I was very much pleased to see this morning that you had returned safe from your long journey to Australia, and I hope that besides the immense quantity of useful work which I make no doubt you have done, that you have come back in better health. You will have heard that my dear sister has gone from me; and for her I can be very happy, but I do miss her exceedingly.
But I am now writing to you about a little bit of business. When her failing health allowed, her great pleasure after you saw her was to execute some more diagrams, beautifully done, and I am sure there is no situation where she would have been more gratified for them to be placed than in Edinburgh University—and yesterday evening I had a truly kind letter from Sir Wm. Muir, telling me of the acceptance of my offer of them by the Senatus and University Court. But at present I am not able to lay my hand on her list of what was formerly sent. Would you mind the trouble of letting me have just the shortest possible notes of the subjects—a couple of words to each as Hessian fly, Wireworm, &c., would be quite enough—and then without fear of repetition I can present all the others to the University (excepting two or three which I should like to keep for her dear sake); and will you kindly further help me by letting me know at your convenience to whom I should address the package.
But though my dear sister did not work technically on my reports any more than I did on her beautiful drawings, I greatly miss her sympathy and colleagueship.
November 24, 1897.
I cannot say that I am well. The worry and hard extra work and my bad fall on the stone steps were not good for me, and I am painfully lame, and have got the gout, my doctor said a day or two ago, everywhere.
However, I am getting better, and hope to be much as usual soon. To-day I am looking up “Pine beetle.” I think a trustworthy record of a thousand acres of Pine without (so far as seen) a tree not infested is a grand observation. This is a consequence of the 1893 and 1894 gales.
January 30, 1899.
I take it very kind indeed of you to write to tell me of the University arrangements about the Examinership.[[99]] I consider it a great honour to have held the office, and it has been a most thorough pleasure also thus to be associated in work with such a kind friend as yourself, as well as with Dr. Fream. But still, though not now one of the staff, I can work in colleagueship, and I have never forgotten the important help that you gave me some years ago. I shall look forward very much to a visit from you presently; besides the pleasure, it would help me, to have a good talk.
I am intending to make an alteration about my yearly reports. It seems to me that it would be the best course to bring the present series to a close with this number, giving with it a collective index of the whole series up to date. I should like the twenty-two years’ work to stand complete, and not be liable to detraction, gradually, as to regret about Miss Ormerod not being this, that, and the other, which with advancing years is likely. I think, too, that I need a little consultation as to some slight alteration of plan. I do not like so much repetition as I see elsewhere. I have difficulty in avoiding it, and I am trying that my present Twenty-second Annual Report should be as fresh as I can make it.
Kind regards from, yours sincerely,