Description

Henry has received Thiselton-Dyer's letter discussing the ferns Henry sent to Dr Christ through C.B. Clarke. Henry always addresses letters to Thiselton-Dyer, as the head of RBG Kew. Henry is offering [plant] 'set 7' to Berlin. There are eight sets in total, plus Henry's own plants, therefore, eight copies of a list of determinations will be needed. Henry mentions his suggestion to procure Franchet's pamphlets in exchange for Henry's plants; French missionaries in Yunnan have received Franchet's papers. Henry thinks the Szemao [Simao] collection might exceed that from Mengtze [Wenlan]. Szemao has a larger proportion of Indian and tropical things: Mengtze had the Ichang shrub Itea ilicifolia and Szemao has I. macrophylla, an Indian tree. Henry has little time for field work and no aptitude for investigation. He thinks places like Yunnan, with many distinct plants, are the best places to study species-making and that isolation will be an important factor. There is a scarcity of Compositae and an accompanying scarcity of butterflies. He sees groups of several species of a genus together and does not know how they all succeed: Oaks and Castanopsis grow surprisingly well together for example. Curiously, many ferns appear as epiphytes above 6000 feet, but there are none at 5000 feet. Henry will provide Thiselton-Dyer with a long account of his collecting grounds in Yunnan. Henry continues his study of the 'Lolo' language, it has some similarities to both Japanese and Chinese languages. Henry discusses the critical state of affairs in China, including the Mengtze disaster; the weakness of the executive; the English political attitude to China; the difficulties of the British Empire; the appointment of Sir Claude Macdonald in Peking [Beijing]; the partition of China and possible reform. Henry hopes RBG Kew will succeed in growing seeds of the orange-flowered Cyrtandreae he sent. Next winter the remaining section of the Burmese-Yunnan frontier will be delineated. It runs through the country of the 'savage Kawas'[?]. Henry anticipates much opposition to railways et cetera in Yunnan: the Chinese of the interior see it as a military step by foreigners who wish to possess their country. Pages 1 and 4 of 11.

Description

Henry has received Thiselton-Dyer's letter discussing the ferns Henry sent to Dr Christ through C.B. Clarke. Henry always addresses letters to Thiselton-Dyer, as the head of RBG Kew. Henry is offering [plant] 'set 7' to Berlin. There are eight sets in total, plus Henry's own plants, therefore, eight copies of a list of determinations will be needed. Henry mentions his suggestion to procure Franchet's pamphlets in exchange for Henry's plants; French missionaries in Yunnan have received Franchet's papers. Henry thinks the Szemao [Simao] collection might exceed that from Mengtze [Wenlan]. Szemao has a larger proportion of Indian and tropical things: Mengtze had the Ichang shrub Itea ilicifolia and Szemao has I. macrophylla, an Indian tree. Henry has little time for field work and no aptitude for investigation. He thinks places like Yunnan, with many distinct plants, are the best places to study species-making and that isolation will be an important factor. There is a scarcity of Compositae and an accompanying scarcity of butterflies. He sees groups of several species of a genus together and does not know how they all succeed: Oaks and Castanopsis grow surprisingly well together for example. Curiously, many ferns appear as epiphytes above 6000 feet, but there are none at 5000 feet. Henry will provide Thiselton-Dyer with a long account of his collecting grounds in Yunnan. Henry continues his study of the 'Lolo' language, it has some similarities to both Japanese and Chinese languages. Henry discusses the critical state of affairs in China, including the Mengtze disaster; the weakness of the executive; the English political attitude to China; the difficulties of the British Empire; the appointment of Sir Claude Macdonald in Peking [Beijing]; the partition of China and possible reform. Henry hopes RBG Kew will succeed in growing seeds of the orange-flowered Cyrtandreae he sent. Next winter the remaining section of the Burmese-Yunnan frontier will be delineated. It runs through the country of the 'savage Kawas'[?]. Henry anticipates much opposition to railways et cetera in Yunnan: the Chinese of the interior see it as a military step by foreigners who wish to possess their country. Pages 1 and 4 of 11.