[[1]]
ROYAL GARDENS KEW
Kew
Oct[ober] 26th [18]64
My dear Uncle *1
I send another pamphlet on the same subject, by Ramsay,*2 which I like much better
than Tyndall's,*3 though this is good too.
Falconer's *4 paper is only a short note in Annals of Nat[ural] Hist[ory] magnifying a
mere blunder of Lyells *5 into a grave scientific perversion of truth, or next thing to it.
Falconer is a Scotchman, who when once wrong seems never to get right again. In
India he
[[2]] was a universal favorite in spite of these peculiarities. He is one of the most
honorable men I knew, except when out of temper.
I have often urged the Geologists to trace the Suffolk valleys, I am quite sure they
are tidal & not fluvial, in the main.
The birds shall go to Mr Smythe whenever you send the address &c.
[[3]] Ev[er] your affe[ctionate] | J D Hooker [signature]
Love to Aunt, tell her that there is continuous good news of Bessie [Elizabeth Evans
Lombe née Hooker].
ENDNOTES
1. Reverend John Gunn (1801--1890). Amateur naturalist especially interested in
Geology. Founder and first President of the Norwich Geological Society. Joseph
Hooker's Uncle: husband of Harriet Gunn née Turner, Joseph Hooker's maternal
aunt.
2. Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay (1814 -- 1891), was a Scot who became involved
with the study of geology comparatively late in life. His most important work was on
glaciation, denudation and fluvial systems.
3. John Tyndall FRS (1820 -- 1893), was a prominent 19th century physicist. A
pioneering mountain climber, he studied glaciers and glacial motion. He was one of
the first scientists to recognise the earth's natural greenhouse effect.
4. Hugh Falconer MB FRS (1808 -- 1865). Scottish geologist, botanist,
palaeontologist and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna and geology of
Burma and India, where he discovered the Siwalik fossil beds, and was the first to
suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium. JDH met him
whilst in India, when Falconer was Superintendant of the Calcutta Botanic Garden
(1847--1855), and named Rhododendron falconeri after him. Falconer was
instrumental in the introduction of Cinchona to India and the preservation of the
Tenasserim Teak forests.
5. Sir Charles Lyell (1797 -- 1875), was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of
his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology.
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