My dear Hooker

I have heard from Sulivan (who poor fellow gives a very bad account of his own health) about the fossils.¹ His son goes with Capt. Mayne & Capt Richards the hydrographer helped Sulivan as his Lieut. in collecting the bones.² Sulivan meant to speak to Capt. Mayne; but if you c^d influence the Duke of S. that w^d be by far the most important.³

The place is Gallegos on the S. coast of Patagonia. Sulivan says that in the course of 2 or 3 days all the boats in the ship could be filled twice over; but to get good specimens out of the hardish rock 2 or 3 weeks w^d be requisite. It w^d be a grand haul for paleontology.⁴

I have been thinking over your lecture. Will it not be possible to give enlarged drawings of some leading forms of trees?⁵ You will of course have a large map; & George tells me that he saw at Sir H. James’s at Southampton a map of the world on a new principle, as seen from within, so that almost $\frac{4}{5}$ of the globe was shewn at once on a large scale. W^d it not be worth while to borrow one of these from Sir H. James as a curiosity to hang up?⁶

Remember you are to come here before Nottingham.⁷

I have almost finished the last number of H. Spencer & am astonished at its prodigality of original thought. But the reflection constantly recurred to me that each suggestion, to be of real value to science, w^d require years of work.⁸ It is also very unsatisfactory the impossibility of conjecturing where direct action of external circumstances begins & ends, as he candidly owns in discussing the production of woody tissue in the trunks of trees on the one hand, & on the other in spines & the shells of nuts.⁹ I shall like to hear what you think of this number when we meet

yours affectly | Ch. Darwin

Thanks about Lupine¹⁰