Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC365
Nimes, France
JDH/2/16 f.13
Thiselton-Dyer, Sir William Turner
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
28-4-1874
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters to Thiselton-Dyer
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Original MS
4 page letter over 1 folio
 

[Letter in French, transcript available in French and English]. JDH writes that he is sending Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] a corrected copy of the [KEW ANNUAL] REPORT & leaves it to WTTD's discretion when it is ready to send to the printers. JDH & his party travelled to Nimes by rail via the mountains from Clermont Ferrand & JDH was impressed by the basalt landscape, which he describes. The vegetation is not more advanced than in England but the trees coming into leaf were attractive. JDH wonders why there is so much variation in the colour of different species' young leaves but not their mature foliage. In the southern valleys JDH saw olive, wild chestnut & evergreen oak. JDH praises the Jardine de Plantes, Paris, which [Joseph] Decaisne showed them. JDH discusses [Adolphe] Brogniart's views on palaeobotany; his opinion that [William] Williamson's theories are superior to [William] Caruthers' & his belief that there are no Polypodiaceae fossils in the coal beds. The party will next visit [Jules Emile] Planchon in Montpellier then go to Pont du Gard, Arles, Cannes, to see Mr [Gustave-Adolph] Thuret in Antibes & [Daniel] Hanbury in Menton. There is an addenda to the letter, written in English, under date 30 [Apr 1874] in which JDH reiterates the places they have visited & reports that he read about the resignation of G. Russell in GALIGNANI'S MESSENGER & that he himself is still mildly ill with a cough.

Transcript

Le temps a été très beau -- le passage de La Manche calme. Samedi nous avons visité le Jardin de Plantes à Paris où M. Decaisne*5 me m' a montré les serres et les plantes vivaces, une collection vraiment magnifique. M. Brogniart*6 n'était pas chez lui. Il s'occupe des plantes fossiles de la terre houillée de St. Etienne ou il a trouvé une foule des[sic] nouveaux genres des plantes gymnospermes. M. Decaisne m'a assuré que M.Brogniart a beaucoup de regard aux travaux de M. Williamson*7 mais qu'en autre ils [word illeg struckthrough] l' quoiqu'ils l'ont lui embarassent beaucoup, et (ce qui m'étonne) qu'il [2 words illeg.struckthrough] ne pense pas grandes-choses des ouvrages de M. Carruthers*8 et il dit qu'ils n'ont pas la valeur de ceux de M. W.-- ; et dans un mot, qu'il se méfie de ses travaux paleontologiques ! Selon M. Brogniart (si je comprend bien ce que M. Decaisne m'a dit) il n'y a une seul vraie Polypodiacea dans les terres houillieres.
Demain nous irons à Montpellier

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Transcriptions of this letter, below, have been provided in both the original language of authorship, French, and as an English transcription.*1
Nimes
le 28 Avril 1874 Mon Cher Dyer,*2
Je vous envoie par l'intermédiaire de la Poste, l'épreuve corrigée de la "Report". Je crains que vous y trouverez beaucoup de fautes, et de plus, qu'il y aura une foule des[ choses douteuses, et qu'il ne vous sera possible de le remettre à l'imprimeur avant mon retour à Kew: mais vous pouvez en juger vous-même.
Nous sommes heureusement arrivés à Nimes hier au soir par une route vraiment magnifique à travers les montagnes entre Clermont Ferrand et Nimes où (avec plus d'exactitude) entre Brioude et Alais*3. Pendant toute cette route le chemin de fer enfile les gorges étroites, herissées des roches basaltiques avec milliardes des colonnes prismatiques, où il gravit les

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montagnes pierreuses de 3000 pieds de hauteur; où il est portée sur des viaducts à travers des vallées profondes, où il perce les éperons des vallee montagnes par des tonelles [tunnels]*4. Les sommets des montagnes ou plutôt leur flancs sont couvertes des plaques de neige, et les ruisseaux sont toutes pleines d'eau clair à couleur verte et luisante. Quant à la végétation il n'est pas beaucoup plus avancée que chez vous, mais la varieté des teintes étaient charmante, à cause des nombreuses espèces d'arbres qui poussent leurs feuilles. Pourquoi, je vous demande, arrive-t-il que les jeunes feuilles de diverses espèces d'arbres sont de couleurs si diverses tandis que les feuilles bien developpées sont toujours d'une verte[sic] presque uniforme. Dans les vallées méridionales de ces montagnes nous avons rencontré l'olivier, le chatagnier sauvage et le chene Evergreen oak.

