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Title: Letters of Asa Gray; Vol. 2
Author: Asa Gray
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS OF ASA
GRAY; VOL. 2 ***
LETTERS OF ASA GRAY
EDITED BY
JANE LORING GRAY
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1894
Copyright, 1893,
By JANE LORING GRAY.
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
V. Second Journey in Europe.—Correspondence. 1830-1859 369
VI. Letters to Darwin and Others. 1800-1868 454
VII. Travel in Europe and America. 1808-1880 565
VIII. Final Journeys and Work. 1880-1888 701
Appendix
Index
Note on the Illustrations. The frontispiece portrait of Dr. Gray is a
photogravure from a photograph taken in 1880. The plate of Dr. Gray in his
study, facing page 529, is from a photograph taken in 1879. The view of the
present Range of Buildings in the Botanic Garden, facing page 614, is from
a photograph taken for this work.
LETTERS OF ASA GRAY.
CHAPTER V.
SECOND JOURNEY IN EUROPE.—CORRESPONDENCE.
1850-1859.
Dr. Gray sailed for England with Mrs. Gray in a sailing packet June 11,
1850. The steamers made regular trips, but the fine packets were still
running, and it was thought desirable to try the longer voyage for Mrs.
Gray’s health.
Dr. Gray renewed acquaintance with his old friends, and made many
new ones, meeting at his friend Mr. Ward’s, where they first stayed, many
of the younger men, Henfrey, Forbes, etc., who had become known in
science since his former visit in 1839.
TO JOHN TORREY.
Ghent, Belgium,July 16, 1850.
I surely meant that you should have heard of us long ere this. But there
seemed not to be a moment of time during the fortnight we spent in
England; Mr. Ward kept us so busy with every sort of engagement and
sight-seeing that J. could enjoy. I meant to have written at Dover last
evening; but it was not convenient, so now that we are for the first night in a
strange country (which England is not) I must tell you, what I trust you
have learned from Carey (to whom I had occasion to write hurriedly, last
mail), that we had a very pleasant voyage of seventeen and a half days and
came near making it in fourteen, as we made land early on the morning of
the twelfth day out, no storms, but gentle favoring breezes till we made the
Irish coast; and then, to our disappointment, we had head winds to beat
against all the way up to Holyhead, and reached Liverpool Saturday
morning....
On Monday we left Liverpool, which has vastly improved since you saw
it; stopping at Coventry and turning off to Leamington to see, at
Darlington’s desire, the descendants of old Peter Collinson,[1] and deliver
some books and letters from him, which I did. Mrs. Collinson was ill with a
severe fall, but her daughter received the things I brought, and showed me a
portrait of Peter. Then Mrs. Gray and I made an excursion to Warwick
Castle, the fine ruins of Kenilworth, and Stoneleigh Abbey, driving through
six or seven miles of fine park. The next day on to London, to Ward, who
had insisted on our visiting him. He lives three and a half miles out of
London, in a pleasant and quiet suburban house; his son being established
in Wellclose Square.
Boott I saw the same evening I arrived, and two days later, with J., but
not later. He has been quite sick with an influenza, and a slight but not
altogether pleasant inflammation of the lungs.
To Hooker I went at once also, and got your kind letter there, and saw
Kew. Hooker is quite well; but Lady H. is very poorly.... She inquired most
particularly and affectionately after yourself, and asked about all your
family....
On Monday I made another visit to Kew Gardens, (a grand affair) to
show the lions of the place to four or five young Americans I knew, one of
them young Brace,[2] J.’s cousin, who is making with two friends a pleasant
and profitable pedestrian excursion in England.[3] I cannot begin to tell you
the half we have done and seen in England, but we were most busy:
Saturday, conversazione of Royal Botanical Society in Regent’s Park.
Wednesday, excursion with Linnæan Club to Hertford; saw a great Pinetum,
600 species of Coniferæ, etc., and the Panshanger Oak. (I wrote Carey a
few words of this.) Thursday, a most pleasant day with Hooker. Miss
Hooker looks quite well; all send their love to you, all most kind and sweet
to us. Hooker has altered little, but looks older. Brown looks older perhaps,
but decidedly stronger, is as healthy as possible and very lively. In talking
with him and showing him about it he gave up about Krameria, and said I
must be right. He formerly unequivocally referred it to Polygalaceæ.
Bennett is large and fat. I fear he does not work hard enough.
Yesterday we came down to Dover early in the afternoon (a striking
place), and embarked late in the evening on steamer for Ostend, which we
reached early this morning; came right on to Bruges, which listless and very
curious old-world town, and its curiosities, we have all day been exploring,
till six o’clock, when we came on twenty-eight miles further by railway to
the famous and more lively town of Ghent,—where I have been running
about till the dusk arrived, and must now to bed, as we have to finish Ghent
to-morrow before dinner, and go on to Antwerp afterwards, thence to
Cologne. I think we shall cut Brussels.
