LETTER TO HUMBOLDT. 221 



cient sale so that they may follow each other 

 with regularity. I think it better to begin the 

 publication as a whole than to send out an 

 abridgment in advance. The species can be 

 characterized only by good illustrations. A 

 summary always requires farther demonstra- 

 tion, whereas, if I give the plates at once I 

 can shorten the text and present the general 

 results as an introduction to the first number. 

 With twelve numbers, of twenty plates each, 

 followed by about ten pages of text, I can tell 

 all that I have to say. The cost of one hun- 

 dred and fifty copies printed here would, ac- 

 cording to careful inquiry, be covered by 

 seventy subscriptions if the price were put at 

 one louis-d'or the number. 



Now comes the question whether I should 

 print more than one hundred and fifty copies. 

 On account of the expense I shall not pre- 

 serve the stones. For the distribution of the 

 copies and the collecting of the money could 

 you, perhaps, recommend me to some house in 

 Berlin or Leipzig, who would take the work 

 for sale in Germany on commission under rea- 

 sonable conditions? For England, I wrote 

 yesterday to Lyell, and to-morrow I shall write 

 to Levrault and Bossange. 



Both the magistrates and private individ- 



