To Charles Babbage   7 March 1852

My Dear Sir

The enclosed seeds have come to me as freshly gathered from a wild plant in Devonshire, supposed to have been a gigantic specimen of our common Heracleum spondylium -I believe them to belong to H.giganteum, (some accidental escape into a field) & they are quite fresh, they may replace those which would not germinate - We have excellent accounts from Dr &Mrs Hooker in Switzerland. The only misfortune that has befallen the gentlemen of the party has been an inglorius defeat in an atttempt to try and scale Mont Blanc.

Believe me

very sincerely

J.S.Henslow