[[1]]
Royal Gardens Kew
Aug[ust] 30/[18]67.
For heavens sake my dear Gray do publish a sylloge *1 of your Bot[anical] miscellaneous
writings, as Montague has done. I am collecting materials for Rubiaceae for Gen[era]
Plant[arum], & turning to "A Gray" in catalogues of Books for probable references, I
find a chaos of titles of papers amongst in which Heaven only knows whether I am to
look for Rubiaceae, or no. it is a cruel cruel shame. I shall lose two days (if I have an
hour or two each) & more probably as ma[n]y weeks
[[2]] wading through your multitudinous contributions. -- I have between 60 & 70
sections under your name in my (by no means complete) Library catalogue. -Indeed my dear fellow it is impossible not to be cross when one comes to the
America[n] published materials for Gen[era] Plant[arum]. & I do think that it is very unfair
to pitchfork material into the world as has been done your side the water: & leave us
on this to cock *2 it & stack it for you, not to talk of threshing it afterwards & grinding &
baking it
[[3]] into Genera Plantarum or other bread (leavened or unleavened as the case may
be) -- I really am sick of it -- , v cross & angry to boot.
My poor mother is very ill at Norwich of Enteritis & Pentacitis -- I left her Saturday a
little better. & out of danger, but the sequelae *3. in a person of her age (70) are much
to be dreaded. I have given up Dundee & go again to Norwich tomorrow. No news of
Bentham. -- Oliver not back from Skye --. Milligan is distributing his Tasmania
collections & asked me where to send a set, I
[[4]] said to you.
Ever your cantankerously affectionate | Jos D Hooker [signature]
It is all I can do to keep on decent civil language with you -- I am so riled put[?] now I
firmly believe that Bentham & I lose as much time over American Botanical literature
as over that of all other countries put together -- it is impossible for you, living on the
spot, & having grown with the growth of Botany in America, to imagine the
unutterable confusion there must be, of authors, countries, books, & titles, in the
brain of a foreigner to your Bot[anical]: literature, geography &c.
ENDNOTES
1. A collection
2. As in hay cock, meaning a pile of hay left in the field.
3. A condition which is the consequence of a previous disease [pl.]
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