Letter and/or further information available at http://jdh.aetopia.net/p/jdh?q=jhc148.
Please cite as “JHC148,” in Ɛpsilon: The Joseph Dalton Hooker Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/hooker/letters/JHC148
JDH writes to Asa Gray regarding Alphonse De Candolle [ADC] & his endorsement of Muller creating eponymous synonyms every time he adjust the limits of a species [see also JDH146]. Also comments on ADC's responsibility for the PRODROMUS SYSTEMATIS NATURALIS REGNI VEGETABILIS & on his opinion of ADC as a weak, vain man. Discusses his own recently completed work organising the order Cornaceae [for GENERA PLANTARUM] with reference to: a Himalayan Nyassa he found in Sikkim & Khasia, also mentions Benthamia, Garrya, Bursinopetalum, Mastixia, Torricellia, & Leranthaceae being relegated to Santalaceae. Cucurbitaceae are being printed & [George] Bentham is working on Umbelliferae & Araliaceae. JDH has been nominated for the Presidency of the British Association in Norwich, he fears it will interfere with his plans for an American trip. JDH & [Thomas] Thomson are to be jurors at the Paris [International Horticulture] Exhibition. Discusses the link between class & politics in Britain, predicts the future of political influence in the United States of America & points out the lack of representation of the British lower classes & aristocracy alike in the USA press. Notes that people & the press are more apt to complain about small problems, recently it was snow preparedness in London & bad ferry service in New York. Settlement of the 'Herbarium' affair & consequent payment will allow JDH to stay on in his position at Kew. Darwin is working hard at his 'big book' [THE DESCENT OF MAN[?]]. JDH wants to be informed about the progress of a young man who wrote an article on Agassiz.
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