To William Hutton 27 November 1839

Dear Sir,

I have given up my residence in Cambridge & am now here all the year round except for one month in the spring. I have been examining all the fossil plants (not very many) at command - having brought here such as I have of my own, & Sedgwick has sent me some from the Woodwardian. I devote a portion of every morning to the subject. Any that you can send had better be directed to me at "Philosophical Society Cambridge" & they will then be forwarded as occasion serves. But if you will write on the box Fossils I will leave word that they shall be sent at least within a week after their arrival. Pray let me have any duplicates you can spare, for the purpose of comparison. I suppose you have no control over the plates of your work - otherwise I should ask you to let me have a spare set for ready reference. I have the book, but I like to have a set of plates arranged properly to refer to. Would it not be admissable in publishing any specimens which are not yet figured in Brongniart to send him a copy of the plates to identify the specimens with his own & so avoid synonyms. I don't know whether this could be readily done. It would detract nothing from the originality of your observations & would be useful to science. I have just met with half a dozen shells which look like a small species of Planorbis & some faint impressions which I think are wings of Ephemeridae upon the stem of a Lepidodendron, (the Ulodendron minus of Lindley). I don't know whether these have been noticed before. Mr Bowman has written to offer his assistance in the loan of specimens. I don't know exactly at what intervals the Flora used to appear. I think it was quarterly - or irregularly.

Believe me

very truly Yrs

J. S. Henslow