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JDH explains he has not written to Asa Gray recently because he is particularly busy during the absence of his aide, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, who is at South Kensington. JDH is working on a botanical primer for the Macmillan series & doing experiments for himself & Charles Darwin on insectivorous or carnivorous plants: Cephalotes, Nepenthes & Sarracenia. Has neglected work on GENERA PLANTARUM. Has had difficulty getting good systematic contributions for the FLORA INDICA, Thiselton-Dyer & Hiern did good work but Edgeworth, Masters, Andrews & Lawson all needed a lot of correction. Tells Gray about his trip to Florence, Italy for a Congress, run badly by Filippo Parlatore who JDH calls a Tragopogon [also known as 'goatsbeard'] & a 'little toad'. During the trip he saw the Miss Horners, Bakle & his wife, & Mrs Harvey. He also went to Paris, Nimes, Montpelier, Antibes, Hanbury's brother's place near Montara, Genoa, Spezzie [La Spezia] & Pisa & returned via Venice, the Brenner [Pass] Munich & Paris. [Letter appears incomplete. It bears no signature but is written in the hand of Joseph Dalton Hooker.]

JDH informs Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that Lord Hatherley has found in George Bentham's favour on all points [regarding the amendment of the Linnean Society by-laws]. JDH still hopes [Marcus Manuel] Hartog will accept the post [of Assistant Director, Peradeniya Botanic Garden] in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. In a post script JDH briefly discusses a recent experiment with carnivorous plants: Nepenthes rafllesiana & phyllamphora & mentions the difficulty of studying Darlingtonia & Cephalotus.

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[Letter appears to be incomplete as it bears no formal salutation, & the only date given has been added in pencil in a hand not that of the original author.] In the letter JDH writes to [Asa Gray] informing him that he is going to Belfast for the British Association. He will 'begin' at the Royal Society in November. Explains why he has refused Knight Commandership of St Michael & St George. As President of the Royal Society he feels he will inevitably be offered Knight Commandership of the Order of the Bath & will be obliged to accept even though he & his wife, Hyacinth Hooker, do not like such titles. In a post script he adds that Baker has Gay's plants ready for Gray & Mrs [Elizabeth] Lombe is unwell.

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JDH writes to Sir William Turner Thiselton--Dyer [WTTD] about a recent stay with General Birch at Stranraer in the company of the Whites[?] & the Hamiltons. He also visited Lord Stair's Pinetum, run by a Mr Fowler, he particularly admired the white Douglas fir & some Pinus nobilis grown from grafts. He observed that Scotch Fir & Spruce won't grow there. He complains about the late train home from Galloway & the loss of their luggage en route to Wilesden via Carlisle. [John] Smith has gone to Cornwall. [Algernon Freeman-] Mitford is coming to stay with JDH at Kew, JDH likes Mitford so far. Russell, the RBG Kew 'orchid man', wants to leave in order to work on orchid greowing on a larger scale. JDH asks WTTD to consult Moore about a replacement at salary of 25 to 28 shillings plus room. JDH complains about the time he has to take correcting Lawson's reviews. JDH has received a proof corrected by WTTD with a passage about pitchers of Nepenthes marked as illegible, JDH does not know where it came from but has corrected it & sent it to the Academy. JDH complains about misprints in some 'copies' sent to Belfast for printing. JDH expects WTTD to see Harvey's Ericeae for Flora of South Africa whilst in Dublin. He apologises that he cannot send back Barkley's[?] bottles as promised. Reports that [Daniel] Oliver has returned from France & [John Gilber] Baker is away. JDH is preparing for some disageeable work with the Trustees of the British Museum regarding the Admiralty [probably in connection with a dispute over the collections from the HMS 'Challenger' expedition]. JDH intends to lay the case before Sir Philip Egerton privately. JDH asks WTTD to return an enclosed letter from Charles Darwin [enclosure not present].

JDH thanks Asa Gray for his letter of 27 Aug. Mentions spiral vessels. Comments on English knowledge of foreign developments, comparing his systematic botany to the German way. Will be glad of a copy of Valron's[?] Index. Has received the Thistles & Torrey's sheets by Dix. Praises Belfast meeting, particularly lectures by [Thomas Henry] Huxley & [John] Lubbock. Apologises that Farlow's paper was not acknowledged. JDH is sending Gray a copy of his Belfast address, it will be published in THE PROCEEDINGS. Notices of Edwards' observations have been omitted in CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE, JDH implies because of a quarrel. JDH has stayed out of the Linnean Society row but is embroiled in conflict with [William] Carruthers who has complained to the Admiralty, in the name of the British Museum Trustees & through the Librarian Mr Winter Jones, that JDH has not been sharing botanical collections. Including unfounded appeals about the Welwitch collection, collections made by [William] Purdie & [Charles] Wilford, & JDH's own Antarctica collections; which were shared with Captain [James Clark] Ross. It is part of the campaign by Carruthers & [Richard] Owen to undermine JDH's position as a British Museum Trustee. Haveley[?] has also been drawn into the dispute. The illiberal museum policy is the real reason none of the Public Offices send specimens there. 'Old Gray' [John Edward Gray] will retire & be replaced by Gunther but Owen will not go until he has moved the [natural history] collection to the new building [Natural History Museum]. The natural history trusteeship, comprised of JDH, Duke of Devonshire, Duke of Argyll, Viscount Eversley, Sir P. Egerton, Sir G. Burrows is ignored. Thanks Gray for Fremontia seed, shared with [Gustave Adolphe] Thuret & [Thomas] Hanbury. He will continue to send seed to Bolander through the Smithsonian. Advises that Baker will send Refugia[?] & JDH will pay Leeman. Asks what lower Cryptogams of Wilkes' voyage have been published.

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JDH asks Thiselton-Dyer if the proof of his 'address' has been sent to the publisher, Griffith. JDH describes his present location, Alderley Grange in Wotton under Edge, as 'a lovely place'. Whilst there he is working on the Royal Society address & the 'Primer' [refers to the series of 'Science Primer' books published by Macmillan, for which Hooker wrote the volume entitled BOTANY (1876)]. The following week JDH will go to Bewdley, then to stay with [George] Maw at Broseley, Shropshire, before returning to Kew. In a post script JDH adds that he has read & enjoyed CRUISE ON WHEELS [by Charles Allston Collis] & is now reading [George Eliot's] SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE, the best thing he has read in years, either fact or fiction. He specifically mentions the story JANET'S REPENTANCE.

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JDH asks Thiselton-Dyer to give his opinion on a letter JDH has drafted to the Trustees of the British Museum, concerning JDH's Antarctic collections. Daniel Oliver has already given his opinion but does not consider JDH's position regarding the Royal Society. A copy of the letter will be sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury [Archibald Tait]. JDH refers to an enclosed magnolia [not present] which Alexander MacCleay calls fuscata but which differs from the plants under that name at RBG Kew.

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JDH asks for Thiselton-Dyer's opinion on an enclosed dedication [enclosure not present]. He reports that he is feeling unwell but must send off his letter to the British Museum.

JDH writes to arrange a time he & Thiselton-Dyer can confer regarding the [proposed Jodrell?] laboratory.