Chapter CCXLII: Letter 612: TO J.D. HOOKER. Down, September 14th 1862

Your letter is a mine of wealth, but first I must scold you: I cannot abide to hear you abuse yourself, even in joke, and call yourself a stupid dog. You, in fact, thus abuse me, because for long years I have looked up to you as the man whose opinion I have valued more on any scientific subject than any one else in the world. I continually marvel at what you know, and at what you do. I have been looking at the "Genera" (612/1. "Genera Plantarum," by Bentham and Hooker, Volume I.,