Transcript
think Lord S[alisbury][?] is an earnest man.
I have cut up one copy of the Guide into the best arrangement I can make, & if, when you see it, you think it would be for the best, I will piece it on my return from Scotland.
Dash[?] writes word that he has done both Garden & P[leasure]. G[round]. to same scale as I asked for (500 feet to inch), & that the Lithographer will begin about beginning of August.
A notice of McCormick's*4 book is in today's Times, neither does it gauge the incredible ignorance of the man, who he it calls a good Geologist[,] Botanist and Zoologist! -- As for his Botany he positively did not know Monocots from Dicots. You really should get the book if is in Eastbourne Lending Library, it is quite a curiosity.
ROYAL GARDENS KEW
July 25/ [18]84
Dear Dyer*1
I was very glad to get your card & to know the cause of your disturbed circulation -- you must keep quiet till you are quite better. Please let me hear again on receipt.
Lord Rosebery*2 has applied for the Ladies Indian Order for Miss North,*3 and sends me 2 answers, one from the P[rivate] S[ecretary] of the Sec[retar]y of State, & the other from Sir W. F. Ponsonby, both pointing out that she is inadmissible under the statutes of the Order -- Sir F. Ponsonby "quite agrees that Miss North deserves some mark of favor" -- so something may come of this. Meanwhile Lord Rosebery asks me to consider the communication as confidential. I
think Lord S[alisbury][?] is an earnest man.
I have cut up one copy of the Guide into the best arrangement I can make, & if, when you see it, you think it would be for the best, I will piece it on my return from Scotland.
Dash[?] writes word that he has done both Garden & P[leasure]. G[round]. to same scale as I asked for (500 feet to inch), & that the Lithographer will begin about beginning of August.
A notice of McCormick's*4 book is in today's Times, neither does it gauge the incredible ignorance of the man, who he it calls a good Geologist[,] Botanist and Zoologist! -- As for his Botany he positively did not know Monocots from Dicots. You really should get the book if is in Eastbourne Lending Library, it is quite a curiosity.
Balfour called, no news, except that he had heard that Frazer was over age, & that the top man would be a pupil of Laurence at Oxford, of whom he spoke most highly.
Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Blair*5 (Aden) has not turned up, I see he asks for a "Wards"*6 case of vine cuttings to be ready by beginning of August when he is to be in England, giving London address. I have written (London address) suggesting that he should have the Vine cuttings in October & take other things in the Case.
Harris died yesterday.
Has Harriet seen anything of old Mr Cha[rle]s Meuller Muller *7 who was so good to me at Dorjeling [Darjeeling], & spent some weeks with me at Kew when she was a very little girl. He dabbles in Nat[ura] Hist[ory].
Smith*8 was poorly yesterday with gripes & cold sweats, but
is better today. I have told him to be careful.
Bliss has a child ill with scarlet fever, & is ordered to keep his distance.
With love to Harriet -- glad she is so much better.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y yours | J. D. Hooker [signature]
1. Sir William Turner 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 previously held professorships at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Royal College of Science for Ireland and the Royal Horticultural Society. He married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
2. Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, (1849--1929). Liberal politician who became Prime Minister in 1894. He was a staunch upholder of the British Empire and in 1884 he coined the phrase "Commonwealth of Nations."
3. Marianne North (1830--1890). Victorian artist who travelled the globe in order to record the world's flora with her paintbrush. In 1879 she conceived the idea of presenting her paintings to Kew and provided a suitable building in which to display them with the Gardens.
4. Robert McCormick (1800--1890). British Royal Navy ship's surgeon, explorer and naturalist. In 1884 he published his autobiography entitled "Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas and around the World". Was surgeon on the HMS 'Erebus' with Joseph Hooker during Captain James Clark Ross' voyage to Antarctica 1839--1843.
5. General James Blair (1828--1905). Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross. He distinguished himself for bravery as a 29 year old Captain during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. He later became the Resident at Aden, 1882 to 1885.
6. The Wardian Case was an early type of sealed protective container for plants, an early version of the Terrarium. Used to protect plants during long sea journeys it was invented by Nathaniel Ward in about 1829.
7. Joseph Hooker met two German brother called Müller in India during his travels. They helped him with calculating his observations and calibrating his instruments.
8. John Smith (1821--1888). Curator or 'head gardener' of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1864--1886. His predecessor as Curator was also named John Smith.
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