From George Bentham   7 May 1869

My dear M^r Darwin

You will receive from M^r Kippist¹ two papers read at the Linnean Society which the Council have referred to you for your report with reference to their value for publication. I am very sorry that you should be bothered when you have so much valuable work on hand but one of these is M^r Spruce’s on the vesicles inhabited by ants in Tococa etc which has already passed through your hands about which we have some doubts and are anxious for your opinion.² We have many important papers on hand which will tax all our powers to bring out in tolerable time and are just now printing a very long one of Spruce’s on the Amazonian Palms³   at the same time I believe that M^r Spruce thinks highly of this one referred to you and we should be very sorry to reject it if really good—but we cannot afford to print what is not so.   the other one on the fecundation of Duvernoya in S. Africa is very short   the chief doubt is about the illustration— a coloured plate would be an expensive matter⁴

Yours very sincerely | George Bentham