W. F. Talbot Esq
&c &c &c
Edinburgh
12 Mar /58
My dear Sir
I have just received your letter <1> & Map & I am sure that the R. Society <2> will be gratified by this mark of your attention.
I hope that you will give us by and by some Account of your Observations <3> In the mean time as we have a meeting of the Society on Monday Evening it has occurred to me that it would interest us all if you would take the trouble to Telegraph monosyllabic Answers to the enclosed questions <4> which would thus come within the usual compass of a Telegram, And we should all learn by the Socratic method – or rather by an inversion of it.
Yours most Truly
James D. Forbes
P.S. There is no need to number the Answers. Just give them in the order. And if one does not admit of an answer, write, Blank.Notes:
1. Letter not located.
2. Royal Society of Edinburgh.
3. Probably of the annular eclipse of the Sun on 15 March 1858 [see Doc. No: 07562].
4. Enclosure not located.