1871] BOTANICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 369 



To J. F. DUTHIE, Esq. 



Cambridge, July 1, 1871. 



Dear Duthie, — I congratulate you upon your discovery of 

 Poly gala austriaca on Wye Down, and thank you very much for the 

 specimens sent to me. Fortunately, I was at home for a single day 

 just in time to save them, and they are now nice dry specimens. 

 I am glad that you had Newbould with you when you went again 

 for them. I have had no communication with him for a long time, 

 but suppose it is because he has no cause to write. Mrs. Babington 

 desires to be kindly remembered to you. I saw Mills yesterday at 

 Cockfield, near Bury ; he is settled at Bury St. Edmunds as 

 chaplain to the hospital and gaol. He seems much better in 

 health than he was when here.— Yours truly, Charles C. Babington. 



To T. R. Archer Briggs, Esq. 



5, Brookside, Cambridge, July 13, 1871. 



My dear Sir, — I am very much obliged to you for the nice 

 specimens of Viola permixta, and also for the other specimens sent 

 with it. I will examine the latter in due time, and write about 

 them. I fear that I may not have time to do so at present. You 

 will see a great matter made of Siler trilohum found near here. 

 There are not more than eight or ten plants of it, and 1 think that 

 it was put out by a former Curator of the Botanic Garden, who 

 planted many garden plants in the neighbourhood where this grows. 

 You will agree with me that we cannot be too cautious in admitting 

 a doubtful plant like this as indigenous. — Yours very truly, Charles 

 C. Babington. 



To the Rev. T. A. Preston. 



Cambridge, Sept. 19, 1871. 

 My dear Preston, — I have been thinking about your garden, 

 and fancy that it would be best for you to make a representative 

 collection, containing one or two species of each important genus, 

 or very important section of a genus. It is useless to attempt 

 anything like a complete collection, and the acceptance of chance 

 species which may be offered you, would only uselessly take up the 

 space. Of course I do not mean to exclude any plants that may 

 have local or personal interest, and only lay down a general rule to 

 go by. Such a collection would, I think, be of the most use of any 

 to students. If you can draw up some list of that kind, we will do 

 what we can to help you in drawing out the plan. Or if you do 

 not like the plan, and wish for any miscellaneous species that we 

 can send, we will do something for you in that case. I think that 

 the Siler may have been at Cherry Hinton for thirty or forty years, 

 and was probably sown by Biggs, the curator at that time. He is 



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