CHAPTER XXIII 



ASPECTS OF AMAZONIAN VEGETATION AND ANIMAL 



MIGRATIONS 



(ENGLAND, 1864-1873) 



[ON reaching England in May 1864, Spruce 

 remained for some time in London, at Kew and 

 at Hurstpierpoint, with short visits to Mr. Daniel 

 Hanbury and to myself. He thus had frequent 

 opportunities of seeing most of his botanical friends, 

 and his further correspondence with them was of 

 little general interest. There is an exception, how- 

 ever, in the case of Mr. Hanbury, with whom he 

 at once established an intimacy which quickly 

 ripened into a close friendship ; and as this gentle- 

 man thenceforth acted as Spruce's informal agent 

 in London, supplying him with medicines, books, 

 and any special delicacies he required (always on 

 a strict business footing), while Spruce was always 

 ready to give botanical or other information on Mr. 

 H anbury's special pharmaceutical researches, letters 

 passed between them weekly, and often daily, for 

 many years, amounting in all to nearly a thousand, 

 all of which were carefully preserved and were 

 presented by Sir Thomas Hanbury (after his 

 brother's death in 1875) to the Pharmaceutical 

 Society. These were kindly lent me, and a few 



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