Dear Sir,

I take the liberty of troubling you with a Copy of a Letter addressed to the Trustees of the British Museum by a Mr. Edward Blyth,¹ in which he accuses Mr. Geo. R. Gray of gross incivility and uncourteous conduct in the exectution of his official duties, as one of the Assistants in the Zoological Department in this Institution.—²

The Trustees have directed me to examine into the allegations contained in Mr. Blyth’s Letter,³ and, therefore, as you have sometimes had occasion to consult the Collections more immediately the subject of Mr. Geo. Gray’s duties, I request the favour of you to inform me, whether you have found the general tenor of his conduct courteous, or otherwise, and whether, from what you have yourself experienced, you think him capable or not of such behaviour as is attributed to him by M^r. Blyth?

The unpleasant duty imposed on me by the Trustees, and justice to both parties, induces me to trouble you with this application, an early answer to which will much oblige, | Dear Sir, | Your’s faithfully | (signed)—. John Geo. Children

Circular to

D^rs. Richardson

— And^w. Smith

Messrs. Darwin | Yarrell | Audubon | Gould | Turner—⁴