At Ghent saw the Belfry and the strange old Town Hall.... I went to the
Botanic Garden (did not find Professor Kickx),—hardly as large as ours at
Cambridge, and by no means so rich or half so well kept, though said to be
the best in Belgium; explored the university library, and strolled through the
streets and along the canals....
Antwerp.—Imagine us settled comfortably at Hotel du Parc, Wednesday
evening, overlooking the Place Verte, our windows commanding a near and
most advantageous view of the finest cathedral in Belgium, with light
enough still to see pretty well against the sky the graceful outlines and
much of the light tracery and Gothic work of this gem of a steeple, one of
the loftiest in the world (403 feet, 7 inches) and probably unsurpassed by
any for lightness, grace, and the elaborateness of the carved work.
Napoleon compared it to Mechlin lace. And such sweet chimes, every
fifteen minutes! The chime at the beginning of the hour still rings in our
ears. We have never tired of listening to it....
Bonn, July 22.
We drove through the city (Cologne) to the station of the Bonn railroad.
But on the way the driver, of his own motion, stopped at the door of the
cathedral. Finding that we had time enough to take a good look before the
train left, we could not resist, and saw this wonder and masterpiece of true
Gothic architecture; which by the united efforts of most North German
powers is going on toward completion, in the style and plan on which it was
commenced seven hundred or eight hundred years ago, and in which the
choir was finished, and the transepts and nave commenced. It is most grand;
the grandest thing we ever saw, though the nave bears only a temporary
roof, at thirty or forty feet less than the full height. The ancient stained glass
comes fully up to one’s expectation. I have never seen the like.
We went up to Poppelsdorf; such charming and picturesque view of the
Siebengebirge (seven mountains) and the Godesberg, etc., from the
professor’s windows and the Botanic Garden; the museums rich and
curious, and parts of the old château in which they are (now surrendered to
the university) not less so. The botanical professors, Treviranus[4] and Dr.
Roemer, very kind; some collections to be made ready here for me to
examine when we come back, so that I must then spend a day here....
TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.
Geneva, August 16, 1850.
We went up the Rhine to Coblenz, Bingen, and Mayence; thence to
Frankfort. By some mistake in the post office in giving me the address, your
letter to Dr. Fresenius[5] I took to a law-doctor Fresenius, who was away in
Switzerland. So I gave up all hopes of seeing him, and we fell to seeing the
sights by ourselves, when, a few hours before we had arranged to go to
Heidelberg, the true Dr. Fresenius came in. We may see him again on our
way back. We went to Heidelberg, for an hour or two only....
It is now the 20th,—time passed fast. I work to-day in herbariums De
Candolle and Boissier, and to-morrow morning we go to Freiburg and
Berne and the Bernese Oberland. We cannot be back now in England so
early as we expected; but still hope to be there by the 20th September....
Thursday morning, after an early breakfast, went on by railroad to Kehl;
left our luggage and took a carriage over the bridge of boats, across the
lines of the French republic (?) into Strasburg. Saw Schimper;[6] then we
went to the cathedral, viewed the grand front of this imposing structure, and
the wonderful spire, the tallest in the world; were much struck with the
grandeur of the interior, wholly lighted by stained glass, the greater part of
it 400 or 500 years old. After visiting the Museum of Natural History, and
arranging with Schimper to meet him in Switzerland, where he is to pass
with his wife (a Swiss lady) a long vacation, we took our carriage and
returned to the Baden side of the river, and came on to Freiburg (in the
Breisgau) that evening, reaching it in the rain....
Professor Braun,[7] the brother of the first Mrs. Agassiz, was very kind
to us. He is a very interesting man, of charming manners; his wife very
sweet and charming, his children most engaging. Saturday afternoon we
took a carriage, and with Professor Braun rode up a beautiful valley to the
Höllenthal (French, Vallée d’Enfer), a rocky and wooded gorge of very
striking scenery; wild and majestic, rather than terrible, as its name
imports....
In the afternoon visited the cathedral, one of the finest and oldest in
Europe, that is well preserved. Here nearly every part, and all the stained
glass, of a most curious kind, is perfectly preserved; and the spire, though
not so high as that of Strasburg, is as elaborate and light,—as it were of
woven stone thread,—and even more beautiful....
Tuesday we rode from Bâle to Bienne (fifty-six miles) in a diligence,
from eight A.M. to five P.M., through the Münster Thal, the grandest and most
picturesque scenery of the Jura.
