1893.] 



245 



been selected from the papers of Prof. Caspar Wistar, M.D., who was 

 the fourth President of your ancient and honorable Society. 



Among them are letters in English, in French, in German, and in 

 Latin, from some of the most learned men of science of their day. The 

 direct information that they convey may be of little value ; it is not from 

 writings of the early years of this century that we look for scientific in- 

 struction. But some of the letters are from men so eminent, that they 

 cannot fail to be of interest both in what they tell us of their authors, and 

 in the history of scientific discovery. And the fact that Dr. Wistar's tal- 

 ents were so honored, and his friendship so valued by great and learned 

 men in distant countries, at a period in our history when America at- 

 tracted little attention among the nations of the earth, will perhaps be 

 gratifying to his successors in this Society, and to American scholars in 

 general. 



I beg of you to accept these letters as a memorial of Prof. Wistar's son, 

 my late husband, Dr. Mifflin Wistar, who inherited a love of his profes- 

 sion and a love of his fellow-men, and who died in 1872. No descendant 

 of Prof Wistar now survives. 



I am, gentlemen, most respectfully yours, 



Esther F. Wistar. 



September, 1893. 



* The following is a catalog of the letters, etc., presented : 



1. Geneva, July 19, 1794. Letter from Dr. Sylvestreto Dr. Caspar Wistar. (French.) 



2. Charleston, May 20, 1796. DeBeauvoir to Dr. Wistar, proposing a scientific journey 

 in Georgia. 



3. Richmond, April 2.5, 179S. Same to same, describing the discovery of a skeleton of 

 an elk in Virginia. (French.) 



4. North Carolina, May 13, 1797. Letter from Rev. Samuel Spring and Samuel McCorkle 

 to Robert Patterson. 



5. New York, February 14, 1792. From Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell to Dr. Wistar, describ- 

 ing a new invention of distilling fresh water fromi salt. 



6. New York, June 30, 1798. Same to Jonathan Williams, describing geological discov- 

 eries in New York. 



7. Boston, October 12, 1799. Notice of Dr. Wistar's election to the Historical Society of 

 Massachusetts. 



8. Paris, Aprils, 1801. Printed Prospectus of a work of G. Cuvier, on Quadrupeds, re- 

 ceived by the American Philosophical Society from the author. 



9. Washington, Mississippi Territory, August 21, 1805. Letter from Samuel Brown to 

 Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, describing discovery of large bones. 



10. Paris, November 1.5, 1807. Letter from Dr. Delile to Dr. Wistar, relating to poison of 

 the Upas Tree. (French.) 



11. Paris, November 24, 180S. Same to same, informing Dr. Wistar that the writer is 

 engaged in a work on the Flora of p:gypt, at the Government's expense. (French.) 



12. Di-ssertation on Upas poison, referred to in No. 10. (French.) 



13. Paris, October 21, 1809. Letter from Dr. Delile to Dr. Wistar, sending the said dis- 

 sertatiim. (French.) 



14. Paris, September 14, 1810. Same to same. (French.) 



15. Paris, October 10, 1808. Report ol G. Cuvier to the Institut National, Classe des 

 Sciences, Physiques et Mathematiques, on a collection of fossils sent by Jefferson. 

 (French.) 



10. Paris, November 14, 1803. Letter of thanks for the above from Cuvier to Jefferson. 

 (French.) 



