498 DOCTOR FOTHERGILL [1768. 



had the seeds sent over in great perfection ; they germinate, and 

 then die. I wish the roots could be sent over, wrapt in moss and 

 then put into a box. I imagine they would come safe ; or else put 

 into a tub, and the tub filled up with the mud they grow in. I 

 should be glad thou would endeavour to send some both ways ; and 

 the ripe seeds likewise, put into a wide-mouthed bottle filled with 

 mud, and covered over with leather. Of all the seeds sent over, 

 there are scarce any so perishable as acorns. These should be 

 planted at home, in autumn ; they would come up next spring, and 

 the spring following they might be transplanted into boxes, and 

 sent home. By this means, we might have all your variety 

 of Oaks with great facility. All seeds should be sown in a place 

 where they are defended from a hot noonday sun, otherwise the 

 young plants are soon scorched up and die. 



I should be glad thou would again mention the books thou was 

 desirous of having, and I shall take care to send them, as I think 

 it may make thee proper satisfaction. 



There is a kind of Dogwood, whose calyx is its greatest beauty ;* 

 it chiefly grows in Virginia, whether with you I know not. I 

 want a few plants of it ; and, indeed, it would be always agreeable 

 to receive young well-rooted plants of any kind. If they are taken 

 up with a little earth, and a good root, earty in the spring, and the 

 earth tied close about them with strong paper and packthread ; or 

 if they are put into boxes with moss only about their roots, and 

 sent away in the spring, they would come very safe. The boxes 

 should not be nailed so close but a little air may get in. Would it 

 be impossible to send one of those pretty little Oivls, alive ? I 

 wish I could see one. Most of the captains in the trade, I believe, 

 would endeavour to take care of it, and a Mocking-bird, if they 



It was found, at an early day, in the river Delaware, below Philadelphia, and 

 subsequently in various places throughout the Southern and Western States. 

 Dr. Fothergill probably considered it as being identical with the iV. speciosum, 

 Willd., or " Sacred Bean,'" of Egypt, India, and China (to which, in fact, it is very 

 nearly allied), which is mentioned in Pliny's Natural History {fide De Cand.) 

 by the name of Colocasia. The Oriental plant has, for the most part, a rose- 

 coloured or "red-flower," as Dr. F. says; but the flower of the American species 

 is usually pale yellow. The eagerness and persevering efforts of the Doctor to 

 possess the splendid rarity, are abundantly manifested in the following letters of 

 that estimable man. 



* This is the Cornus florida, L., a shrub or small tree, common throughout the 

 United States, of which the large white four-leaved involucre, (or " calyx," as Dr. 

 F. terms it,) is so conspicuous in our woodlands, about the middle of May. 



