WCP1409

[1]¹

Malton. York.

July. 5. 1894

Dear Mr Wallace

Many thanks for your p[ost].card, with information about your interesting notice of our friend Spruce² in last week[‘]s Nature. I have taken Nature regularly now for some years, so had already seen it & was very pleased with it. — -

It was my custom regularly to send Nature on to Spruce who was always very grateful for anything to read, which helped him to while away, some weary hours, when he was unable to work at his plants. ——

I see Gepp³ of the British Nat. Hist. museum has given a short notice in the Journal of Botany. referring to some of Spruce’s botanical work, more particulars.

[2] Mr Gepp is ^{an assistant} in charge of the cryptogamic herbarium in New British Museum. — He had recently been in correspondence with the examination of some [1 illeg. word] &c collected in the Island of St Vincent & Dominica. —

Spruce got his paper on them completed, which was read at the Linnean Socty[sic] meeting on Dec 21st.

I believe he enumerated from the collection about 23 new species.

The paper I expect will be issued after a while with drawings of the new plants. —

I have now got the greater portion of his books, herbarium removed to Malton & have prepared a good dry room to store them in, so as I shall be able to look them ^over and get them classified so as ^{to be} readily and [3] easily got at for reference.

I see there is one large fools[?] cap size account book of [1 illeg. word crossed out] manuscript of his travel, commencing with his embarkation from Liverpool in June 1849 — & contains about 150. pages of closely written matter. & this is evidently the work he had intended to publish. — -

There were also several other memorandum & notes in manuscript of botanical & other interest, some of which might be introduced with the main portion. I am going to read this main portion of his travel through, & then should be glad to send the manuscript book to yourself to look through, & should be glad of your opinion about the publishing of it & any other assistance your time would allow of. I do not know the ways of publishing myself so any advice upon this matter would be most [1 word illegible due to a rip in the bottom left corner of the paper, word ends in ‘ful’] & for which I should [4] be very grateful. —

Could not a short biography of his life be given with the travel, which might include a full account ^list of all his botanical published work with reference to the journals &c they appeared in. — I need not trouble you with any more of my suggestions for I feel certain you will be able to judge better than I am able to do the rest way of going about the work.—

I hope you are enjoying good health | and with my kindest regards allow me | to remain | Yours very truly | Matthew. B. Slater⁴ [signature]