
          Botanic Garden, Wednesday Evening.


 My Dear Friend 


 Your favor of the 10th [added: & 14th] reached me
 duly. When I wrote last to Mrs. T. [Torrey], on Saturday 
 I was suffering under a transient illness, a pretty 
 severe one, which kept me within doors until Monday. 
 You will be glad to hear that I am quite set up 
 again, and that I resumed my lectures last evening,
 repeating also this afternoon. All going very well.
 I am now half through, and have got almost done 
 with Fungi. The audience take so much to the 
 "Cryptogamic matters," especially the afternoon audience
 which is as a whole the most intelligent and refined, 
 that I let them run on, and they will occupy the 
 whole course, except three lectures. I gave one lecture, 
 generally thought nearly the best, on the large Fungi, 
 Mushrooms, Truffles, Morels, Puff-balls, with some 
 good general matters. To-day I have taken the 
 small ones, Moulds, Mildews, Rust, & Smut in wheat, 
 with superb illustrations. Ergot is still left over, along 
 with the disease in Potatoes, the plant of fermentation, 
 the Botrytis that kills silk-worms, with some 
 recapitulatory matters on Spontaneous generation
 must be cooked up for Friday. Then comes 
 Algae; the large proper ones (Lect. [Lecture] 8.), of which a fine 
 series of illustrations is now nearly done. Lect. [Lecture] 9th. 
        