JDH has just returned from Loch Lomond & found 3 letters & enclosures from Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD]. In turn he is sending WTTD 2 India Office drafts & [James] Backhouse's letter complimenting RBG Kew. JDH feels that there is much more to be done at RBG Kew especially regarding the arboretum. JDH assumes that [Sir Richard] Strachey has returned to London from Aviemore. JDH mentions something that he & WTTD wrote about a Mr Talbot. JDH assumes that the Calcutta Botanic Garden is in a bad way given the conditions it exists in under Mudel[?], who JDH calls a 'jackanapes'. JDH has told [John Firminger] Duthie that he must listen to [George Henry Kendrick] Thwaites' opinion on the destination of the rubber plants Duthie takes out & that it will depend on the condition they arrive in. Some or all may be sent straight on to Assam via Calcutta [Kolkata]. JDH will back 'the Dipterocarp application'. He is anxious that WTTD come forward for the Royal Society despite the obstacle of Bentley. [George] Bentham has gone to the [British] Association [for the Advancement of Science] meeting. JDH reports that the weather in Scotland has been 'tolerable' for his & Lady Hyacinth Hooker's tour of the Clyde, Inverary & Loch Lomond & some of his 'old haunts'. JDH met the Miss Coles on the Loch Lomond Steamer. His wife Hyacinth is an excellent traveller, he describes her as 'a mountaineer'.

JDH & his wife, Hyacinth, intend to go to Skye with Mrs Lyell, Ruamond, Arthur, Mr [William Samuel?] Symonds & Miss Turner. JDH & Hyacinth will then go to Aviemore & afterwards to stay with the Grants, then home via the Colevile's near Dunfermline. JDH describes Professor Peter Guthrie Tait's lecture on force at the British Association meeting as extremely bad & an attack on John Tyndall, which has distressed Thomas Andrews, President of the Association, & Sir Charles Wyville Thomson. JDH thought Andrews' address poor, Alfred Russel Wallace's excellent, Evans' & Charles Merrifield's good but Alfred Newton's miserable. JDH hopes to report favourably on Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer's [WTTD] 'application' soon, there have been some procedural objections enumerated in a letter from Newton [letter not present]. JDH & George Bentham will attend the next Committee of Recommendations & act on WTTD's behalf.

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JDH reports to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] on the outcome of the recent meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Mentions sectional addresses by Prof. Thomas Andrews, Prof. Alfred Newton & Sir Charles Wyville Thomson. JDH reports Herbarium at Glasgow is a disgrace to Alexander Dickson, the curator. There is a lack of species and items are mislabelled e.g. horseradish as Asarum europaeum. Declares it was better in George Walker Arnott's time. JDH leaves for Oban and possibly Skye the next day. He hopes to visit the Grants at Aviemore. JDH is pleased that WTTD went to Yarmouth.

JDH informs Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] that the weather on Skye has been fine & he took the opportunity to explore more. Describes the island geography as being a bog with some remarkable rocks, a mountain & a lakelet. JDH describes the Quiraing, & vegetation he found there: Sileni acaulis, Arabis petraea, Oxyria & Antennaria. JDH says the Storr rock is similar but less remarkable & takes a long time to get there. Vegetation there consists of long grass, Eleocharis, Carex & heath-clumps. They took a different return journey to Portree. He also describes visiting Loch Arnish & Cuillin. JDH describes ascending a mountain & having stunning views of Rum & Eigg, Mull, Ben Cruachan & Argyle round to Sutherland. Gives vivid description of the valley & pitch black rocks. Describes the journey back to the hotel & the fact that Mrs [Hyacinth] Hooker walked & climbed most of it. JDH observed Miocene & Lias period beds between the lava beds. The area reminds him of the Cantal & Auvergne regions in France, as well as volcanic islands such as Auckland, Campbell & Kerguelen. Describes England & Scotland holding the key to the geology of Skye & the Hebrides much as New Zealand would to other southern isles: as JDH advised Sir James Hector. Wonders when his discovery of fossil wood in Kerguelen Island will be noted. Mrs Lyell with her children, Miss Lyell & Mr Symonds have been with them but have now left for Gair Loch [Gairloch] where JDH & Mrs Hooker will follow. JDH will be at Inverness the next day & will arrive at Aviemore on Saturday. He will then head to Stirling to visit his sister, an old college friend & Indian friend. Next stop will be Sir J Colville's near Dunfermline before heading home.

