From J. D. Hooker   12 December 1844

My dear Darwin

In the first place let me thank Mrs Darwin & yourself for the great kindness you shewed me during my most pleasant stay at Down, & which made me regret leaving you so soon very much indeed.¹ In Miss Darwin² I found a most pleasant companion to London; I hope that she did not suffer from the cold in the railway carriage.

I did not see Mr Brown at the Brit. Mus., but my Father went soon afterwards, & took the Agate to him: he is enchanted with it, & says it is very valuable & curious,—that it is either animal or vegetable!—but that is all; so I cannot give you much news about it: I am however to assure you of his gratitude— Curious I grant it looks, but I must confess I cannot see what analogies it has to make it so very interesting as he finds it.—

Neither Robertson nor McCormick in their accounts of the South allude to Boulders in Kerg. Land or elsewhere.³ The collections, I believe at the Geogolog. Soc., will however throw some light on the subject of Kerg. Land ones I am sure; & I shall rout them out next week if I can. From Cockburn Isld.. (a conical volcano xtinct in 64 ’ 12’ S & 57 E.) I have rocks of 6 or 8 kinds, from Scoriæ⁴ up to harder things, including Gneiss, & perhaps Granite, which must have been transported there: would you like a look at the Specimens?, if so I will leave them at the Geolog. Soc. & meet you there one day. I have laid out a piece of Kerg. wood to get cut & shall report to you when done. Also another very curious nodule, apparently containing fossils, from Cockburn Isld^s. I enclose a little V. D. L. Fossil wood for your microscope to see the glandular tissue. Stretetski⁵ will tell you all about it if you sh^d. see him—

I enclose a copy of the part of Gardners Ceylon letter,⁶ mentioning the Europæan plants on the M^ts.— Gentiana prostrata H.B.K. is the one with the xtraordinary range, which I have thus stated “In Europe it inhabits the Carinthian Alps, between 6000 & 9000 ft. In Asia Altai M^ts in Lat 52. In America the tops of Rocky Mts Lat. 52^o (where they reach 15–16000 ft.) & is also found on E. side of Andes of S. Am in 35 S. It descends to the level of the sea at Cape Negro in 53. & at Cape Good Hope in Behrings Straits in 68$\frac{1}{2}$N.—”⁷ These are the authentic stations I have gathered together, there are doubtless lots more.

Anisotome is not the plant I was thinking of, in which the rudimentary female organ, though generally present, is sometimes wholly wanting. I cannot at present think what it is, but shall not forget the subject.

Brown certainly in Congo, seems to think the Banana indigenous only to East Asia,⁸ but a Mr Ward;⁹ a Mexican Consul, who dined here yesterday, assures me that it is wild there & ripens its fruit also—.— Lumley in Chancery Lane has all Flinders’ voyage,¹⁰ I shall be passing next week & ask the price. I cannot hear of Ann. Sc. Nat. to be picked up.— Sloane in Phil. Trans. mentions the seeds picked up on the coast of Ireland, which vegetated afterwards;¹¹ at least so says Gray of Brit. Mus. but I do not find it there. In Brown’s Congo he says “I have no doubt that the nature of the integuments of the seeds of Abrus precatorius & Guillandina Bonduc would enable them to retain their vitality for a very long time in the currents of the ocean,” & adds a note—Sir J. Banks received a drawing of Guillandina Bonduc, raised from seed found on W. coast of Ireland” (this is what I was thinking of.) also Linnæus is acquainted with similar instances of germination of seeds thrown on coast of Norway,” vid. Coloniæ plant.—¹² We have seeds of Entada Gigalobium (old Mimosa scandens ), thrown up on beach of Orkney & W. Ireland the seed is large flat 2 inches in diam. & comes from Carribees, it never germinated or was tried that I know of.

I send you for perusal Bot. Journal with Watson’s Azores journal.¹³ 3 N^os. of Tasm. Phil. Journal with Colenso on Caves & bones of N. Z. & other perhaps interesting papers.¹⁴ A few numbers of Silliman¹⁵ which are highly fossiliferous & contain other matters of interest.— Also one or two other little things I promised.

I am not yet prepared to give any further analogies between Juan Fernandez & S^t. Helena Floras’, but shall remember the subject. Anent M^t. Floras I have nothing to say, but if I meet any account of those of the E Ind. Isld^s. shall remember it. all I can at present refer to are Gardner’s Ceylon letter, (mentioned above) Wights¹⁶ letters from Nylgherries alt. 5500 ft., who mentions incidentally Clematis, Circæa, Ranunculi, Geranium, Stellaria, Cerastium, Docks, Potentilla, a Rose, Galium, Rubia, Pedicularis, Osmunda Ophioglossum Vaccinium? Berberis.

Bishop Selwyn’s Journal is at Hampstead,¹⁷ I will send it you when returned.

The Quantity of Europæan Genera throughout the Andes, especially the Tropical one’s, is quite amazing. I know of no other Mts more characteristically alpine in their Flora—Gentian’s, Drabas & other Cruciferæ, Caryophylleæ are there as fully represented as in the Alps, & are characteristic of both.— I know of no materials for a comparison of similar Tropical heights with these, we know so little of the Alps of Java, even if they be high enough. A Botanist from the R. Gardens is now exploring the heights of S^ta. Martha, which ought to bear on Humboldt’s statement; when his collections come I will tell you the result. ¹⁸

Schombugk¹⁹ came here today P.P.C.²⁰ he meets Humboldt in Paris I wrote to the latter with some books my father had for him. I told him you were better w^h. he will I am sure be glad to know. I asked Schombugk if he should see Dieffenbach to mention, incidentally, that your wood-cuts &c were not in England, am I right? It is no joke losing such xpensive things.—²¹

I send you some notes on Comparative Floras of N.Z. Terra Australis & S. Am West coast; it is very imperfect & I should be deeply obliged if would have the goodness to suggest how it could be clearer stated. I have reexamined many of the Lycopodium’s & delivered a verdict in the Antarct. Flora of w^h. I will send a proof sheet to Down when printed. ²²

I mention, in a letter home, that Robertson found a boulder of Syenitic granite in Kerg. Land.²³ I have come across a slight notice of the Stream of Stones²⁴ & am inclined to think I thought it more extraordinary at the time than I did a few nights ago, the lower part is very broad; I think I can hunt up some other account yet. What a curious thing if my ideas should change per se, like some species, in going from one country to another.

Ross wrote me yesterday that he had found some notes apparently mine!!!²⁵ I have read Miss Martineau’s mesmerism & would not engage that little Servant-maid with any character Miss M. would give her.—²⁶

I have not yet compared the fossil leaves with the recent, but have laid out the latter to do so.

Galapago Flora is progressing

Henslowe spent parts of Tuesday & Wednesday here. Do you know of his finding 4 Whales ear-bones in the Crag.²⁷ Owen says 2 are types of N. Whales & 2 of South. Also Coprolites which are using as Guano from the abundance of Phosphate of Lime they contain.²⁸

I hope M^rs Darwin will do me the honor of accepting a copy of Backhouse’s Cape & Mauritius book;²⁹ it, with the others, goes down by tomorrow’s, Saturday’s, coach. You need be in no hurry about returning them, The Sillimans’ we send to V. D. Land in a few months. We always have two copies & if you care, we could regularly let you have a months reading of one of them.

With kind regards to Mrs Darwin Believe me Ever | Your’s Jos D Hooker.

Tahiti & Owhyhee³⁰ comparisons are commenced.

The only Bourbon Flora is Bory’s quatre-Isles de’Afrique³¹ I will look at it.