Your affectionate nephew, J. F. W. HERSCHEL. MISS HERSCHEL TO J. F. W. HERSCHEL. HANOVER, _May 3, 1825_. MY DEAR NEPHEW,— I must content myself with only writing a few lines by way of thanking you for your very interesting letter, which has taken all the care from my mind which I felt for the fate of the MS. Before the box left Hanover, I received a very kind letter from Hofrath Blumenbach, in which was one enclosed to you; I hope it is come to hand, though I am still in doubt about your direction, and for that reason kept the letter near a fortnight before I parted with it. You give me hope of receiving some of your and Mr. South’s works for Gauss and Harding. I know no way of sending them than through Mr. Goltermann by the quarterly messenger, and that it will be well for you to make some inquiry beforehand about the time he is likely to leave England. The Duke of Cambridge will, within a month, be in England; perhaps you will meet with him; he is a great admirer of you. Last Saturday, between the acts of the concert, he asked me many questions about you. I wish I had had your letter two days sooner, I should then have known better how to answer him. He enquired if you were much engaged with astronomy? I said you were a deep mathematician, which embraced all, &c., ... then he asked if you studied chemistry? answer, very much! you had built yourself a laboratorium at Slough, had a house in town for three years, was secretary of the Royal Society, would probably, in the vacation, be at Slough, &c., &c., and in return he told me that he heard from everybody you were a very learned philosopher; and if I tell you that the Duke of Cambridge is the favourite of all who know him, I think I have made you acquainted with one another. My brother intends soon to write a few words about insects himself, which is almost the only object with which he _amuses_ himself. It is well he does not see the word _amuses_, for I suppose it should be _sublime study_, for whenever he catches a fly with a leg more than usual, he says it is as good as catching a comet! Do you think so?