To William Hutton 18 January 1840

Dear Sir,

I have received some drawings of a new fossil allied to Stigmaria, from Mr Teal of the Phil. Soc. Leeds, & a communication from Mr Bowman & one or two others. When your arrangements are made for recommencing the Flora, I will prepare such an account of these objects as may seem to be worth inserting. I feel the want of named specimens - for I find, in some cases that it is impossible to feel quite sure of several species which I suppose I have before me. If I could once see a few of these, many doubts would clear away. I have satisfied myself about 2 or 3 errors that have crept into Sternbergh & Brongniart &c. Both have mistaken Artis's figure of Calamites nodosus, & Brongniart has improved the figure in his copy to suit his fancy. What Artis intends to represent broken tubercles on the upper ends of the costae Brongniart figures as distinct interpolated costae! & Sternbergh places the species in his first section instead of in the 2d. By & large these 2 sections of Sternbergh are idle, after what Brongniart says on the subject, & what is clearly the fact. I suspect Artis's C. nodosus (Brongts. ramosus) to be merely a branch bearing joint of his C. decoratus. I think also that the curved extremities considered by some as the summits & by others as the bases of stems, are in reality the bases of branches thus - [illustration] The size of some does not seem to be too great for the larger species - your collections are always desired to work out shape for junctions of leaves & stems, or stems & branches, however imperfect the specimen - they will serve the cause much more than by merely selecting handsome looking specimens. If you have any Calamites to figure, I think it might be done in the first No. & I could refer to the corrections & one or two other suggestions that I should wish to make.

Believe me

very truly Yrs

J. S. Henslow