My dear Father

Many thanks for yr letter   I am awfully glad you approve of the Diaheliotropic paper.¹ I have written for extra copies— I have been working pretty hard— I had a good go at the developement of Carex embryo in reference to the architecture of the very young root.² It is awfully difficult as the little beasts must be free of the endosperm so that you can roll them over & see both sides; the rolling is done very cutely by putting a very fine spun glass filament under the cover glass; then they are always getting lost; it is good practice for accurate focussing as you have to avoid the upper & lower surfaces & look at the middle set of cells— I have also been doing Yucca root which turns out to be interesting because it isnt of the true Monocotyledon type.³ Since then I have been doing cambium in various plants— D^e Bary is simply splendid in the way he helps one; it makes one envy the men who work 4 or 5 years under him⁴

The Swedish Växt book is nothing to do with wax, it = “Gewächse” & is about Plant-forms   a sort of “Grisebach en miniature” as de Bary says⁵

I heard from Schmiedeberg the Prof of Pharmacology that Hensen’s book is very good but otherwise I couldn’t hear much of him; there will be a full notice of it by Strassburger in the Bot Zeitung.⁶

I am going tonight with de B to the Naturfor: Gesell to hear the Petrolog Professor talk chiefly about old Hahn & his Hahnia meteorica & I must go this minute⁷

I heard some excellent music lastnight by 3 students P.F. V & V^o 3^o of Schubert extremely well played by all; it is a small Musical & Literary Soc & the men seem very pleasant.⁸ Neitzel also played a Beet Sonata 106 very well, & gave a little lecture on the meaning of it it being the life of a hero⁹

Yours affec | F. D.

I got a very nice letter from old W^m which I will answer very soon¹⁰

I am very glad about G. & Ball—¹¹

Isnt the review in Nature on the Salt Book rather Romanesque; it amused me¹²