WCP3823

[1]¹

Nutwood Cottage, Frith Hill, Godalming

Sept[embe]^r 12th 1881

Dear Mr. Thiselton Dyer

I have sent by carrier- addressed to the Curator of the Kew Museum- a small parcel containing a specimen which I think will be of interest. It is the unopened leaf of a fan-palm growing in N. Celebes and said by two natives to be found nowhere else. It is characterised by the very large proportion of the undivided lamina to the divided leaflets, & in this respect is said to be unique. The leaf was cut just before if was about to expand, & at once wrapped [2] round with a strip of calico. It has been in my possession about 20 years and is a little bruised at the end but not I think broken or injured. A rather smaller one I opened about 7 years ago by soaking in water and then carefully expanding it on the floor & fixing it till dry when it remained quite perfect. No doubt you will be able to do this better than I did & will I think then obtain a very fine specimen.

With it I send a native umbrella from Timor Delli. This also will want soaking to open. There is also a piece of stem of a small tree-fern from Ceram,— but I fear of no use.

Some years ago when I was making [3] my garden at Grays, Essex, Sir Joseph Hooker² was so good as to send me a basket of choice herbaceous plants from the Kew duplicates, some of which I have still, notwithstanding several removals.

I am now again working a new garden, and am trying to get together as many of the very choicest herbaceous plants— especially Alpines & Bog-Plants— as I can find room for. If in some autumnal clearing up you can spare me a small lot I shall be very much obliged, and in that case should like to have them as soon as convenient. Species of small size preferred as my space in limited, but I think I have pretty favourable conditions for growing plants. At York I spent the better part of two days in Mr. Backhouse’s³ garden- a treat only equalled [4] by my first night of the Alpine flora.

I spent two days with my old friend Dr. Spruce⁴ & was much pleased to find him in tolerable health & able to work at his plants. He has now the MSS of his South American Hepatica ready for publication or nearly so. Would it not be possible to obtain a grant from the Royal Society to enable him to print it? Without some aid of this kind it cannot be done, & his health is so precarious that he may not live to see it through the press unless it is printed without delay.

This is entirely my suggestion. He merely told me ^{intimated (indirectly) that} he was anxious to have it published but did not quite see his way to do so.

Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]