This volume, written between May 3 and December 2, includes essays on mineralogy, the vegetable kingdom (such as botany and fruitification), and the animal kingdom (such as zoology, ornithology, and generation of animals).

This collection of letters and documents relates primarily to Charles Waterton (B W31n) but included as well are papers of the family (B W31m). Most of the letters to or from Waterton concern birds, bird mating, domestic news, natural history, and Walton Hall, his estate. In addition, there are recipes and a housekeeping account book (1780-1781). There are numerous letters with his sisters-in-law, Eliza and Helen Edmonstone, and also an exchange of letters between Waterton's son Edmund and Sir George Bowyer concerning Papal audiences.