TB is seeking a Government grant through the Royal Society so that he can give up his business and pursue his work on the glacial period; wants CD to support him with a note to Hooker.

Praise for Cross and self-fertilisation: most important point proved is benefit of crossing between related individuals grown under different conditions. This explains adaptive value of dispersal mechanisms.

JDH discusses his and others’ experiments on survival of seeds. Impressed with resistance of some seeds and rapid decomposition of others. He wonders about "vitality" in the abstract.