Dear Darwin

Unfortunately I could not be at the Linnæan last night to hear Scott’s paper,¹ but I told Bentham of it, who, after it was read, spoke from the chair warmly in its praise, I shall ask to have it “referred” to me, & keep up the poor fellows steam.²

We are so glad to hear that you have some relief from your vomiting (do you actually throw up, or is it the retching) & pray for a recurrence of Rheumatism which is the most convincing proof that nothing is organically wrong.³

I am keeping up a sharp look out for climbing plants for you— did you get Flagellaria?⁴ if not I think we can send it now to you. Herewith goes the tropical Duckweed, Pistia Stratiotes. Drosera is sleeping now,⁵ we want skillful cultivation for these things, & in that we are, entre nous, most miserably behind-hand.

What on earth makes you make such a fuss about my going to Algiers;— I think I may say I am not going—for several reasons, 1) April is rather too late to start—& Christy (who was to be my fellow traveller) cannot go sooner—⁶ 2) We are about to have Smith, our Curator, invalided, how to replace him at all, with a man possessing all the required attainments & virtues is a problem; & when solved I shall have all the work of keeping him straight for some time to come—⁷ this is confidential at present— Poor Smith is nearly blind, & our cultivation & collections of rare & interesting plants have been rapidly declining for years.

3^d. I have spent all my money on Wedgwood portraits!⁸

I think we ought to fight for the Danes,⁹

I have received a request for subscription for Colenso during trial & to allow my name to be published;¹⁰ I shall do the first, not the last, as my poor mother would so take it to heart—& I really think it would be wiser not to make a party cry of it yet, which it is sure to be if names are bruited about apropos of it.¹¹

Pinus Excelsa, one of the noblest conifers of the Himalaya, ranging from Assam to Affghanistan, has turned up in Macedonia! where one small forest of it exists on one mountain range, in the N.W. extreme, close to Austria (Mt “Pindrus”)¹²   It was discovered by Grisebach 30 years ago but badly described,¹³ & refound last year.

I have got into a confounded correspondence with Hewett Watson, who first affected to want my leave to criticise my Arctic Essay¹⁴ in a manner of which he says “I fear your usual good nature will probably not enable you to bear it—”¹⁵ rather cool this!

I answer him that I should be most glad he did criticise it, & in any way he likes; but that, considering his attainments, leisure, ability & precedents, I tell him “as a friend” that I think it strange that he does not himself, write a separate essay, & treat my views with what severity he thinks proper in the course of it— he will thus avoid all suspicion of criticising for the sake of fault finding—do a real service to science, & smash me, if I am smashable, far more effectually. I have also hoped, that he will send his smasher to a “well edited periodical”

He affects to misunderstand this, accuses me of a wish to stifle discussion &c &c &c & adds, that if he does it now, it must be with “increased freedom of language” from the feeling that he is writing against one who holds such sentiments—¹⁶ I have answered that I wish him to go ahead; that I thank him for warning me of the tone he proposes to adopt, & regret that our private correspondence should influence his treatment of the subject—¹⁷

The fact is, he first wanted to frighten me, & now that he finds that won’t do, he wants to pick a quarrell & bully— The tone of his letters is quite insufferable, but I have not shown that I feel or see this.—

I am grinding away at the N. Z. Flora¹⁸ & Gen. Plantarum.¹⁹

My wife²⁰ is but poorly, last week her legs all swelled up so that she could hardly walk across the room— No other bad symptoms; but I suspect it has something to do with her defective heart or circulation.