Wednesday, a ride of three hours along lakes of Bienne and Neuchâtel
brought us to Neuchâtel at eleven o’clock A.M. ... Professor Godet,[8] who
received me most cordially, took me (with Mr. Coulon) up the Chaumont,
2,500 feet; but the Alps were obscured by clouds, at least the higher Alps,
and we had no fine view of them; otherwise the view was very fine. We
returned by the great boulder Pierre à Bot. All asked after Agassiz with
much interest. Excursions are planned for us when we return....
Dr. Gray enjoyed the visit to Geneva, where he renewed his friendship
with MM. Alphonse De Candolle and Boissier, accomplishing some useful
work, and having pleasant social meetings and excursions. He went to
Chamouni and the Bernese Oberland; then to Munich, especially to meet
again Martius, with whom he had been in constant correspondence, and
who made the journey from Tyrol to greet his old friend. Their few days
together were greatly enjoyed.
He returned to England, going down the Neckar by steamboat to
Heidelberg, then down the Rhine, and through Holland, where he saw
Miquel[9] in Amsterdam, rambling with him on a fête-day through the
streets at evening, enjoying the queer sights; went to Leyden, meeting De
Vriese,[10] with whom was R. Brown (then staying in Leyden for a few
days), and seeing the Botanic Garden, one of the oldest in Europe, and well
known to Linnæus. Blume[11] he missed, but he saw Siebold’s[12] collection
of Japanese curios, then most rare. He took steamer from Rotterdam to
London, and after a few days went down to Mr. Bentham’s, in
Herefordshire.
Here were spent two months of very hard work with Mr. Bentham, who
most kindly went over with him the plants of the United States Exploring
Expedition, which had been brought over the Atlantic for the purpose.
Pontrilas is in a pretty, hilly country on the border of Wales, with many
old churches, almost of Saxon time, in the neighborhood, to give interest to
walks, and very interesting, agreeable neighbors for a day or two’s visiting,
among them the authoress, Mrs. Archer Clive, who was very kind.
He left Pontrilas early in December to make a visit, at Dublin, to his
friend Professor Harvey, to stay in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Todhunter,
Dr. Harvey’s sister. Going on board the steamer at ten in the evening, he
met with the severe accident of which he gives an account in his letters. Dr.
Harvey came from Dublin to help in nursing him. His vigor and elasticity
helped him to a speedy recovery, but it increased a general tendency to
stoop, and he was never so erect afterwards.
He was able to get to Kew the last of December, and spent the winter in
hard work in Sir William Hooker’s herbarium, which was then in his house
at West Park.
TO A. DE CANDOLLE.
Cumberland Place, Kew, December 28, 1850.
Your kind favor of December 6th, forwarded to me by Bentham, to
Dublin, would have been sooner acknowledged, but that it found me an
invalid. On our way from Hereford to Dublin I had just gone on board a
steamer at Holyhead, early in the evening; had left Mrs. Gray in the ladies’
cabin, when, coming on deck again, I stepped over an open hatchway which
had been left for the moment very carelessly unguarded and unlighted. I fell
full eighteen feet, they say, to the bottom of the hold, striking partly on my
right hand and the side of my right leg, bruising and straining both, but
principally on my right side against a timber projecting from the floor,
fracturing two of my ribs. It is truly wonderful that I was not more seriously
and permanently injured. I was taken on shore at once and had good
medical attendance. I recovered so rapidly that in a week I was comfortably
taken across to Dublin, where I was kindly cared for by good friends; in two
weeks more I left for London, able to walk without difficulty; and to-day,
just four weeks after the accident, I have begun to work at plants again, in
Sir William Hooker’s herbarium. But my side is still tender, and my
strength is not great.
Having said thus much of my bodily condition, let me no longer delay to
thank you heartily for the very unexpected compliment that you have
caused to be paid me, and to ask you to convey, in fitting terms, my grateful
acknowledgments to the Société de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle, for the
honor they have conferred upon me in choosing me as one of their
corresponding members. I was not aware that I had rendered any particular
services to your society, but I shall be very glad to do so if any opportunity
offers. Although, generally, I am far from coveting compliments of this
kind, I assure you I am much pleased to be thus associated with several
valued personal friends, my contemporaries, and with such highly honored
names of the past generation....
We had eight weeks of most pleasant and profitable labor at Pontrilas,
and Mr. Bentham has rendered me invaluable assistance.
Mrs. Gray joins me in the expression of kind remembrances and regard
to Madame De Candolle and yourself.
Believe me to remain, ever most sincerely yours,
Asa Gray.
Since Dr. Gray was so near Sir William, and working in the herbarium
almost every day, there was much meeting of old friends, and of many of
the men distinguished in botany. Robert Brown, with his keen observation
and dry wit, he saw constantly at the British Museum, Dr. Wallich,[13] Mr.
