1750.] PETER COLLINSON. 181 



PETER COLLINSON TO JOHN BARTRAM. 



London, February 22d, 1750. 



Friend John : 



I have paid thy bill, and sent the two quarto Bibles, val. 14s. 

 each cl. 8s. Qd. 



Remember when thou draws, next year, do it in X25 bills; and 

 let each bill be a month after the other ; as for instance, one at 

 thirty days, one at sixty days, and at ninety days after sight ; for 

 these great people are dilatory in paying, and when thy bills 

 come, I have a pretext to press hard for thy money which I 

 choose not to mix with my other cash. As thine is a particular 

 and separate account, I keep it by itself. 



I am now deeply engaged in business ; so must excuse entering 

 into particulars. 



* # # * * 5jt 5ji 



The plant thou mentions, of our ingenious friend Kalm's finding, 

 I know full well. It is called the Faba JEgyptiaca \Nelumbium, 

 Juss.]* It grows in Carolina ; but I did not think it grew so far 

 to the northward. The seed-vessel is very curious. I always 

 thought the Colocasia was a species of Arum. It is so esteemed 

 by the moderns. Pray, if thou visits the place, send me a good 

 specimen of the leaves, &c. What blossom it has, I cannot guess. 



If thee hast any young Chinquapins, pray put in two or three 

 plants, next cargo. 



But I had almost forgot a material article ; that is, to send me 



* There is a tradition, in the Bartram family, that the Great Water Lily (Ne- 

 lumbium luteum, Willd.) was brought by John Bartram from Georgia, or South 

 Carolina, and planted in the waters near Philadelphia: viz., in "Brogden's 

 ditch," a short distance belowthe city and in " Old Man's Creek," Salem County, 

 New Jersey ; in which places, Colonel Carr informs me, it may yet be seen, and 

 in the last-named place, abundant. 



It would seem, however, from this letter of P. Collinson, that Kalm had the 

 credit even with John Bartram of " finding" the plant, in that vicinity, or, 

 at least, of bringing it into notice ; and moreover, it is believed that John Bar- 

 tram had not, at that date (1750), been so far south as Carolina. Whether the 

 Nelumbium really is, or is not indigenous in the Delaware, or its tributaries, and 

 if not, when, and by whom, introduced are questions not easily solved to satisfac- 

 tion, at the present day. The letters in which John Bartram speaks of it, are, 

 unfortunately, missing. See, further, P. Collinson' s letter of February 2, 1760; 

 which is calculated to throw additional doubt on the subject. 



