xT. 70.] TO J. D. HOOKER. 709 
better. Then in March or early April, when England 
is apt to be raw and rough, but Italy is smiling, we 
will rush to meet the spring, and return to England 
when that, too, is delightful and its days long and 
sunny. Note also, that even an Italian winter may 
be chilly and damp, and when it is so, there is no see- 
ing galleries and churches without teeth-chattering 
and cold-taking, and it is not easy to get warm lodg- 
ings and decent fires. This course 3 would suit 
-me best of all; for then we, lingering longer than 
you might be able to take time for, should return to 
England via Vienna and Berlin, which Mrs. Gray has 
never seen, and in the latter I have Willdenow’s her- 
barium to potter over. 
Now, my dear old friend, perpend my words (if you 
ean read them; I write on an awkward bit of table), 
and then have your say. 
Hore St. Romary, November 21, 1880. 
The correspondence of late has naturally been con- 
ducted by our respective better halves. I have at 
length (after giving Cosson two or three days to name 
up his American and Mexican plants) got fairly at 
work at the Jardin des Plantes, and have found 
(mainly in the herbarium Jussieu) the originals of 
several of Lamarck’s asters, which gives me happi- 
- ness. They take every pains to accommodate and 
assist one at the herbarium. I see old Decaisne at 
his house; he is not strong. 
I think we shall need two weeks more here, and we 
hope for better weather than we have yet had. Colds 
one always takes at Paris, and Mrs. Gray now has 
her share. It took a long while to be clear of the 
