Dear Darwin

I arrived last Monday, having left my wife at Hitcham—² all were well & cheerful there—when I left— Old Henslow was very much cut up, though being wondrous stolid he did not show it much & he, in common with all the family, occupied themselves throughout industriously. Poor Mrs. H went off as peacefully as possible,—without a struggle, having had no pain for the last 12 hours.— She was a very gentle lady, who I had become very deeply attached to of late years. She inherited the calm self-possession of the Jenyns to the full;³ had long known that any severe attack would certainly carry her off, & had led that kind of life which regarded death as going out of one room into another—happy soul!

Henslow was most sincerely pleased with the letters of his friends on the occasion, & I need not say with your’s as much as any— all spoke lovingly of her, as you did. too, & the old gentleman was always repeating that.

I took down the most difficult genus of Indian plants I could think of to work at.—viz Impatiens of which there are just 100 Indian species! I have made the first rough draft of a monograph of them.⁴ & was interested at the result as bearing on one of your problems, The genus is an extremely local one, there being both very few extra-Indian species, & the Indian species being extremely local! & you will be glad to know that they do not run into marked varieties at all, nor the species badly into one another. though somewhat.

I have still some of your questions to send you answers to & others I cannot answer I am sorry to find.⁵

Have you read Livingstone? he says that the proximity of wild bitter cucumbers to cultivated ditto, makes the fruit of the latter bitter too!⁶

With best regards | Ever yours | J D Hooker

Lindley was received at R.S. with great applause ⁷