Transcript
Edinburgh
Aug[ust] 1 / [18]84
My dear Dyer*1
I have had a very hard 5 days of it as you may suppose with my work, lawyers, my sister & the duties of Society in a friend's house, but I have got through. Shall sign the Reports of my Juries (as Chairman) at the railway station tomorrow, & get to Kew by night fall.
I am very sorry to hear of the Jecur*3 being enlarged & hope it will not be a troublesome case, but I know it will take
Edinburgh
Aug[ust] 1 / [18]84
My dear Dyer*1
I have had a very hard 5 days of it as you may suppose with my work, lawyers, my sister & the duties of Society in a friend's house, but I have got through. Shall sign the Reports of my Juries (as Chairman) at the railway station tomorrow, & get to Kew by night fall.
I am very sorry to hear of the Jecur*3 being enlarged & hope it will not be a troublesome case, but I know it will take
time.
I shall go up & down to Sunningdale*4 whilst Reggie [Reginald Hawthorn Hooker] & Grace [Ellen Hooker] are there before home, spending the day at Kew.
The Forestry Exhibition is on the whole as good as I expected, the Japanese is most interesting & far the best, India is heterogeneous, Guiana very rich but not ticketed -- I find a due sense[?] amongst the Juries of the necessity of scientific ticketing. -- we make it a prominent feature af of the Reports.
The Doctoring was an imposing affair -- I never
had so much butter poured over me at a time.
D[octo]r Lyons was an[sic] very young & I got on extremely well with him. We did not touch on birch[?] Forests.
It is good news that Harriet is so much better, my love & Sister's[?] to her -- she will be glad to have you at Eastbourne. Let us know how you both get on, &
Believe me ever | Affectionately y[ou]rs | J D Hooker [signature]
I paid a flying visit to the Garden, which is wonderfully improved since McNab's*2 time.
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. James McNab (1810--1878). Horticulturist and botanist. His father had been a Foreman at Kew who moved on to become Curator at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. When William McNab retired in 1849 James succeeded him as curator. As well as being an active gardener he was also a prolific writer.
3. Jecur, alternative spelling iecur, meaning liver.
4. Joseph Hooker had a residence built in Sunningdale, Berkshire called 'The Camp'. Completed in 1882 he lived there full time, with his second wife Hyacinth and their family, after retiring from RBG Kew in 1885.
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