^T. 76.] TO J. D. HOOKER. 797 



We have had an enjoyable time ; and, I suppose, 

 shall by day after to-morrow set off Rhine-wards, 

 stopping, perhaps, a day at Strasburg, and by the 

 Low Countries back to Paris, probably not to be again 

 on this side of the Channel, unless you and Lady H. 

 will take a trip to Normandy with us, either in Au- 

 gust or September. 



I hope you will soon have done with Phyllanthus, 

 and that you will not hesitate to restore as many old 

 genera as your own judgment dictates. Your expe- 

 rience and present insight must exceed Bentham's. 

 And what you must needs indicate, the next man will 

 take up, and probably cackle over. 



My wife joins in love to yours and you ; will be 

 likely to write when she can. 



From Geneva the old journey of 1850 was nearly 

 repeated, and Dr. Gray came down the Rhine, by rail 

 this time, to Brussels, Amsterdam, the Hague, back to 

 Antwerp and Brussels, and so to Paris. Besides meet- 

 ing old friends, the object of the journey, he said, was 

 to have one more good look at picture-galleries and 

 churches and cathedrals ; and great was his enjoyment 

 of them, unwearied his wanderings about the places 

 where he stopped. The new galleries at Amsterdam 

 and Brussels, and their superb collections, delighted 

 him, and the grand music of the cathedrals and their 

 noble interiors seemed a new source of pleasure. 



He missed his old friends in Paris ; Decaisne was 

 gone, and Lavallee, etc. He went to a meeting at the 

 Institute, and saw Chevreuil, who had passed his hun- 

 dredth birthday, but spoke a few words with life and 

 animation. There were some excursions in the neigh- 

 borhood, and some work in the herbarium, where he 

 received every kind attention. 



