Botanists -- United States -- Correspondence; Gray, Asa, 1810-1888 -- Correspondence
plain unfashionable people in the afternoon. These Whitfieldians are,
one would think, farther separated from the Established Church than
Wesleyans (which was certainly not the case in Whitfield’s time, who
refused to take any steps to establish a sect apart from the Church of
England); for in the Wesleyan chapel I attended the liturgy was read,
but here we had none of it. Only last summer I read a biography of
Whitfield with much attention; and it was very interesting to worship in
this chapel of his. It recalls more interesting associations than
Westminster Abbey or any vast and splendid cathedral. But I must bid
you good-night, purposing to rise early and have an hour or so before
the pressing business of the day is commenced to write another sheet to
you and our good Dr. Torrey, to whom I have so much to say, if I could
ever find time for it.
Friday.--I have been to-day at the British Museum, studying from the
specimens of Plukenet, Catesby, Miller, etc., etc., the authority for
old Linnæan species in Ilex, Prinos, Eupatorium, etc. It is slow and
tedious work, and I shall not have time to do so much of it as I could
wish. Brown told me to-day about Petalanthera. It is Cevallis, Lagasca,
Hortus Matritensis, and very probably his species, even C. sinuata. It
came from New Spain. You will see Lindley is all astray about the genus,
and no one knows its affinities even, but Brown. Lagasca himself refers
it to Boragineæ. It is true Loaseæ. I was this evening at Bentham’s, and
found he had a specimen of C. sinuata from Hooker, collected by Brydges
in Mexico, I think. I have asked Brown to give us some notes on the
subject, a generic character, etc., that we may publish a little from
his own pen. I am to spend a day with him next week, and I will try to
get something out of him. He hinted to me some days ago that he knew
something about Cyrilla, but I could not get it out of him. I’ll try
again. He tells me he has a character to distinguish true Rhexia, which
has escaped Don, De Candolle, etc. We must find it out. Bentham has
given me his “Scrophulariæ Indicæ,” and the three last parts of his
“Labiatæ;” I have bought the rest (£1 2s. 6d.), and last evening we
looked over his North American specimens, and the notes in his copy. He
gave me also, the other day, the only published part of the “Plantæ
Hugelianæ” and a few other pamphlets. He is a liberal soul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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