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Le temps a été très beau -- le passage de La Manche calme. Samedi nous avons visité le Jardin de Plantes à Paris où M. Decaisne*5 me m' a montré les serres et les plantes vivaces, une collection vraiment magnifique. M. Brogniart*6 n'était pas chez lui. Il s'occupe des plantes fossiles de la terre houillée de St. Etienne ou il a trouvé une foule des[sic] nouveaux genres des plantes gymnospermes. M. Decaisne m'a assuré que M.Brogniart a beaucoup de regard aux travaux de M. Williamson*7 mais qu'en autre ils [word illeg struckthrough] l' quoiqu'ils l'ont lui embarassent beaucoup, et (ce qui m'étonne) qu'il [2 words illeg.struckthrough] ne pense pas grandes-choses des ouvrages de M. Carruthers*8 et il dit qu'ils n'ont pas la valeur de ceux de M. W.-- ; et dans un mot, qu'il se méfie de ses travaux paleontologiques ! Selon M. Brogniart (si je comprend bien ce que M. Decaisne m'a dit) il n'y a une seul vraie Polypodiacea dans les terres houillieres.
Demain nous irons à Montpellier

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pour faire visite a M. Planchon*9 d'où nous reviendrons ici Jeudi nous partirons d' ici pour le Pont du Gard et Arles, et puis nous prendrons la route pour Cannes. Nous resterons là tout une journée c'est-à-dire nous passerons le jour chez M. Thuret*10 à Antibes. De Cannes nous irons à Mentone*11 et nous avons accepté l'hospitalité de M. Hanbury*12 pendant 2 jours.30th [the letter continues in English; see final paragraph of translation below under date '30th']

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Nimes
28 April 1874 My Dear Dyer,*2
I am sending you by post a corrected proof of the "Report". I am afraid you will find many faults in it as well as a host of uncertainties and that it will not be possible to send it on to the printer before I return to Kew; but you are the best judge of that. We were delighted to reach Nimes yesterday evening by a splendid route across the mountains between Clermont Ferrand and Nimes or (more exactly) between Brioude and Alais*3. Throughout the journey the railway threads its way though narrow gorges with basalt rocks with thousands and thousands of prismatic columns or climbs the

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stony mountainsides at 3000 ft, where it is carried on viaducts over deep valleys, or pierces through the spurs of the mountains in tunnels*4. The tops of the mountains or rather their slopes are covered with patches of snow and the streams brim with clear water, green and gleaming. The vegetation, however, is hardly more advanced than with you, but the variety of tints is delightful because of the wide variety of tree species which are coming in to leaf. Why, I ask you, is it that the young leaves of different tree species are such different colours? while the fully developed leaves are almost all the same shade of green. In the southern valleys of these mountains we have encountered the olive, the wild chestnut and the evergreen oak.

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The weather has been beautiful -- the Channel crossing was calm. On Saturday we went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris where Mr Decaisne*5 showed us the glasshouses and the perennial plants, a really splendid collection. Mr Brogniart*6 was not at home. He works on fossil plants from the coal measures of St Etienne where he has found many new types of gymnosperms. Mr Decaisne assured me that Mr Brogniart thinks highly of Mr Williamson's*8 works although they are awkward for him and -- which surprises me -- that he doesn't think much of the publications of Mr Carruthers and he says they don't have the same merit as those of Mr W.--; and in a word that he has his doubts about his palaeontological works. According to Mr. Brogniart (if I understand what Mr. Decaisne said to me) there are no true Polypodiacea[?] fossils in the coal measures.
Tomorrow we go to Montpellier

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to visit Mr. Planchon*9 and then come back here. On Thursday we leave here to go to the Pont du Gard and Arles and then we are going on to Cannes. We shall stay there for the day, that is to say we shall spend the day with Mr. Thuret*10 at Antibes. From Cannes we shall go on to Menton*11, we have accepted the hospitality of Mr. Hanbury*12 for 2 days.
30th So far I sport my French practising on your 'vile corpus' you vile add. Yesterday we spent at Montpellier of which I must make another letter. Today we have been to the Pont du Gard -- tonight we go to Arles tomorrow to Cannes. Spend two days there going to Antibes. I see G. Russell's Resignation in the Galignani*13. My cough goes on and I have much expectoration. Yesterday and today have been delightfully cold.
With united regards | Most Sincerely | J.D.Hooker [signature].
Mr Bentham*14 has quite recovered his spirits.
We met Mivart*15 at Paris & hope he will take L. Society secretaryship*16.

