WCP5315

15^th1 [February 1865]²

Down

My dear Hooker

I write again chiefly to tell Oliver³ not to trouble himself to inform me on Hildebrand's⁴ paper⁵ in Bot[anische]. Zeitung⁶ on Pulmonaria; as author has sent me a copy. — Secondly to tell you not to come here, if you had thought of it, on Feb. 25^th, as we shall have visitors & this would spoil for me your [2] visit. — Any other Saturday, when you can spare time w[oul]^d suit us. —

Can you give me any notion what to subscribe for poor dear Falconer's⁷ bust⁸: would 5 guineas be too much or not enough? —

I meant to have shown you a paper by Heer⁹, — , an address to some Helvetic [3] Soc[iety]¹⁰: — in which he discusses alpine & artic Floras — he does not allude to your paper¹¹, but considers Scandinavia as parent source, from being oldest mountain range —

Wallace has published some splendid papers in Proc[eedings]. Zoolog[ical]. Soc[iety]¹². & Geograph[ical]. Journal¹³ on distribution in Malay Arch[ipelago]. —

I am reading & skimming through Lyell's¹⁴ new Edit. of [4] Elements¹⁵: it is an astonishing monument of labour, knowledge & clear thought. What a wonderful man he is. — I wish some one w[oul]^d concentrate similar knowledge & labour on a work on the whole science of Botany, excluding of course systematic Botany¹⁶. I do believe a work of great interest c[oul]^d. be made. There is a redundance of elementary Treatises: but a summary of knowledge seems to me much wanted. —

Yours affect[ionally] | C. Darwin [signature]