Miers and many others. There was some social visiting in London and the
neighborhood. Mr. Abbott Lawrence was then American minister in
London, and he and Mrs. Lawrence were very kind and attentive, giving
him a chance to see at an evening reception some of the great men of the
London world: the Duke of Wellington, Lady Morgan, Whewell the Master
of Trinity, Lord Boughton, Lord Gough, and many others.
It was the year of the first great World’s Exhibition, and the building was
then considered very wonderful. Through the kindness of Professor Lindley
he was enabled to see it before it was completed.
There was a very charming visit to Oxford in March, where Dr. Gray
made most delightful acquaintances. He there first met Dean Church, then a
fellow of Oriel, who had him to dine. He also dined with Mr. Congreve[14]
at Wadham; met Maskeleyne, who showed him “some fine talbotypes,
which are a sort of daguerreotype on paper, and have a beautiful effect for
landscapes and buildings.” Breakfasted with Mr. Burgon and Mr. Church, at
Oriel, in Dr. Pusey’s old rooms, and met Mr. Burgon again at dinner, when
dining in the “Common Room,” at a dinner given him by Mr. Church, and
also Buckle and Sclater. Dr. Jacobson, then Regius professor of divinity,
afterwards Bishop of Chester, and Mrs. Jacobson, were very kind. Dr.
Daubeny was then professor of botany at Oxford, and there were some
plants to look at in the small herbarium kept in the little Botanic Garden in
an old greenhouse. The days were crowded with interesting sight-seeing
and in meeting agreeable people.
From Oxford, Dr. Gray went to Cambridge, where he met again a
traveling acquaintance made on the passage from Rotterdam, Dr.
Thompson, then Greek tutor, later Master of Trinity, who was very kind in
doing the honors of Trinity, King’s Chapel, etc. At his rooms, Dr. Gray met
Professor Challis and other Cambridge men. The grounds about the colleges
were then at their greatest beauty, the banks of the Cam yellow with
primroses, the whole setting off the beautiful bridges and stately buildings.
Another traveling acquaintance met in the street, recalling an experience on
the Furca, asked Dr. Gray to dine with him at Caius College, saying his
name was Mackenzie. He was Bishop Mackenzie, who died in south Africa.
On returning to Kew, Dr. Gray found Dr. Joseph Hooker, just back from
his journey to the Himalayas and Thibet. Dr. Thompson[15] was also there,
just home from India, where he had been imprisoned with Lady Sale and
others, twenty of them in one small room, during the trouble in Afghanistan.
And one day came an invitation to lunch from the Hookers’, “to meet Mr.
Darwin, who is coming to meet Dr. Hooker; is distinguished as a
naturalist.” “Mr. Darwin was a lively, agreeable person” [Mrs. Gray’s
journal].
TO A. DE CANDOLLE.
5 Cumberland Place, Kew, April 14, 1851.
For myself I am glad that I am perfectly recovered from the effects of
my accident, and am as active as ever. I have passed a very pleasant winter,
and have prosecuted my studies to great advantage, though there still
remains, alas! more for me to do than I can hope to accomplish in the time
that is still left for me. Your letter was just in time to reach me here; for we
had just decided to go to Paris early next week; to remain there until the 1st
of June, at least. The only drawback is that we thereby lose the society of
Mr. and Mrs. Bentham, who mean to come to London early next month....
Sir William Hooker is not yet well, though better than he was last winter.
I have presented your kind messages, for which he sends best thanks, and is
rejoiced to hear of your recovery. Sir William is truly a noble man; the more
intimately you know him the more strongly attached to him you become....
I had thought it quite likely that we might pass through Geneva again
this summer; but that is not now possible. The sea, however, is not so broad
as formerly. Believe me to remain,
Very faithfully and affectionately yours,
Asa Gray.
In April Dr. and Mrs. Gray went to Paris, where he worked busily
through the mornings at the Jardin des Plantes, taking the afternoon for his
sight-seeing. He met again his old friends, Jussieu, Decaisne, Gay, etc., and
made the acquaintance of M. and Mme. Vilmorin, both most charming and
interesting people; the former distinguished as a horticulturist, and both
making investigations for many years on the varieties of strawberries, for
which Mme. V. made all the drawings. Two separate days were passed at
Verrières, their country home, an old villa belonging formerly to the
Duchesse de la Vallière. And here to meet him came old Michaux[16] the
younger, then eighty-one, who had walked from his home (fifteen leagues),
for the pleasure of seeing Dr. Gray. And it was at Dr. Gray’s request that
both Michaux and Jussieu sat for their daguerreotypes for him, the only
satisfactory likenesses of either. Mr. François Delessert[17] extended
pleasant hospitalities, and Mr. Webb was very kind and cordial.
It was during the time of the Republic, Louis Napoleon, president, and
there were some grand fêtes in May, in honor of the Republic, at which the
officers of the government were conspicuously absent.