ENDNOTES


1. Hooker's French spelling is generally correct, but where accents are occasionally missing from his text; these have been supplied in the transcript.
2. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer (1843--1928). British botanist and third Director of the Royal Botanic gardens, Kew (1885--1905). He succeeded Joseph Hooker in the role after serving as his Assistant Director for ten years. He also married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
3. Alais has been known as Alès since 1926
4. The French word Tonelle correctly translates as 'arbour', but Joseph Hooker's intended meaning here seems to be 'tunnel'.
5. Joseph Decaisne (1807--1882). He began his career as a gardener at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. He was second president of the Societé Botanique de France which he helped to found; in 1865 became President of the Académie des sciences and a foreign member of the Royal Society in 1877.
6. Adolphe Theodore Brogniart (1801--1876). French botanist noted for his work on angiosperm morphology and especially for his work on fossil plants which is regarded as the foundation of modern palaeobotany.
7. William Crawford Williamson (1816--1895). Studied medicine and practised in Manchester, where in 1851 he became Professor of Natural History at Owens College. He published on geology, zoology and botany. His work on the structure of fossil plants helped to establish a scientific basis for palaeobotany.
8., William C Carruthers (1830--1922). Born in Dumfries, he studied at Edinburgh University. He was Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum, London 1871--1895, President of the Linnean Society 1886--1890, elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1871.
9. Jules Emile Planchon (1823--1888). He received a doctorate from the University of Montpellier in 1844, then worked for a time at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 1853 he became head Of the Department of Botanical Sciences, University of Montpellier. He was known for his work on plant classification and for his contribution to saving French wine production from the devastations of Phylloxera vastatrix by introducing the practice of grafting onto American vine stocks.
10. Gustave-Adolph Thuret (1817--1875). He studied law, but after a brief diplomatic career turned to the study of botany. He was influenced by Decaisne and is noted for his work on seaweeds. In 1857 he settled in Antibes and created a botanic garden: le Jardin Botanique de la Villa Thuret.
11. Mentone: Hooker uses the Italian spelling of Menton, a commune in the Alps Maritimes, which after a history under various jurisdictions was annexed to France with the County of Nice in 1861.
12. Thomas Hanbury (1832--1907). After great success as a trader and businessman in China, he bought the gardens at La Mortola in 1867 and with the help of his brother Daniel (1825--1875), botanist and pharmacologist, established a botanic garden there. He settled there 1871and continued to develop the garden. In 1903 he presented a 60 acre site at Wisley, Surrey to the Royal Horticultural Society.
13. Galignani's Messenger. A daily English language paper printed in Paris from 1814 to 1884 by the Galignani family and the continued until 1904 under the title of the Daily Messenger.
14. George Bentham (1800--1884). Nephew and heir to Jeremy Bentham for whom he also acted a secretary. After his uncle's death he devoted himself to botany, especially plant classification. He worked at Kew at the invitation of Sir William Hooker. He later collaborated with Joseph Hooker on the Genera Plantarum (3 vols 1862--1883). His Handbook of British Flora remained a standard work into the 20th century. 15. St George Jackson Mivart (1827--1900). He first studied law, then devoted himself to the study of medicine and biology. In 1862 he took the chair of Zoology at the medical School of St Mary's Hospital. From1862 he was a fellow of the Linnean Society of which he was Secretary from 1874 to 1880. Initially an enthusiastic supporter of natural selection and of Darwin he later became highly critical. A converted Catholic, he attempted to reconcile evolutionary notions with catholic doctrine, incurring the rage of the church; he was placed under an interdict in 1900.
16. This sentence is written up the left hand margin of page 4.

Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study electronic image(s) of this document where possible.

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