1855] BOTANICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 327 



To the same. 



Cambkidge, May 4, 1856. 



My dear Sir, — I return Mr. Woods' letter with thanks, but do 

 not receive so much information from it as I had expected. Are 

 you inclined to believe that hybrids are usual, or not unfrequent 

 in Epilobiwm ? If they are, the E. virgatum may be one, and we are 

 relieved from much difficulty. But I certainly tend to join in the 

 opinion of Fries, that the calling a difficult plant a hybrid is 

 usually a careless way of escaping from difficulty. I am certainly 

 very far from being satisfied about E. virgatum. The Linnaean 

 specimen has the authenticating marks as E. tetragonum ; neverthe- 

 less, I believe that he had the true E. tetragonum (E. adnatum) in 

 view when writing the "Sp. PI." ed. 1, and that he placed the 

 wrong specimen in his herbarium afterwards. I wish that he had 

 known how much value and confidence would be placed in his 

 herbarium ; for then it would probably have really been the 

 authority that people have endeavoured to make of it. Schultz's 

 address is. Dr. F. Schultz, Wissembourg, France. I presume that 

 he does not quote " English Botany " from not having access to the 

 book. I suppose that Salter has informed you that he has some 

 idea of recommencing the " Suppl. Engl. Bot." I hope that he may 

 be able to do so. — Yours truly, Charles C. Babington. 



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



St. John's College, Cambridge, July 11, 1855. 



Dear Balfour, — Have you changed houses, or is the place 

 marked at the head of your letter accidental ? The Carex presents 

 no cause for doubt. It is C. Oederi. I am sorry to say that I have 

 a slight remembrance of receiving two Hieracia from you ; that 

 they troubled me, and that I either sent or intended to send them 

 to James Backhouse for his opinion upon them. As I can find no 

 trace of them, I fancy that the last idea is a fact ; and as he is just 

 married I do not wonder that no notice has been taken of them as 

 yet. This is unfortunate, but you must be so kind as to excuse it. 

 I have no doubt that you will spend a few weeks in Switzerland 

 with much pleasure. Unfortunately I cannot get far from home, 

 as I have to be in South Wales in the latter part of August. I 

 trust that we shall meet at Glasgow. Curiously enough Arnott 

 writes in the same manner to me, telling me that my Manual is 

 " the book for people who wish to get a knowledge of the critical 

 species, and is therefore the book I would myself take with me if I 

 were making an excursion to the highlands or to a district new to 

 me." He is an excellent fellow, but it is somewhat odd to find him 

 writing this to me, and in the same letter remarking that " Fries, 

 Koch, &c., idled away their time in catching at shadows." Also 