Dr. Gray returned to Kew in June to continue his work, broken only by
some days in London.
TO GEORGE BENTHAM.
Paris, April 30, 1851.
Dear Bentham,—I cannot give your message to Weddell, for he is on his
way to the Peruvian cinchona forests, to remain a year,—I suppose on a
commission from the manufacturers of quinine. Jussieu still suffers with
some affection of the stomach, but is much better than last winter. Decaisne
is quite well, but is occupied with the Culture, and is little in the herbarium,
where Spach, Tulasne,[18] Naudin,[19] and Trécul[20] are in charge, under
Brongniart and Jussieu. Webb is well, and so is Gay, who is quite happy,
living on his half pay, which the Republic has secured to him, with his
rooms free of rent, and some savings from his former income. I have not
seen Gaudichaud yet; but he has offered to come and show me his
Sandwich Island collections, etc., of which he has issued some plates, in
“La Voyage de la Bonite,” but no text has appeared, and none seems likely
to appear.
I gave to Dr. Alexander the list and notes on Fendler’s Chagres plants.
He will hand it to you when he sees you in London.
TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.
Paris,
May 6, 1851.
Robert Brown told me that Link would be succeeded in his excellent and
lucrative professorship either by Grisebach[21] or by our excellent friend
Braun. Since I have been here, a young man from Berlin says that the
choice has fallen on Braun,—to my great joy, for I love Braun very much. I
have given Lowell, who leaves Paris to-day, and will be in Germany in June
and July, a letter to Braun, addressed to Giessen or Berlin.
Prince Paul’s sensitive branches of Mimosa catching unwary travelers is
rich!
TO ——.
Wednesday morning, June 11.
Settled down to usual Kew routine; glad enough to get back to quiet and
superlative neatness; to less elegance than our Parisian quarters, but
decidedly more comfort. The only thing that distresses us is, that we cannot
translate dear Mrs. Crook bodily to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sure we
would if she were younger; but the dear old creature will now erelong be
translated to a far better land.... Unpacked (which in interminableness is
only second to packing up) and went down to the Hookers’....
Friday, after writing and dispatching letters home, we went up to
London, shopped, etc., in the City; streets nasty (the English word is very
appropriate; no wonder they always use it), and such a contrast to beautiful
and gay Paris, which is vastly more convenient and agreeable for
shopping....
Saturday, ... a little stroll in the Gardens, which are looking beautifully,
the trees loaded with rich foliage, and the great masses of Rhododendrons
in blossom.
In the evening went with Dr. Hooker up to the last soirée of Lord Rosse,
the president of the Royal Society; too late to see Prince Albert, who came
and went early; saw the usual dons. Sir Charles Lyell asked if I had stayed
abroad all the time since last year, or had just come over afresh!...
Wednesday, we were off early in the morning, to make our first visit to
the Great Exhibition. We went up to town by railroad as usual; walked over
Waterloo bridge, and having reached the Strand, had the satisfaction of
seeing nine omnibuses pass westward, all full. Despairing of all hope of
getting into an omnibus, we were just turning to look for a cab, when a
well-dressed and respectable woman, who had been making similar
unsuccessful attempts, rushed up to us, exclaiming, “Oh! are you going to
the Exhibition? Will you not take a cab with me? I have been trying for an
omnibus in vain this half hour, and I have made an appointment with some
friends there at half past ten.” We agreed at once to this reasonable and very
convenient proposition, and we shared the expense accordingly, with many
expressions of thanks on the lady’s part. Before we had reached within half
a mile of the Crystal Palace we were obliged to fall into dense line, with a
close double file of cabs, carriages, dog-carts, and other “vehicular
conveyances,” all wending their way thither, a similar file of empty
carriages returning on the other side of the street; the sidewalks as well as
the roads inside the park all crowded with pedestrians. Early as we were, a
vast number of people were already there, but scattered through the vast
interior, they scarcely made a crowd, until midday, when the more attractive
parts of the structure, the principal streets and squares, so to say, were
thronged.
As to what we saw, is it not written at length in the great Official
Catalogue (as far as that ponderous document is yet published), besides the
Abridged Catalogue, in itself quite a sizable book, which we mean to bring
home, with the Synopsis, and other things, quite a library, and I dare say
you have heard and read quite enough about it. I doubt whether you have
seen the excellent and spirited articles in the “Times,” beginning long
before the building was finished, which give a most admirable and lively
account of everything.
The general impression of the interior was not quite so imposing, did not
give such an idea of the vastness, as when we saw it in April, less full, and
the long spaces unbroken.
