310 CHARLES CARDALE BABINGTON. [1849 



the Council of the British Association had decided by a small 

 majority to accept the Edinburgh invitation for 1850. I suppose 

 that the end of September will be the time. You will certainly 

 have a good meeting, and also find that you have plenty of hard 

 work in making the arrangements. — Yours very truly, Charles C. 

 Babington. 



Please to collect Armerias on your coast, etc., this season. 



To Professor J. H. Balfour, M.D. 



St. John's College, Cambridge, Juli/ 7, 1849. 



Dear Balfour, — I only received your two letters this evening, 

 on my return home from an interesting trip to West Somerset. 

 In the first place I have to say that Bowerbank's steamer-plan is at 

 an end. I should greatly like to go with you to " Ultima Thule," 

 if it is not now too late for you to make the arrangements. In 

 case that it can be done, I would join you after your Braemar trip 

 is over, as that will give me more time here to get through a great 

 accumulation of work. Let me know as soon as you can, if you 

 can go, and about what time. I cannot understand what the 

 Botanical Society are about in wishing (and directing) the Catalogue 

 to be in alphabetical order. If so done, it will drive me and 

 numbers of others to use the London Catalogue, bad as it is. I 

 see no use in the arrangement of genera except to cut up as labels. 

 Although I am going to give you all the help in my power, I wish 

 it to be clearly understood that I am quite at liberty to draw up 

 and print a catalogue (arranged as the Manual or otherwise) as 

 soon as I please : indeed my present intention after reading your 

 letter is to do so next winter, as I am in great want of one, and 

 shall find an alphabetical one more troublesome than useful. I will 

 write again soon. — Very truly yours, Charles C. Babington. 



To the Rev. W. H. Purchas. 



St. John's College, Cambridge, Aug. 4, 1849. 



My dear Sir, — I have looked at the grass enclosed in your 

 letter, and should say that it is Glyceria plicata, notwithstanding the 

 colour of the anthers. Experience tends to shew that the colour of 

 that part is not so fully to be depended upon as was supposed. I 

 have never seen what I could truly call plicate leaves, and half 

 suspect that authors have copied, one after another, from Fries, 

 without confirming that author's description. Some suppose that 

 we have a third species, and others that the two both vary 

 considerably, so as to seem to combine, although they do not do so. 

 I am sorry that I am thus obliged to leave the matter in doubt, as 

 I have been much puzzled by these plants, and do not yet see 

 my way out of the difficulty. — Yours very truly, Charles C. 

 Babington. 



