JDH writes to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer to say that he will recommend Kirk as a candidate for membership of a society [The Athenaeum Club?]. JDH praises [George] King's Ficus work particularly regarding sexual difference in the flower, & says he has progressed beyond the work of [Guglielmo] Gasparrini, [Hermann Maximilian?] Solms-Laubach[?] & Miguel. JDH is encouraging King to work on Palms, Pandanus & Musa rather than the Perak flora. JDH is stunned by the Baccaurea King has sent. JDH is currently describing Bradleia. He mentions that [James Edward Tierney?] Aitchison[?] is upset by the omission of his name in a new order. JDH will be glad to get Sikkim Rhododendrons from Thiselton-Dyer.

JDH is pleased that Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] has appointed Allen[?] & asks if he will have Jurd's house. He reports that [Reverend William Samuel] Symonds' health has improved. JDH, [Daniel] Oliver & [John Reader] Jackson have been calculated that it will take 4 years work to revise Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel [NOMENCLATOR BOTANICUS]. JDH may begin working on Euphorbias to go into the manuscript, with occasional visits to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew for this work. JDH comments on a collection which has just arrived from Morocco & offers to send the collector a copy of his & John Ball's publication [of their tour of Morocco]. Sir Hussey Vivian has sent JDH Rhododendron falconeri & R. hodgsonia, they are unfortunately withered but the leaves will go to [George] Nicholson for his arboretum collection. JDH thanks WTTD for sending him plants including Rhododendron edgworthia.

JDH refers to an enclosed item [not present] which is intended for RBG Kew but would be better suited to the Royal Horticultural Society [RHS]. JDH has received a long letter from John Smith (1798-1888) complaining about the way he was treated by JDH & his father Sir William Jackson Hooker. JDH's father in law Reverend William Samuel Symonds is ill & has delayed coming to 'The Camp', Sunningdale. JDH [& his wife Hyacinth Hooker] are to go & stay with the Tyndales. On his return JDH will meet with Mr Hervey[?] at the herbarium.

JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] for his assistance, & Huxley's, in getting Inglis Palgrace elected [to the Athenaeum Society]. He also thanks WTTD for sending him letters & news, JDH was glad to hear that the RBG Kew staff were 'well considered in the Abbey'. He hopes the [Kew?] Palace will be 'taken up & done for'. JDH & the Grays [Asa & Jane] had an interesting time in Oxford & Cambridge & Foster was attentive. But the overblown ceremony for giving an honorary degree to the Lord Mayor, a man who did not deserve it, offended JDH & in his opinion debased the university. He blames the V.C. [Vice Chancellor] & is tempted to send a note to NATURE. Recounts the day in Oxford: breakfast at All Souls College, garden party at Worcester college, dinner at [Archibald] Sayce's with 'old Westwood' in attendance. JDH is surprised there was never a second edition of Westwood's entomology book: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. JDH & the Grays visited Nuneham, where JDH looked over Mr Harcourt's letters from [Charles] Darwin but found nothing of importance in them. Also spent an afternoon in the Botanic Garden of the University of Oxford, JDH praises what [Isaac Bayley] Balfour has done in the gardens & his lectures are much admired. Also met 'old Baxter' & Miss Smith who made a faux pas with MacHassy[?] mistaking his badge of the Greek Order of the Redeemer for a Home Rule rosette. The Grays have gone to Dean Chruches, when they return all will go to visit Lord Blachford, JDH's sister [Maria MacGilvray] in Torquay & possibly to the Rosberg's[?].

JDH writes to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] regarding the upcoming election for Sir Robert Harry Francis Inglis Palgrave's entry to the Athenaeum Society. Palgrave is anxious about the election as JDH will not be able to attend. JDH has lobbied for positive votes from Evans, Flower, Huxley, Rutsen & Francis Palgrave & asks that if WTTD attends he induce any 'Savilians' to vote for Palgrave. JDH attended a party at Mr Ruterson's[?] where he met with Reverend & Mrs Adie, Sir & Lady Grant Duff, Mrs Stanley, a daughter of Lowthian Bell. Also [Sir Arthur Dyke?] Acland a Member of Parliament who is on the forestry commission but knows nothing about trees, specifically why European Oak is not planted for timber or what an Acacia tree is under any of its names: Robinia, Pseudacacia, False Acacia, or Locust Tree. JDH will be away for his daughter Harriet [Thiselton-Dyer nee Hooker's] birthday but promises to write & sends an enclosure for her [enclosure not present]. JDH mentions hearing about a telegraph[?] from the RBG Kew Board.

