Transcript
the P.O[?] out of gear[?]. When I first went over your Herbarium (general) collections as they arrived & was struck by the absence of any of Gammie’s*1 collections in Sikkim. I have now gone through them often[?] examining every label & find but one from Gammie, dated 6/9/84. Certainly this Impatiens did not come on loan to me. What can have become of them? Have you then other genera of his collecting? Possibly his later collections are not yet incorporated. I am publishing the garden
The Camp
Dec[ember] 7/[18]98
My dear Prain
I have yours’ of Dec[ember] 7th & the packet of seeds of Impatiens, which I shall hand over to Kew with instructions to let me know of their flowering, so as to identify them into the specimens. I have no one here to whom I could submit them. Nor[?] have I pits[?] for raising plants. Thank you much all the same. I shall leave the dried specimens entrusted to a careful Herb[arium] Assistant, who will lookout for the flowering of the seeds. I expect the Herb[arium] specimens daily. Himes[?] has [illeg.]
the P.O[?] out of gear[?]. When I first went over your Herbarium (general) collections as they arrived & was struck by the absence of any of Gammie’s*1 collections in Sikkim. I have now gone through them often[?] examining every label & find but one from Gammie, dated 6/9/84. Certainly this Impatiens did not come on loan to me. What can have become of them? Have you then other genera of his collecting? Possibly his later collections are not yet incorporated. I am publishing the garden
plant of which I wrote to you as I. sulcata with a caution. It's absolutely identical with a drawing I made in Sikkim, except having stipulate[?] stipular glands; these which are being absent or rudimentary & replaced by[?] flat glandular areas in Wallichs[?] specimen & my Sikkim ones.
Jan[uary] 14/[18]99. I have kept this letter open till I should receive the specimen of the Impatiens v[?] [illeg.] from King*2 about Gammie’s collections. The specimens you send are good & will be most useful. I do hope the seeds will grow as I should[?] have all required as they flower & have given instructions accordingly.
King tells me that Gammie collection was all named by himself, & the duplicates distributed*3 to Kew [illeg.] -- I have had a
careful search made at the Herbarium, & there is no entry of the receipt of any Sikkim plants from Gammie as any on the [illeg.] had they come I would surely be informed of it. Perhaps Gammie may recollect[?] if any were sent to Kew.
Clarke tells me that you are working " double tides[?]" - at flora of both Sikkim & Bengal[?] -- pray do not overdo it.
Mrs Prain will be concerned to hear that Mrs[?] Symonds is very ill, & that at her age hopes of recovery are of the smallest[?] -- [words illegible] my wife will also[?] miss her terribly.
With [illeg.] regards to you both. | Ever sincerely yours | Jos. D Hooker[signature]
*4You may not have heard that Dyer has got[?] a reward[?] [illeg.] of pay for the Heath[?] Ass[tant][?] -- Baker is given to J?[stet] Rennie in the neighbourhood[?] in a time[?] & works[?] on[?] King. [Illegible words]
Presumably George Gammie (1864 -- 1935) who worked as an assistant in Mungpu, India from 1881 to 1899 and went on collecting tours to Sikkim and the Brahmaputra Valley. His father James Alexander Gammie (1839 -- 1924) was also a famous botanist.
Sir George King (1840 --1909), superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta 1871 -- 1898 and the first Director of the Botanical Survey of India 1891-1898. In 1898 King was succeeded at the Calcutta Botanical Gardens by Sir David Prain.
The original word order “distributed duplicates” was reversed by JDH using arrows].
This sentence was written vertically along the left margin of the first page and appears to be a postscript, although most of the sentence is hard to decipher.
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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