A note to accompany some letters being returned to GA.

Is organizing a committee to revise the instructions for observers at magnetic observatories; GA is on it.

JDH writes to his father, WJH, re. Falklands plants. Lichens are abundant, algae huge, mosses only now fruiting. He has found the same species as Gaudichaud & D'Urville & kept notes on distribution. Discusses mosses on East Falkland, incl: Andreaea, Sphangnum & Trichostoma. 30 lichens found incl Usnea melaxantha which he compares to a Kerguelen sp.. Collected 50 sp. of seaweed incl Macrocystis & Laminariae. Disagrees with Harvey re. Sphacelaria callitricha. Confervoid plants cover the bays. Fungi are scarce but Lyall will send some in spring, incl. large Agarici. Lists ferns collected, incl. a tiny new Aspidium. Asks that a contribution be made to William Burnett on his behalf. The expedition will soon leave for Cape Horn & St Martin's Cove or other port in Tierra del Fuego, allowing JDH to complete his flora of the Antarctic regions. Discusses Fagus sp. found there by Foster & Mirbel. Mentions 3 plants from sub-Antarctic islands which represent new natural orders. Mentions Niger Expedition. Discusses books on cryptogamic plants. Wants Gardner to help arrange his mosses. McLeary will collect moss for JDH in New Holland [Australia]. Discusses Quinary & circular classifications for cryptogamic plants. Mentions the sale of Bauer's drawings & Fitch illustrating GENERA FILICUM. Fielding of Staddagy Lodge has left his collection to the Botanical Society London. Describes walking from Berkeley Sound to Uranie Bay. Plants seen incl Macrocystis & Sticta. Birds observed: steamer ducks sandpiper, kelp goose, Carcara Hawk, gulls, Teal, oyster catcher & Chionis. Describes the quartz hills & the lichens that grow on them, Uranie Bay, a seaweed possibly D'urvillea, the sand hills & the sp. that grow there. Describes a Usnea. Berkeley is wrong about Darwin finding fungi on timber in the Falklands. JDH is sending a parcel to WJH, as well as plants it incls a sketch by Davis, veneer from HMS 'Terror's' rudder, kaurigum, & Tussac grass seeds to share with Edmonstone in the Shetlands.