JDH is about to leave for France. His party will travel via Le Havre, meet Asa & Jane Gray in Rouen & then go on to Caen, Coutances & Avranches visiting the churches[?] on the way. JDH will return in September, the Grays earlier to attend the British Association for the Advancement of Science. JDH has also been to Devonshire to visit his sister & Lord Blachford [Frederic Rogers] & to see Wistman's Wood. Describes the landscape of Wistman's Wood & instructs that the First Commissioner should ask for a specimen for the RBG Kew museum so they can determine whether the Wood is ancient. The Grays visited the Dukeries [in Nottinghamshire], York & Edinburgh. JDH reports that painting & varnishing has been going on in the herbarium, he is worried about the risk of fire. JDH is painting his own shed with asbestos paint & has great faith in its properties. Is glad Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer enjoyed his holiday in Switzerland & recalls his own trip there, specifically Kandersteg & Gemmi Pass. JDH hopes that Bale, an [herbarium] employee will recover. Discusses [Isaac Bayley] Balfour teaching his advanced botany class by the didactic method, a 'modern' kind of teaching JDH does not agree with. JDH thinks that there should be 2 branches of botanical teaching; 1 for biological research, the other for practical purposes. Comments that the needs of medical students regarding botanical knowledge have changed. JDH notes that he has been before [John] Lubbock's committee. JDH reports on his family. His sister Maria McGilvray has been seriously ill. JDH's children Joey [Joseph Symonds Hooker] & Grace Ellen Hooker are accompanying him to France. Frances & Georgie[?] are not coming because of the heat. [William Samuel] Symonds is getting weaker, he is staying with his sister Mrs Tennant. 'Frank' [Henry Francis] Symonds has been ill in Samoa.

JDH & family have just returned from France via Cherbourg. They visited Rouen, Caen, Bayeux, St-Lo, Coutances, Avranches & St Michel. Also a sea bathing place called Jullouville 6 [miles] south of Granville, which JDH describes. He found the vegetation there comparable to that of the Yarmouth Denes except there was also an abundance of Eryngium Campestre & Scilla Autumnalis. JDH writes that he like Normandy where he people, agriculture & industry seem prosperous. Asa & Jane Gray were with the Hookers in France for a fortnight before returning to England. JDH does not agree with Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer 'with regard to the Rhododendron argenteum', he refers to his long familiarity with the plant & his original drawings of it. Notes that he has not yet seen 'Jackson's work' [John Reader Jackson?].

JDH confides to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that he is worried Asa Gray is travelling more than is wise given his health & age, Mrs Gray has informed JDH that Gray has gone to Washington for a Smithsonian meeting. Gray & [Miles Joseph] Berkeley are the last surviving old friends of JDH's father Sir Willliam Jackson Hooker, JDH has known Gray since 1838. JDH has just heard of the death of his brother in law Henry Francis 'Frank' Symonds. JDH thanks WTTD for his & [George] King's honoraria payment for the Straits' Flora. JDH reports that he has had many letters regarding his speech & will send WTTD a copy; he never writes down his speeches beforehand but can recall what he said & record it for WTTD. He also thanks WTTD for his personal & professional sympathy regarding the Copley [medal] affair. JDH asks WTTD to second Sir Edmund Giles Loder's candidature for the Athenaeum Society.

JDH mentions a document concerning his portrait at the Linnean Society. He approves of Mr Harting as Assistant Secretary but suggests it might be better to have paid secretaries rather than a fellow in the position. They also need a bona fide botanical replacement for [Richard] Kippist. JDH suggests that £100 be added to Mr Foster's salary so he can pay for an assistant himself as the Society is unlikely to fund a third one. JDH is wary of the interference of 'the Astronomer' with Rayleigh's work. He will forward Mr Hamilton's letter to Francis 'Frank' Darwin, though there is nothing in it. He adds in a post script that he has received £50 from the Royal Society.

JDH hopes to see Mr Foster at the upcoming Challenger Committee[?]. JDH discusses the importance of the post of Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, the need to fill the position suitably & the duties attendant upon it. Williamson has not been fulfilling these duties vis à vis writing up obituaries & summary of scientific proceedings abroad & JDH has encouraged his successors as President of the Royal Society, Sottiswoode & Huxley, to dismiss Williamson. JDH has received a good account of Mr Harting: gentleman & ornithologist. JDH speculates on the value of the Royal Horticultural Society keeping up its experimental garden at Chiswick & wonders, as [Charles Wentworth] Dilke did previously, if it could be moved to a piece of the palace grounds at 'a really scientific establishment' [possibly implying the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]. JDH doubts the success of the society because of the diversity of its members: Gentlemen, Tradesmen & Gardeners. He asks if there is any precedent for a successful society that consists of 2 classes of paying fellows.