. 39.] TO GEORGE BENTHAM. 367 



love for them. I dislike to take tlie time to study 

 out laboriously and guessingly, with incomplete speci- 

 mens, and no great herbaria and libraries to refer to, 

 these things which are mostly well known to botanists, 

 though not to me, and I want to be taken off from 



o 



North American botany for as short a time as possible. 

 I must therefore come abroad with them, which the 

 pay that is offered will enable me to do. I have 

 found a good deal to interest me in the Compositse, 

 especially those of Rio Negro, of north Patagonia and 

 of the Andes of Peru. . . . 



Now, will you take it as a bore, an imposition on 

 your kindness, if I frankly ask whether I can possibly 

 offer you any sort of inducement to aid me, at least so 

 far as to run over the collections with me, and name 

 those that are familiar to you as we pass, and refer 

 others, as nearly as one can without study, to their 

 proper places? Your mere comments in running 

 through would save half my time. 



It is most natural that you should not incline to 

 any such trouble, and I know your hands are always 

 full ; so, if you say no, I shall feel it is quite right, 

 and do the best I can. . . . 



We shall be most glad to visit you at Pontrilas 

 House at whatever time best suits Mrs. Bentham and 

 yourself, whether in summer or in autumn, any time 

 before we settle down into our winter quarters. . . . 



With best wishes to Mrs. B. and yourself for the 

 new year, I am very faithfully yours, A. GRAY. 



TO W. J. HOOKER. 



April 2, 1850. 



We were most glad to receive your kind favor of 

 January 29, which, however, lay over a fortnight in 