On our way down the nave, we stopped for a moment to see the Koh-i-
noor, but the Mountain of Light looked to us little brighter than a piece of
cut-glass. It does not come up to the general expectation. Manage it as they
will, it does not shine at all wonderfully, and the people got it into their
heads that the authorities were shamming them with a glass imitation
instead of the veritable Koh-i-noor; an idea well expressed in “Punch,” who
called it “the knave of diamonds.” We determined to show our patriotism by
going first of all carefully through the American department, and quite a
trial to one’s patriotism it is, a great space, very scantily filled with an ill-
assorted, incongruous collection (although they have given up to Russia and
France about one quarter of the space that Mr. Lawrence asked for and
insisted upon having): one long shelf displayed only half a dozen wooden
pails; another side was decorated with a miserable collection of cast-off
specimens of autumn-leaves, and below with a case containing five or six
dozen bottles of prepared magnesia, all just alike, flanked at the sides with a
similar collection of Old Jacob Townsend’s Sarsaparilla, surmounted by a
portrait of the illustrious inventor. The strength of the nation has gone to
daguerreotypes, of which there are about two thousand very good
specimens of the art, it must be said, far better than they can produce in
England. The same may be said of many things, creditable in themselves,
but of which they have filled up their space, or attempted to fill it, with an
enormous number of specimens, where one or two would suffice. But
wherever anything is quite poor and commonplace, the exhibitor is sure to
make it up in brag, in which it must be confessed we do “beat all creation.”
Monday we went to the Zoölogical Gardens, very extensive, in fine
keeping, the richest collection of living animals of all sorts in the world.
Were very much amused with monkeys of all sorts and sizes, from those
little larger than a rat to the great and sedate orang-outang,[22] just arrived,
who is quite a human and a very respectable grave old fellow. We saw the
hippopotamus, too, but he lay sleeping in the sun, and would give no sign of
life except occasionally opening his eye and giving a wink. But one of the
most amusing sights was the little suckling elephant, with its mother, and it
was curious to see the little thing use its trunk as perfectly and knowingly as
its mother.... We stayed to see the ferocious animals fed, at half past four, no
great sight, as they behaved extremely proper, and then we hurried back to
the station and came home to Kew.
A short visit to the British Museum, which is an immense collection of
objects of natural history, sculpture, books, antiquities, etc., etc. Had some
botanical work in the herbarium there (the British Museum), but did not do
anything that day, for we spent the time talking to Mr. Brown, who was in
quite a chatty mood. He is a singular-looking man, with a very heavy lower
lip and jaw, and generally carries his head down; but it is curious to watch
him, and see how he kindles up, and what a satirical twinkle comes in the
corner of his eyes when he tells some story, for he has a good deal of satire.
Dr. Gray went to the meeting of the British Association at Ipswich,
where Prince Albert came for a few days. Dr. Hooker and Dr. Harvey (who
had been making a visit at Kew), and other scientific friends, were there.
Among other discussions in one of the sections was one on the possibility
of a railroad to the Pacific, a paper by Asa Whitney, “which had been
brought before the Geographical Society in London, and reported on
favorably.”
From Ipswich he made a most interesting visit to Lady Hooker’s father,
Dawson Turner, seeing his very valuable collections, autographs, pictures,
etc., and returning to Kew to work until breaking up to go back to America.
A short trip was made in Ireland, and Dr. Gray went to Pontrilas to say
goodby to Mr. and Mrs. Bentham, immediately before the voyage. Dr. and
Mrs. Gray were again at home, September 4.
After Dr. Gray’s return from Europe, his busy life went on, filled with
college work and the care of the Garden as accompaniments to a study of
the new collections constantly coming in, the work on the Exploring
Expedition, the keeping his various botanical text-books in their new
editions up with the advancing science, and his always large
correspondence. His letters were chiefly on the questions upon which he
was working, but with many touches on events of interest of the day, and
little playful turns. He says in a letter to Dr. Engelmann, “I well know I
have too many irons in the fire.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Darwin destroyed all the letters he received before
1862, except the one published in his “Life and Letters,” which is inserted
later, as well as one to Sir Joseph Hooker taken from the same volume. The
rest of those to Sir Joseph are mostly bound up in the botanical
correspondence at Kew.
Dr. Gray was an immense worker. After his morning mail was received
and looked over, that he might answer any imperative questions, he took
daylight for his scientific work, and, with pauses for meals, and the
necessary interruptions that came at times, he kept steadily on all the day.
He wrote his letters and his elementary botanical works mostly in the
evening. But in his younger days his eyes were unusually strong, and he
would work with the microscope by lamp-light as readily as by daylight.
Though a steady and unwearying worker he was not rapid. He would
throw aside sheet after sheet to be rewritten, especially if there was
anything he wished to make particularly clear and strong, or any reasoning
to be worked out from the soundest point of view. It was always a wonder
to those about him that he could stand as he did the unceasing labor, but he
was a sound sleeper even if the hours might be short, and of a vigorous,
wiry, active temperament, and when he did take a holiday, he took it
heartily. His rest and recreation were in journeys, longer or shorter, and
every two or three years some long outing would be taken, to give him the
needed refreshment. But he must always be busy even then, somewhere to
go, something to see; rest in quiet seemed impossible to him for more than a
day at a time.
