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SIR J. HOOKER TO A.R. WALLACE


_Royal Gardens, Kew. November 10, 1880._

Dear Mr. Wallace,--I have been waiting to thank you for "Island Life"
till I should have read it through as carefully as I am digesting the
chapters I have finished; but I can delay no longer, if only to say that
I heartily enjoy it, and believe that you have brushed away more cobwebs
that have obscured the subject than any other, besides giving a vast
deal that is new, and admirably setting forth what is old, so as to
throw new light on the whole subject. It is, in short, a first-rate
book. I am making notes for you, but hitherto have seen no defect of
importance except in the matter of the Bahamas, whose flora is Floridan,
not Cuban, in so far as we know it....--Very truly yours,

JOS. D. HOOKER.

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TO SIR W. THISELTON-DYER


_Pen-y-bryn, St. Peter's Road, Croydon. January 7, 1881._

Dear Mr. Thiselton-Dyer,--If I had had your lecture before me when
writing the last chapters of my book I should certainly have quoted you