I see that my writing is very bad, and will stop short. Inclosed are seeds of the two passion-flowers which are so good for showing the movements of tendril, both the coiling after being touched, and revolution, etc. Sow in April in your little conservatory, or in hotbed, and you may have good plants for your purpose in June. The tendrils show off best under a temperature of 80° or 90° Fahr. P. acerifolia will give you tendrils a foot long, when in full growth. I note the uneasiness in England, and the rumors of difference in the cabinet,--dangerous times for Gladstone’s ministry, but I do hope it will last. I suppose your church is all in order, and your cares over as to the rebuilding.... TO JOHN TORREY. November 4, 1870. I have to-day a long letter from Bentham, which I would send to you, but that it is full of Compositæ queries and statements, which I have soon to attend to. What a worker he is, and what a good one! At last accounts Decaisne and Brongniart were drilling. Rather old sojers, I think! Cosson[87] had dispatched his wife and daughter and granddaughter to England, and was communicating now and then by balloon-post! Bentham very well, and working hard at Compositæ for “Genera.” ... I have an advanced class this year, and they come up here, and take up a vast deal of my time. But it is enjoyable work, as they are the pick of a dozen out of fifty or sixty of the preceding year. March 28, 1871. ... I hope, with you, that the Domingo annexation will break down. But Grant is working for Cuba too, and that is worse than the other; ignorant blacks are better than Creole Spaniards to deal with. TO R. W. CHURCH. February 27, 1871.