TO CHARLES WRIGHT.
Cambridge, January 23, 1852.
I am printing on “Plantæ Wrightianæ,” the first part of which (as I work
in so much general matter, especially Tex-Mexican), to the end of
Compositæ, will take 225 pages or more, with ten plates,—the most
important memoir I ever wrote, and will indelibly fix our name on the
Texan-New-Mexican Flora....
I have just found a letter of Sullivant’s, dated May 27, 1850, in which he
says, “Send me by all means Wright’s Texan Mosses and Hepaticæ....”
Poor fellow! as I wrote you before, he lost his wife while I was away,
and was overwhelmed, as she was everything to him, and as good a
muscologist almost as he....
You are in a fine field. Hold on and keep a good heart. I long to see what
Colonel Graham is now bringing on to me....
June 5.
There, my dear Wright, I consider myself very much of a gentleman! For
your favor of the 12th April reached me only this afternoon, and now before
the sun has gone down I am answering it! Your letter came very
opportunely too. For, though Colonel Graham has been back so long, it was
only yesterday that I got the collection he brought home with him to
Indianola (and the seeds); and to-day I opened it and had looked over only
two bundles. And I was saying to myself, Now if I only had Mr. Wright’s
list with localities, I should do very well. And when my letters came from
the office, yours, with said list inclosed, was among them. The plants look
well, but I have only peeped into them yet. I am glad if you have found
Amoreuxia malvafolia, but I have not yet hit upon it....
I am still very busy with college work, for a month longer, and with the
Garden; and the Exploring Expedition work has been pressing me, and still
will. But I shall somehow distribute your 1851 collection very soon, name
them up to the end of Compositæ, and in the course of the summer
determine many of the monopetalous families. I have already named and
described a few of these and some Apetalæ to please Colonel Graham, and
named a new Pentstemon after him (which I have growing, too), which
compliment seems to gratify him.
By this time you will have received the index and plates of “Plantæ
Wrightianæ.” Copies are already in England, and I am about to dispatch
many to France, Germany, etc.
You are indeed an invaluable collector, though you do like to grumble
now and then, and I hope the Indians won’t catch you. If they must take a
scalp or a head, there are others I could better spare. So take care of
yourself....
TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.
February 23, 1852.
I carefully keep your flowering bit of Fendlera, ready to return it if
Lindheimer does not get more, as I trust he will. It is the most interesting of
North American genera, between Deutzia and Philadelphus, and shows
plainly that both are saxifragaceous....
July 28.
I am worked almost to distraction. But college work is now over and I
can get on with fewer irons in the fire.
I fear you are driven up hard also, by the sickly season and cholera. I
hope you may be able to give up practice by and by....
I have had for a good while a misunderstanding with Captain Wilkes
about my work for the Exploring Expedition botany. It is now made up, I
think, or nearly, but I have had no pay from them for a long time, and they
are a year behind in paying. I have got manuscript of several families all
ready for the press, and some fine drawings. I am just now working up
“Plantæ Wrightianæ,” 1851 collection, up to end of Compositæ, old
stopping-place, but must dash beyond that soon....
TO W. J. HOOKER.
Cambridge, December 4, 1852.
Here is a discovery! I have to-day received by post from Dr. J. F.
Beaumont, of Mountain Home, in the upper part of Alabama, specimens of
a Trichomanes, which he finds growing there under shelving rocks. I send
you herewith the half of what is sent me, knowing you will be much
interested in the discovery, for the first time, of a Trichomanes in the United
States; and thinking that you will probably pronounce it to be a form of the
T. radicans, though so much smaller than my Irish and West Indian
specimens.... I have not specimens enough of T. radicans to satisfy myself
entirely, and refer the question to your experienced judgment. Pray give me
your opinion, for the addition of a single species to our few ferns, and
especially one of this group, is a matter of moment to us, and worthy of a
published notice.
I should not be so greatly surprised now if Hymenophyllum ciliatum,
credited by Willdenow to Virginia, should turn up, but I still think there was
some mistake about that; and I could find no specimen in Willdenow’s
herbarium when I sought for it, in 1839....
