Business affairs keeping him very busy but keeping as clear as possible from politics, and is not attending this evening's meeting of the Liverpool Reformers to address the Prince Regent for reform; his literary undertakings have also been neglected. Following the receipt at the [Liverpool] Botanic Garden of many 'Scitamineae' plants from the East Indies he has begun reexamining the family; many are mentioned by [William] Roxburgh and are new to this country; convinced 'Canna' will expand from 12 to 20 distinct species. Hopes Smith enquired of [Aylmer Bourke] Lambert about his '[Canna] iridiflora', still a desiderata for them.
Following study of 'Maranta' and Smith's article on 'Thalia' in [Abraham] Rees' "New Cyclopedia"drops his proposal of a new genus detached from 'Maranta' and concedes they all belong to 'Thalia', referring to 'Maranta casupo' and 'M. casupito' of Jacquin "Fragmenta Botanica" tab 63, 64, 69, 70; 'M. gracilis' and 'M. obliqua' of [Edward] Rudge; 'M. lutea' of Jacquin; and a plant in [Etienne Ventenat's] "Jardin de Malmaison".
Slow progress at the Liverpool Royal Institution but the classical and mathematical schools are respectable and a natural history collection is being established under [William] Swainson, who has promised a collection of insects, and they are hopeful for a course of botany lectures by Smith.