Darwin refers to ARW's "On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution as illustrated by the Papilionidae of the Malayan region".

Agrees with JDH on difference in grief over loss of father and of child. His love of his father.

The Reader.

Politics and science.

Health improved by Bence Jones’s diet.

[Dated "Thursday 27th" by CD.]

No summary available.

Encloses letter [from A. R. Wallace?] about the Reader.

Wants his opinion of a letter from Fritz Müller on climbing plants.

Darwin agrees with Hooker's comments about ARW in Hooker's letter of 6 Oct 1865. Hooker's letter he describes ARW as: "... not a man of large sympathies, nor very charitable I think, & is certainly awfully cold & dry at times; yet he is essentially large minded, & very able".

Thinks Royal Society’s failure to honour W. J. Hooker may be due to small number of botanists on Council.

Interest in H. J. Carter’s papers in Annals and Magazine of Natural History on lower organisms.

On Wallace; anthropology.

H. H. Travers’ paper on Chatham Islands [J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 9 (1865): 135–44].

W. C. Wells’s paper of 1813 ["Essay on dew", Two Essays (1818)] anticipates discovery of natural selection.

Is working one hour a day now, on illegitimate seedlings of Lythrum and Primula.

Begins to doubt John Scott’s accuracy about primrose and cowslip.

Does JDH believe in Karsten’s denial of parthenogenesis of Coelebogyne?

Will explain about the so-called hybrids of Lythrum when they meet.

JDH should not be proposed for Copley Medal this year because Royal Society Council has so few naturalists on it.