170 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



eighty parts of 400 plates, by 1837 the number of new 

 discoveries had multiplied to such an extent that he faced 

 the dilemma of either enlarging his work or issuing it in 

 an incomplete state. In the summer of that year large 

 numbers of his British patrons discontinued their sub- 

 scriptions, a result, no doubt, of the disastrous panic 

 which had driven many into bankruptcy, and still more 

 refused to take any plates in excess of the stipulated 

 number. To alleviate this anticipated difficulty, he had 

 already begun to admit composite plates, on which from 

 two to six different kinds of birds w^ere grouped together, 

 much in the older style which he abhorred; but, in spite 

 of this concession and omission of the eggs, colored fig- 

 ures of which he had hoped to give at the end, he was 

 obliged to add seven parts, thus swelling the total num- 

 ber of large plates to 435, which represented 489 sup- 

 posedly distinct species of American birds. 



When Audubon was facing such protests in Eng- 

 land, Dr. J. K. Townsend 2 returned to Philadelphia 

 with a second great collection from the Far West. How 

 eager he was, at this psychological moment, to gain ac- 

 cess to these ornithological treasures is clearly shown in 

 the following letter 3 to Edward Harris: 



Audubon to Edward Harris 



[Outside address] To ED D HARRIS Esq r . 



Moorestown New Jersey 

 9 miles from Philadelphia Pennsylvania 



U. S. A. 



Duplicate 



LONDON, Oct. 26 th., 1837. 



1 have this moment received your dear letter of the 4. in- 

 stant, for the contents of which, I do indeed most truly thank 



2 See Vol. II, p. 149. 



3 See S. N. Rhoads (Bibl. No. 46), The Auk, vol. xx, p. 377 (1903). 