JDH has received letters forwarded by Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer. He is concerned by the letter from Henry Prestoe about the Trinidad Botanic Garden, JDH will talk to the Colonial Office & Secretary of State for Colonies; Henry Herbert. He also recommends that Prestoe get a statement of support for the Trinidad garden into the GARDENERS CHRONICLE & other English papers. Mentions a blunder about a Pelargonium on the part of Alfred Russel Wallace & [John] Morley. JDH thinks that the exhibition of 'Scientific Mind' damaged the reputation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science by including Spiritualism, he thinks it was a poor decision by [Augustus Henry] Lane Fox. Mentions the news that Hevea [rubber] plants are not doing well & says the issue must be addressed with Clements Markham, he suggests an official representation from RBG Kew by [Sir Richard] Strachey, whose scientific position is acknowledged by Lord Salisbury [Robert Gascoyne Cecil, Secretary of State for India]. JDH is not surprised that [George Henry Kendrick] Thwaites does not like his job [of establishing Cinchona nurseries in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka]. JDH mentions an affliction affecting the Darwin family. JDH regrets the death of [Francis] Sibson, his son William Henslow Hooker's mentor. Wonders if [John] Duthie got his letter. Describes the weather in Aviemore. Next JDH will go to Stirling, visit [Brian Houghton] Hodgson & to Ailey Cottage to see Mr Woodward. Letters should be addressed to JDH care of James Findlay, Gargunnock. JDH asks for Thiselton-Dyer's ideas on what he could say at his next Royal Society address, he would like to talk about fossil botany.

JDH describes his impressions of Sir W. Stirling Maxwell's home at Keir near Stirling, [Scotland], including the interiors of the house, the library & art collections, & garden design & management. JDH is grateful to learn from Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that the Hevea [rubber] matter is settled. He is uncertain what to do about Prestoe's affairs. JDH thanks WTTD for signing cheques for his daughter [Harriet Hooker later Thiselton-Dyer]. JDH approves of WTTD going to the Hereford Fungus Show to maintain RBG Kew's profile. Mentions a Mr Phillips & the British Museum buying Nylander's collection of herbarium specimens. RBG Kew, through Daniel Oliver, should co-ordinate the fungi they are buying with Berkeley so they do not duplicate. Discusses replacing Gammie & Hartog, the latter [as Assistant Director of Peradeniya Botanic Garden] possibly with Traill, thought JDH does not think that [George Henry Kendrick] Thwaites will be happy with anyone as his deputy. JDH is scathing of Edgeworth's work published in the Linnean Society Transactions, calling his species 'Chimaeras…seen in wood-cuts of SCIENCE GOSSIP' but advises WTTD to maintain silent contempt rather than denounce Edgeworth. JDH blames Curry & Allman [as officers of the Linnean Society] & W. Smith for not giving his opinion in writing to the Linnean Society Council. JDH notes that he is considering making his Royal Society address about fossil botany, with allusions to Williamson's papers & Hector's discoveries in New Zealand, Sapoteas & the question of temperate forests in arctic regions. He would also like to caution against introducing subjects such as spiritualism to scientific meetings.

JDH & his wife [Hyacinth Hooker] have just returned from their honeymoon to North Wales where they climbed Cadair Idris & Snowdon. They also went to the Botanical Association at Glasgow where they & George Bentham stayed with JDH's niece Mrs Campbell. The married tour continued around Scotland to the Clyde, some of JDH's 'old haunts' on Loch Lomond & Inveray [Inveraray], Loch Awe via Crinan, Oban via Ben Cruachan, Skye, Gari Loch [Gairloch], Loch Maree, Dingwall, Inverness, Forres, Rothiemurchus, Stirling, to stay with the McGilvrays at Bridge of Allan & with Brian Houghton Hodgson in Gloucestershire & another visit in Worcestershire. Hyacinth Hooker proved an excellent walker & climber, enduring a long walk through the bogs in Skye, a 25 mile walk to a church in the Cuchillins [Cuillin], & a trek to 2000 feet over Loch Coruisk. He wonders whether Mrs [Jane Loring] Gray is an equally robust walker. JDH has found that he is very compatible with his new wife, she has a genuine interest in plants & will make an excellent step mother. Discusses the correct author attributions for Tripetalia & Tuckermannia. Olvey[?] has not turned up. Thanks Gray for Abies fraseri cones & asks what soil they should be grown in. JDH will begin working on his Anniversary Address for the Royal Society. Thanks Gray for a cheque for Gay's plants.

