From Revd Edward Wilson   3 January 1831

Swinton

3 January 1831

My dear Sir,

I have long intended writing to thank you for your great kindness in forwarding to Soho Square the requisite papers in order that I m t. be elected a Fellow of the Lin n. Society. In June last I rec d. the pleasing intelligence of my election: & the reason of my long silence in not thanking you, is that I hoped to have done so in person: a variety of causes have prevented it & one is not the best of health.

I was much pleased with your experiment on the seed of the Anagallis reported in the Mag. of N. Hist y. .– the result is exactly what I expected. Next year I hope to try the same experiment, & before I sow my seeds, the plant-pots of soil shall be put in a hot-house, lest there should any latent seeds of the red pimpernel, a weed so common in this neighbourhood: I will gladly supply you or any of y r. Botan l. friends with more seed of the red & white.

About two months ago, a respected friend, the Rev. J. Harriman of Croft n r Darlington presented me with his valuable Hortus Siccus, contained in 15 vol s. 4to. It is an almost complete one. M r. H. was in extensive correspondence with Sir J. Smith, Dawson Turner, Dalton, Sowerby, Brunton, Winch, &c. &c. & the Herbarium is very richly supplied with numerous specimens from these excellent Botanists, & particularly from Sir James. The name of Harriman frequently appears in Smith & Withering & you will find that he was the first to give an English Habitat of the Gentiana verna. In With this unexpected present is a large number of Duplicates from the above Gent s., for friends & correspondents; I wish therefore to make you the first offer— so if you think any of them worth accepting, make out a list and I will endeavour, if possible, to send the label in the hand-writing of their respective finders, attached to the plant. M r. Harriman has not yet forwarded to me his Mosses, Lichens, & Fuci, wch he has kindly promised.

I have had your useful Catalogue interleaved, & am making it into an index to my Herbarium. Several of the specimens of you sent me by my friend Green, I find to be extremely rare, & not in M r. H's Hort. Sic., these will enhance its value. I think Hooker's Brit. Flora will supersede ere long Sir J. Smith's Eng. Flora. It is an excellent Book, because the descriptions are long or short, according as the Characters are prominent or obscure; & the price is not one third of that work. But to me the Eng. Flora is more interesting, having so many specimens gathered by its author.

But I will not trespass longer on your time. Be assured that of the continued esteem of | Yours most truly | Edw. Wilson Jun r.

P.S. I cannot but advert to a most lamentable event wch. has occurred since you were at Wentworth, the unexpected death of Lady Milton: it threw a gloom ove[r] the whole neighbourhood. It is most distressing to witness at Church the Family in the deepest mourning lamenting [illeg.] one in whom shone every virtue most pre-eminently. I saw that excellent woman at Church the day before her death. Alas! how soon the flower faded & is gone.

E. W. J r.

Please cite as “HENSLOW-140,” in Ɛpsilon: The Correspondence of John Stevens Henslow accessed on 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/henslow/letters/letters_140