elleanthus chrysocomus & Cotyledon mamillaris which he gave RBG Kew. Mr Pritchard has informed JDH that [William] Carruthers will drop his claim [that the RBG Kew herbarium should be transferred to the British Museum of Natural History to form one national herbarium] if papers can be produced that prove the RBG Kew herbarium is government property. The C. S. [Civil Service?] Commission have informed JDH that Spink's exams put him at the bottom of a list of 5 candidates [for a gardener position at Kew]. [George] Nicholson, a candidate with no training or references had the highest scores & impressed [John] Smith with his capacity so JDH has agreed to hire him. Thanks to ' [Acton Smee] Ayrton's folly' Nicholson will be on twice the salary he would have accepted, £150 per annum rather than £75. In additional marginal notes JDH mentions a letter from Reynold, [George] Bentham & his Linnean Society 'matter', & asks Thiselton-Dyer to write a few pages on the distribution of [Nathaniel] Wallich's Dipterocarps.

JDH asks William Thiselton-Dyer to inform Mr New whether or not he will be able to read JDH's paper on Kilimanjaro plants at the Linnean Society. JDH is leaving Beitrich for Gerolstein, & will then cross the Eifel to Altenahr & return home via Bonn or Aix. Mention's Kendall's death. JDH's tour has so far covered Luxembourg, Treves [Trier] & Berncastle [Bernkastel]. The weather has been cold & he has observed that the vegetation is not as far advanced as at RBG Kew & fruit & nut crops have been killed.

JDH reports that he & [Thomas Henry] Huxley are enjoying their time in France. He asks Thiselton-Dyer how his class is going [Thiselton-Dyer took over Huxley's summer course in elementary biology in 1873 as Huxley was away for his health]. JDH & Huxley have been studying a volcanic phenomenon [volcanic plug] & subsequent glacial action. JDH finds the scenery beautiful. Although the flora is diverse he is not collecting plants. Asks Thiselton-Dyer to tell Daniel Oliver he prefers Le Puy to Nuremberg & to pass on any messages from Oliver or [John] Smith.

JDH clarifies that he is not the source of a request for Asa Gray to review his publication GENERA PLANTARUM. Especially as he is under the impression Gray would have nothing complimentary to say about his work on the order Rubiaceae, despite the effort JDH has put into & his belief that he has corrected more mistakes than he has made. He notes that [Sir William Turner] Thiselton-Dyer corrected the work before it went to press. JDH has just returned from a tour of the left bank of the Rhine, Eifel country [volcanic region of Germany], with his wife [Frances Hooker nee Henslow], [John] Lubbock & the Grant-Duffs. They also saw Luxembourg & Treves [Trier]. JDH has asked the publisher, Longman, to send Gray a copy of Decaisne & Le Maout [A GENERAL SYSTEM OF BOTANY DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTICAL]. JDH is currently working on the FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA with Thiselton-Dyer but they are hampered by shortcomings in [Carl Friedrich Philipp von] Martius' work & the illness of [Michael Packenham] Edgeworth & [Thomas] Thomson. [George] Bentham is currently working on Mimosaceae for Martius' work. A young man who works for Micheli, of Geneva, is at RBG Kew working on Onograceae & Rubiaceae. Bibb has sent RBG Kew a collection of Illinois plants. JDH hopes to go on holiday to the Auvergne with [Thomas Henry] Huxley. JDH also has much to do reforming business procedures at the Royal Society & arranging the Society's move to new apartments.

JDH informs Asa Gray that he has returned from a trip to the Auvergne, Cantal, Mont Dore & Ardeche country taken with [Thomas Henry] Huxley, who is now at Baden Baden, Switzerland. Mentions professor Cresson[?] is working under Sir W. Thomson & has sent JDH Aster seeds. [Daniel] Oliver is in Jersey. [George] Bentham is working on Mimosaceae for FLORA BRAZILIENSIS. JDH shook off a minor attack of bronchitis whilst on tour in the Eifel with [John] Lubbock & [Mountstuart Elphinstone] Grant-Duff. Thanks Gray for his congratulations on JDH gaining the Presidency of the Royal Society though admits he feels 'oppressed' with the prospects. Mentions Gray getting [William Starling] Sullivant's collection of mosses, RBG Kew has received Hunt's mosses as a gift. JDH expresses low opinion of [William] Carruthers & his conduct in answer to a bill in chancery. Reports on the current whereabouts of his family: Frances, Brian & Reginald at Eastbourne, William with JDH at Kew & Harriet in Gloucestershire. JDH describes & highly compliments a botany course designed by Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer to be run at the school in South Kensington. Thanks Gray for putting a notice of [his wife France Hooker's English translation of] Decaisne & Le Maout's work [TRAITÉ GÉNÉRAL DE BOTANIQUE DESCRIPTIVE ET ANALYTIQUE] in Silliman's Journal [AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE]. JDH cannot recall where he got notice of Sarracenia rubra, alias purpurea. [John Gilbert] Baker has sent all the notes of [Auguste Boniface] Ghiesbreght. JDH has sent Gray Ferns by 'young Ross'. JDH intends to make a cold fernery & asks Gray for roots. Comments on the release of further 'Survey Botanical Reports' & Sullivant's supplements. Notes that the South Kensington Museum is to be put under the British Museum trustees, a symptom of Gladstone's 'mad' government, under which he expects RBG Kew has had 'a lucky escape'.

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