Next Wednesday’s steamer, which takes this letter, will also take, for a
short European tour, my good father-in-law, Mr. Loring, with Mrs. Loring,
and Mrs. Gray’s brother Charles. A rather sudden determination, but we
have strongly urged the journey ever since the death of their dear little boy,
the little Benjamin, who seemed given to be the comfort and stay of their
declining years, who was born just before our return home, a year ago last
summer. The rest and change are needful to Mr. Loring, also, from being
worn down by his long-continued labors at the bar, of which he is perhaps
the leader in Boston; I am confident it will be of great benefit to him; and
the Old World has much to interest a man of his refined taste.... And then
Kew Garden is to them one of the wonders of the world, as well as a place
with which they have, through us, so many pleasant associations. Should
you wish them to enjoy the privilege of seeing the Gardens under your own
kind auspices, would you notify Mr. Loring through Boott (for I do not now
know what will be their London address), of a day that would be agreeable
and convenient to yourself....
January 4, 1853.
Wright will now soon be off in Ringgold’s North Pacific Surveying
Expedition, to explore Behring Straits, Kurile Islands, the coast of Japan, if
possible, and to winter at the Sandwich Islands.
So we shall have no more New Mexican plants from him.
My new memoir, “Plantæ Wrightianæ,” is now almost all printed, and
contains many novelties. I never had a collection so rich in entirely new
things.
I long to hear what you will say of the Trichomanes from Alabama
which I sent you.
With best wishes for the new year to you and all yours, I remain,
Yours affectionately,
Asa Gray.
January 28, 1853.
“It never rains but it pours” is an old adage suitable to this meridian and
illustrated by what I now send you, namely, a second Trichomanes from
Alabama! discovered by the indefatigable Thomas M. Peters, Esq., of
Moulton, who (and not Mr. Beaumont, it appears) was the first finder of
Trichomanes radicans in Alabama.
This one seems to me clearly a new one....
I think it particularly appropriate in this case that it should bear the name
of its discoverer, so I have called it Trichomanes Petersii, and have sent a
little article on it and Trichomanes radicans to “Silliman’s Journal.” ...
In 1853 began Dr. Gray’s long correspondence with the Dean of St.
Paul’s—a friendship whose intimacy was ever increasing and which lasted
through his life.
TO R. W. CHURCH.
February 7, 1853.
My dear Mr. Church,—Since I heard, which I did first from Mr. Clough,
[23] that you were about to marry and take charge of a parish, I have been
longing every time I wrote to England to add a line expressing my most
sincere congratulations. I hope you will not think me too presuming if I
make bold to do so, and if I ask you where your parish is, for I would gladly
form some idea of where your home is to be. Pleasant and desirable on
many accounts as an Oxford life must be, yet I cannot but think you more
appropriately placed in the pleasant parsonage I can fancy, the centre of a
little world of your own, and the spiritual guide of an attached body of
parishioners, where you will be very happy and very useful.
Still let us hope that the visit to Cambridge, New England, is only
deferred, to afford us a double gratification. I think you can sometimes
leave your parish for three months, or even more with special leave, and the
voyage is becoming shorter and cheaper every year.
I have looked through the “Times,” which I see regularly through the
kindness of a friend, thinking that I might perchance see your appointment,
presentation, or whatever it may be, mentioned; but in vain.
By the way, I am glad to see that you have elected Mr. Gladstone. Your
name on the Oxford Committee makes me suppose you have not yet left
Oxford.
Dr. Albro has returned in restored health, and speaks with much
gratification of his visit to Oxford, only regretting that your absence
prevented his making your acquaintance until the last moment of his short
stay.
Mr. Clough brought me a letter from Maskelyne of Wadham College.
Circumstances, I am sorry to say, have yet prevented me from seeing him
here as much as I could wish. I hope soon to know him better. He has
excellent and influential acquaintances; but one hardly sees what he is to
do.
If he holds Unitarian views, as I have been told, he will perhaps be more
favorably situated, just in Boston or Cambridge, than in England, and
probably meet more cultivated and more religious people of that persuasion
than at home. But if he sympathizes rather with Francis Newman and that
school, as some one tells me, I should think he would not find that class of
people here very attractive to him. But I hope that is not his bent. I have no
partiality for Unitarianism, though it is the faith of near and valued friends.
I am an orthodox Presbyterian, as my fathers were. But in England I should
be a Churchman, although a pretty low one, at least in some respects; and I
am a most hearty well-wisher to the Church of England. So pray, when
settled in your parish, just drop me a line to say where you are, and how old
your parish church is; for hankering after antiquities is, as an Oxford man
told me, a great failing of Americans.
TO A. DE CANDOLLE.
Cambridge, March 28, 1853.
My dear Friend,—I am all the more glad that I can direct your attention to
the fourth volume (new series) of the “Memoirs of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences,” p. 382, where you will find your name enrolled as
the sole Honorary Member for Switzerland.
Ordinarily neither you nor I would be at all solicitous for such
recognition. I care not to have them except where (as in the Linnæan
Society of London, the French Academy, and your own society of Geneva)
I well know the nominations are strictly and conscientiously weighed, and
where the list to be filled is a limited one. But we here prize the name of De
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