Sept[ember] 23 1900
THE CAMP, SUNNINGDALE.
My dear Prain Many thanks for the Report -- which always interests me. I see that you have been getting lots more Eastern plants, & I hope you will excuse my saying that some attention to the mounting the specimens is very desirable. The state of the Impatiens is simply excruciating in very many cases -- the flowers hidden by leaves & sometimes even covered with a wholly needless strap & the glue in great blobs that would disgrace a carpenter´s work -- no spare flowers or put[?] in separate envelopes. It takes often an hour or

more to detach -- these mutilated -- flowers & two or more to dissect it, which must be done under water. I have just finished the materials I have from the West Himalaya species*1 & are staggered with the novelties that Duthie*2 & Clarke*3 have obtained & the awful[?] variation in old species. I could now make upwards of 36 species from N[orth] Himal[aya]! but feel sure that probably a third of these will prove to be varieties when I get fuller material. I shall not publish tell I get collections that Duthie is making for me with separately dried floral organs -- I find most important characters in the petals, but the analyses of these is too often hopeless. Today I began your Burmean species a lot of (to me) most novel types amongst them:

but more & better specimens much wanted. I work all day at the genus, but do not get beyond 3 species in a day, often not that. As to a Natural arrangement, I am more puzzled than ever, & fancy I shall have to follow Fl.B.I.[Flora Brit. India] in the main. I fancy that the flowers of Impatiens present the widest deviation from symmetry of any genus of flowering plants. Polygala is bad. King is staying with Clarke & working at Eugenia: he looks fairly well. We hear that Mrs Prain is in England, & hope we may catch her but do not know her address. Ever sincerely yours | Jos.D Hooker [signature] 26th P.S. I have enquired at the Herbarium about the material used now for fastening down species: it is gum Arabic alone, with fish glue for very woody specimens. Your mounters overdo the work, the specimens are incorporated with the

paper -- stem leaves & flowers; & as to the latter it seems immaterial whether they are exposed on overlaid with the leaves -- Sometimes the specimen is glued down face downwards! The strapping is dreadful, often over the flowers – King*4 approves of my writing to you & confirms[?] the facts. He [illeg.] me Eugenias the leaves of which had come off the paper -- this I told him was due to using cold glue. The more I examine your Burmese species the more interested I get -- surely no one genus of plant presents so astonishing a diversity of flower organs, while retaining[?] the one type of flower. i.e. 2 lateral sepals, lip, standard & soped 4 wings (4 petals united 1 piece[?]) there is great uniformity in the stamens, more in the style & very much in the fruit & seeds. My progress is terribly slow & few of the Burmese & Malayan species are fit for publication from want of fruit especially.