WCP2869

[1]

THE CAMP,

SUNNINGDALE.

March 15 1907

My dear Wallace

I have not been unmindful of your want of information respecting Bentham's¹ having or not having written about the extent of Spruce's² collections, as compared with those of other botanical travellers in S. America; & Especially as to whether he has written about the Forest Flora of the Amazons.

Not having been able to get to Kew, I have had to fall back on the resources of my own Library, & there are the lists of his innumerable papers & the journals of Botany, in the Linnean Societies [sic] publications & [2] supplemented by the Royal Society's Catalogue of scientific papers.

Judging from a careful consideration of the titles of all these papers, & from what I know of the context of many, I should say that they give none of the information you hope for; but I have a sort of dream that [illeg.] somewhere gave an estimate of the number of species collected by Spruce in S. America, & I am writing to Hemsley³ to ask. Something might be gleaned from the mass [illeg]. ^list of the distributions of ^Spruce's specimens that Bentham kept, & what are at in Kew Library, — probably under the heading "Bentham [illeg.].” Miscellaneous Folio”.

I am right glad that you got [3] the [illeg.] grant from the R. S. I will gladly supplement it with £5.00 if you will let me, & ^so prove your friendship & my interest in your work thereby.

Jameson⁴ published Bot. notes made in El. Equador, Lord. Hook. Jour. from Bot II. 1843.

"Bot. Excursion to Salinas on Chimborazo" l.l. IV 1845.

"In the [illeg.] plants of New Granada," Linn. Soc. Journal Bot. vii 1863.

I can lend you the volumes if you care to see them.

Weddell's "Voyage dans le nord de Bolivie &c" Paris 1853 8vo. must contain a great deal of Botanical matter. He was a really great Botanist. No doubt the volume is in the Linnean Library.

If you find my hand writing even [4] worse than usual, it is attributable to my having to wear gloves to protect the unguents that Eczema demands the application of to my paddles.

Ever sincerely yrs | Jos D. Hooker⁵ [signature]