30 Rhodora [FEBRUARY 
Journal of a visit while in London on September 4th to the Nestor of 
English botanists, Sir Joseph Hooker. It will also show Dr. Kennedy's 
terse and direct style of writing, very particular and precise as to 
details which escape most of us. 
* Fernald and I left Waterloo station at 11:05 and arrived at Sun- 
ingdale at 12:17. Sir Joseph Hooker’s little victoria was at the station 
and we rode about a mile to the house, beautifully situated among 
pine trees in a moorland sort of district. Lady Hooker received us 
very kindly in a little hallway near the front door and Sir Joseph 
came in after we were seated in the parlor. He was dressed in a 
Scotch plaid of quiet pattern, a gray and purplish stripe. He is 
eighty-six years old and has yet the alertness that always characterized 
Asa Gray. His beard is worn in a large fringe about his face and I 
never before saw that way of trimming the beard suit the face; his 
eyebrows are enormously large and shaggy and as I have noticed that 
my own are growing perceptibly the past three years I wonder what 
reversion of type it may indicate. His manner and something about 
the face, a certain placid benignity, reminded me of Samuel H. Scudder, 
the writer on Butterflies. He is now getting rather deaf so that we 
all talked in a loud tone. He made us feel quite at home by showing 
much pleasure in our call. 
“When Fernald gave him Mr. George Murray’s message, that he had 
good news from Capt. Scott on the Discovery now in the Antarctic 
region, he quickly said, “How can that be? How can he have news 
of Capt. Scott who is locked in the ice?" As Fernald could not 
answer this question he laughingly added, “ Well, tell Murray I thank 
him for the good news." Lady Hooker's mother, a dear and seem- 
ingly very old lady, came in with a younger lady and we all went out 
in the dining room at about 1:30. The meal was evidently dinner, 
for hot roast beef and vegetables and fine boiled rice served in one 
course were followed by........ and a cup of coffee. Very choice 
Asti wine was offered me, while Fernald and Hooker kept to the 
red wine or at least Fernald did. We were placed at table as follows: 
Lady Hooker 
who carved the meat 
Fernald GOR 
Sir Joseph Lady Hooker's mother 
The lady whose name 
I do not recall 
Our talk was on American children and on botany only slightly. 
