Letter received by Banks from Philip Gidley King, 15 March 1804 (Series 39.087) - No. 0001

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Dear Sir
March 15th 1804

The Calcutta being detained by a foul wind gives me an opportunity of sending you under Mr Chapmans Care a Box of Roots & Leaves brought up from the Derwent by a man who Collins offered me as a Brewer; Being a Man of character he has selected this (of which he says there is the greatest abundance) as a useful substitute for the Hop, Some of our Botanists here call it a Species of Ginseng others of the Celeriac root However, if it is not either, but a substitute for the Hop  it will be valuable.  That this may be ascertained I shall make a trial of it here immediately   I hope to have the earliest accounts of its use for England