[[1]]
The Royal Society,
Burlington House, London W.
Kew
March 12/ [18]76
Dear Gray,
Judge Hastings is here, but we have missed one another twice & he did not come to
a Reception at [the] R[oyal] S[ociety] through some blunder. I have asked him to
bring his family to lunch.
What a famous lot of work you are doing & I here find nothing at all but a few shots
at the Gen[era] Plant[arum] & correcting proofs of latter & Fl[ora]. Brit[ish]. India of
which the Sequences by Baker are passing through the press; -- this amiable &
excellent fellow is in the matter of following the rules laid down for method of
describing, terminology, synonymy[?], typography
[[2]] Geography, priority & all else the most slovenly I ever col could possibly have
believed & the labor[sic] I have in putting him straight is intolerable -- Some of his
sheets cost me 2 hours hard work -- & are simply bak black with emendations &
corrections. My only satisfaction is the whacking sum he will have to pay the printer.
On the other hand he takes it all with inimitable sang froid -- & improves
imperceptibly -- one instance suffices, he invariably confounds leaves with leaflets -& now in the 10th sheet under my hand after his corrections I have to alter this
throughout! -- I only hope his book is good.
I send you my little Primer *1 &
[[3]] a copy to S[aint?] Mathew[sic?] (by Post) & hope you will criticise it sharply.
Much of it was very strange work to me, but I had the benefit of 8 years revision of
the Physiology.
I shall be glad indeed to see the synoptic table sample of Fl[ora] Bor[ealis] Am[ericana].
I cannot but think of a run over to you -- but am equally at a loss to see my way to
leaving my family. I have no one to leave them to. No doubt; as you suggest; I must
marry again. It is my clear duty. Harriet is not strong. I have had to send her to the
West for a "stomach cough" that has pulled her down a good deal. She went first to
the Munros near Taunton & last week I
[[4]] took her to my sister[']s at Torq[ua]y -- I had not seen the latter for 1 year &
found her so altered & "moody" -- that I doubt the house answering for Harriet.
Except indeed her cheerfulness does her aunt good; as [it] is possible, but unlikely.
Tyndall[‘]s marriage went off well. Dean Stanley who performed the service was
most impressive: he clearly loves T[yndall] & knows his wife. T[yndall] went through
& repeated all save the invocation of the Trinity.
Lady Augusta who was sick unto death & had been for months died on the following
day & the flowers which I sent for the wedding were made into wreaths for her coffin!
[[5]] I hope that Mrs Tyndall she may ballast a little our friend[']s exuberances which
sadly take away from his sterling sweats & labors[sic].
We have carried Lankaster[?] *2 into the Linnean by a triumphant majority & at the
largest meeting probably ever held. At the last day Mr Carruthers finding his case
hopeless & his position odious gave in & signed L[ankester]’s paper! I shall certainly
retire from the L[innean] council & V[ice] P[resident]ship at the announcing if the
P[resident] & C[ouncil]. will let me, but they vigorously object. [George] Allman is a
most charming man but lacks health[,] vigour & adroitness as P[resident]: he wants
steady & experienced support:
Yes, send acknowledgement of
[[6]] R[oyal] S[ociety] Transactions to the Secretary once for all.
I will send you clavis *3 of Nyctago[?].
Munro promises to do the Grasses, but I doubt. Bentham is fairly well. After a deal of
worry lasting over 9 months the Herbarium Building is in fair way of commencing.
The Cambridge family who had an eye to the ground & House were bitterly opposed
to it, & got over that false weak vain 1/2 idiot my present chief: who after the Queen
had given the site[,] continued throwing every obstacle in the way. Where Lo! by a
stroke of luck, it turned
[[7]] out, when preparing for a legal transfer of the site -- that the present
Herb[arium], House & grounds all belong to us! -- that old scamp G[eorge] IV, having
sold it for £84,000 to pay his debts in 1824! -- there was no legal conveyance, but
the receipt of the money is to the fore! Thus both W[illiam] IV & Victoria have for half
century been giving to others (the K[ing] of Hanover & the Herbaria) a home not her
own. Now I should retain the present building for the Library & working rooms, render
them sufficiently fire--proof, and throw out a herb[arium] hall[?] at the back in the same style
of architecture that suits the site & surroundings. I am all
[[8]] the more glad of this, G[eorge] iii had given the building originally for a Library &
Herbarium & Banks had begun to have it fitted up as such when his death stopped it
all, & it reverted to the King’s use.
Now my dear Gray I must leave off & go to Bot[anical] Mag[azine] for April.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y] y[ours] | Jos[eph] D[alton] Hooker [signature].
ENDNOTES
1. Refers to the series of 'Science Primer' books published by Macmillan, for which
Hooker wrote the volume entitled Botany.
2. Probably a misspelling of Lankester, Sir E. Ray (1847--1929). A British zoologist
who made important contributions to comparative anatomy, anthropology,
parasitology an dembryology, including evidence in support of the theories of
evolution and natural selection.
3. Clavis. Meaning a key or glossary serving as an aid to interpretation.
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