JDH sends Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] belated Christmas & new year wishes. He thanks WTTD for sending him a photo of a favourite spot in the Rhododendron Dell, now hanging on the wall at The Camp. JDH is relieved that David Prain has been appointed as the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. JDH is studying the Balsams of 'the archipelago', a subject neglected by Dutch botanists. He comments on their relative abundance in Sumatra, Java, the [Malay?] Peninsula & the Philippines. JDH reports that his wife Hyacinth Hooker is ill, suffering with Rheumatism, & later in the month he will take her to Bath.