1741.] TO JOHN BARTRAM. 143 



without any other mixture of hair, or down, and their quills four 

 times as long. 



M. Catesby is wonderfully pleased with his letter. 



I am thine, 



P\ Collixsox. 



London, July 21, 1741. 



Dear Friend J. Bartram : 



* The Calceolus thrives finely, that thee sent me 

 this year ; but did not flower, which I believe is owing to a Corona 

 Solis that unluckily grows out of the midst of it, which robs it of 

 its nourishment, which I did not know when I planted it and now 

 I can't remove it without danger to both. Sure your woods and 

 thickets are all flowers. The Mitella has flowered strongly : it is 

 a pretty, odd thing. Consult Miller on it. * 



* In answer to thine of December 4, 1740 ; and March 

 22d ult. The specimens of Sweet and Sour Gum I received, and 

 prove to satisfaction ; but I want the Grum of each sort, and the 

 Gum of Arbor Benzoin, or your Allspice Tree. And pray send 

 me a Wasp or two, of that sort that builds their nests with clay ; 

 for that I had, happened to be broke. Your Valerian \_Polemo- 

 niwm\ is pretty, and different from ours. 



We see the particular effects of resentment and antipathy, in thy 

 contempt of the Opossum. I have both seen them and handled 

 them, and put my hand in ner pouch, and thought her a pretty 

 creature, without any offensive smell, or anything disagreeable. * 



* * * I have filled the little box with mould 

 that all came with Currant vines from the island of Zante, in the 

 Archipelago. In it I have sown seeds of Cyclamens, and Tourne- 

 fort's fine Armenian perennial Poppy. * 



* * * My friend Charles Read acquainted 

 me thou intended to set out for Albany, May 22d ; a delightful 

 month to travel in, when Nature is in all her beauty ; but I con- 

 clude that was purely for discoveries against the fall. I hope this 

 will find thee safe returned, and everything answering to thy 

 wishes. The last seeds came up very well. The Pine seeds, and 

 Oaks, came up as thidt: as grass. 



Doctor Dillenius gives his service, and has sent three or four 

 reams of the largest size paper, being sheets of his Hortus Eltha- 