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This letter appears to be a draft copy, it is not signed by Joseph Dalton Hooker, though it is written in his hand, & it contains extensive corrections & struck through text. JDH writes to [William Henry] Smith regarding a potential conflict over the HMS 'Challenger' expedition collections, which he fears may arise between the scientific staff of the expedition & the British Museum. His fears stem from correspondence sent to the Royal Society by the Admiralty & Treasury. JDH offers his services as a mediator to head off this dispute as he knows the parties involved & has experience dealing with scientific expeditions. He asks to be put in contact with anyone at the Treasury who takes an interest in the matter.

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At the behest of the Royal Society officers JDH requests a meeting with an officer of the Treasury. This is in response to a letter from Mr Law. JDH will call at the Treasury the following day; Friday 3 Nov 1876, in hope of seeing William Henry Smith.

JDH thanks Asa Gray for a letter of 16 Oct pointing out a mistake in a plant description, the plant as identified incorrectly by Thompson & [John Gilbert] Baker & JDH missed the mistake in the absence of [Daniel] Oliver. JDH asks Gray to explain why he has kept D. elegans & D. puchella [pulchella?] separate as it is not clear from Gray's BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA. Baker & Oliver are certain Gray is wrong about an Iris. Baker is progressing fast with the Mauritian flora. Bennett has bequeathed RBG Kew a share of the Brownian Australia Herbarium. George Bentham is working on Cyperaceae & waiting for Muller to send Australian specimens. Munro is working on Gramineae for Alphonse De Candolle. JDH is busy with Royal Society affairs & preparing his Royal Society Presidential Anniversary Address. Discusses a dispute between the British Museum & Sir Wyville Thomson over distribution & publication of the Challenger expedition collections. The expedition was arranged by the Royal Society so they will adjudicate the dispute on behalf of the government. JDH is strongly against the collections going to the British Museum but is in a difficult position regarding the dispute as he is a Trustee of the British Museum as well as President of the Royal Society & Director of RBG Kew. JDH states that Richard Owen [Superintendant of the natural history department of the British Museum] is unpopular. JDH incredulously cites a claim Owen made to the Treasury that the Keepers of Botany at the British Museum, from Robert Brown to William Carruthers, were responsible for describing the plants collected on Government expeditions dating from the voyages of James Cooke & Matthew Flinders to Berthold Carl Seemann. JDH is especially busy as Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer is on holiday in Italy.

JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] for his letter about his travels in North Italy containing admiration for Verona & Saint Marks of Venice. JDH recalls admiring the whole of Venice & the powerful paintings of Titian & Paul Veronese in the Scuola or Academia. Neither JDH nor WTTD like Tintoretto's paintings. JDH recommends WTTD go to Antibes. JDH updates WTTD on the ongoing dispute with the British Museum regarding the collections from the HMS 'Challenger' Expedition. JDH does not think the Treasury should have been involved & will argue that control should go to [Sir Charles Wyville] Thomson with oversight from the Royal Society. JDH is hopeful that the money will be granted for the herbarium men. JDH describes the appointee to the position of Bailiff of the Parks & his salary. Humphreys has been asking about WTTD in connection with an examination. Two seeds of Welwitschia have germinated but been killed by carelessness, there is also a young Welwitschia a foot long. JDH complains about [Richard] Lynch, who has lost all the [George] Nares plants. JDH declares that running an establishment such as RBG Kew requires scientific method. JDH describes the 'No. 4' [green] house as 'miserable', Seward is to be dismissed & JDH or WTTD will have to take the house in hand. JDH is going to spend 3 days with [George] Allman & will work on his Royal Society address.

JDH informs Sir Charles Wyville Thomson [CWT] that he has received copies of the latter's correspondence with the Admiralty & Treasury regarding the publication & dispersal of the results of the HMS 'Challenger' Expedition. The Treasury has asked for the advice of the Royal Society Council on how this can best be done independently & for the greatest scientific benefit. JDH quotes at length from the Treasury's request which asks especially for advice on what the limits of the published works should be, given CWT's insistence that they be restricted to the particular objects of the expedition. To help the Royal Society deliberations JDH asks CWT for his opinions on how the collections should be 'worked up' & what audience he has in mind for the published works & who should write them. Also as regards payment for & ultimate length of the work & whether or not the deep & shallow ocean fauna could be considered & published separately. He asks for the information promptly as the Challenger Committee must report for the Parliamentary Settlement of 1877-1878.

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