To George Knights 5 June 1855

My dear Sir,

In thinking over the shelving of the Purbeck rocks it occurs to me that we might avoid the heavy appearance of shelves & the darkness introduced by their shadows, if we got some stout wire made into circles & fastened on rods, with a hole at the top to hang them up; & they could be kept in a vertical position by a nail thro' another hole below [Diagram on right side of the page]. The effect would be better and the plan introduced in many cases then

[Diagram of many examples] Series of Purbeck strata quarried for various purposes enumerated in Mr Austen's example &c.

The fastening of rings of stout wire to rods of iron sufficient for this purpose could not (or ought not) be expensive. If you can ascertain what it wd be for 12 rods at Ipswich I would ask our village blacksmith if he cd do them as cheaply or cheaper. Whether round rods or flat rods would not signify, I think the round wd be cheapest

Yrs very truly

J. S. Henslow

By rods I merely mean wire stout enough to bear the weight - perhaps a sort of support below wd be sometimes required [Diagram on right side of the page] Support (or bracket) ring all of one.

The diameter of the circles should not be more than 4 inches to support specimens or pasteboards rather larger [Diagram on right side of the page]