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 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.

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.

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.

JDH advises Sir William Thiselton-Dyer not to despair of the Linnean Society. He states that it is for younger men to take the society forward. He is encouraged by the accession of new members. He has given Allman his approval of [John] Gwyn Jeffreys as the Treasurer. JDH is making geological observations in the Malverns & Cotswolds with [Reverend William Samuel] Symonds. JDH thinks tickets have been sent to 'all the men...[Thiselton-Dyer] mentions'. Either JDH or White can provide ticket to the Royal Society soiree for Mr Vines.

JDH informs Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that he has 'caught' a lord who wants to become a member of the Linnean Society: Lord Arthur Russell M.P.. Wallace of Colchester also hopes to join soon. JDH mentions that Charles Lyell's family are pleased he is to be buried in Westminster Abbey even though it will cost them £300. JDH is sending Reeve [his publisher] statement of correction for the FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA.

JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiseton-Dyer for his offer to assist JDH with the Macmillan Science Primer [BOTANY]. JDH's plan for the book is to write a series of short introductions to plants incl. some on physiology. The book would be in two parts: facts for the pupil & things they must observe for themselves. JDH asks Thiselton-Dyer to help him write the physiology introductions, he has already written one on cell contents but thinks Thiselton-Dyer could do it better.

JDH discusses arrangements for securing Thiselton-Dyer's pay for his new position [as Assistant Director of RBG Kew]. There has been some delay on Lord Henrys'[?] part. JDH is anxious for Thiselton-Dyer to start work & congratulates him on getting the job, which he hopes has also pleased Thiselton-Dyer's family.

JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer for his letter & sympathises with the trouble he has had about 'the cheque'. He mentions the theft of Bain's portrait. Reeve [Pulishing Company] has not returned the [BOTANICAL] MAGAZINE proofs he promised which will delay publication of some [species] descriptions. JDH has transferred Orychophragmus back to the genus Moricandia from where Bunge had placed it in ragworts[?]. JDH has got engaged to Lady [Hyacinth] Jardine & informed his family.

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.

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 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 William Thiselton-Dyer [WTD] that he has sent his wife[?] & books by train to him at Betws-y-coed. JDH discusses the controversy surrounding the RBG Kew boundary wall, Mitford [First Commissioner of Works] supports JDH but Engleheart, the Selwyn's & Stock & Co object. JDH has complained about the substandard materials Carless provided for painting[?] the Palm House & recommended that his contract be terminated. He is frustrated that Wilkie did nothing to stop Carless & it fell to Smith to 'shut the gates' on him. Discusses the poor heating system in the herbarium. Gregory is keen to employ [Daniel] Morris at Ceylon [Peradeniya Botanic Garden] in place of [Marcus Manuel] Hartog. JDH has prepared 3 months of the BOTANICAL MAGAZINE & will ask [Daniel] Oliver to look after it from here on.

JDH received William Thiselton-Dyer's [WTD's] letter of 13 July [1877] at Denver, Colorado. He is glad WTD is not overwhelmed by the duties of RBG Kew Director in JDH's absence. Mrs Hodgson wrote to JDH about visiting WTD & his wife Harriet Thiselton-Dyer. JDH is working learning a lot about western conifers, especially the Pines of Colorado, which are very diverse & incl. Pinus edulis, P. ponderosa P. aristata, P. flexilis, Abies douglasii, A. menziesii, A. engelmannii, Picea concolor, Juniperus virginiana, J. occidentalis & J. communis. Of these western American species only the Junipers are found East of the Rocky Mountains. JDH has collected 500 species. Next the party travels East to the Wahasatch [Wasatch] Mountains beyond Salt Lake to get a glimpse of the West Colorado vegetation where Pinus edulis gives way to P. monophylla. They will go to Nevada & the Taxodium grove via Carson & Silver City then via Calavera & Mariposa to San Francisco, the Redwood [Sequoioideae] district & Monterey. JDH's travelling companion Asa Gray should write a general description of the botanical geography of North America, they may write something jointly for Hayden's Survey. The Stracheys are good company. Discusses improvements being made at RBG Kew: replacement of the boilers [in the Palm House] with 'Rivers' Boilers', the controversy over the height of the [RBG Kew boundary] wall, bad work done by a contractor & poor foundations of the Palm House. JDH is anxious to give up his duties at the Royal Society & focus on RBG Kew. JDH has seen the RBG Kew report published in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Mentions news regarding his sons Charles Paget Hooker & Brian Harvey Hodgson Hooker. JDH is suffering with diarrhoea & travelling through wilderness has left him bruised. He does not have the energy he once had, though he did climb Gray's Peak to 14,300 feet. Recounts the feeling of being at the top of the peak during an electrical storm with Mr Darrell, son of Judge Darrell of Bermuda.

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