90 Selections from the Correspondence of 



ris habilabilis incrementis, and Celsii oratio de mutationibus 

 generalionibusque in snperficie corporam coelestium contingunt. 

 In both of which you shall find curious observations. 



I hath kept this letter with me with intention, as soon [as] the 

 winter is gone, to send it to you. It is now the 26th of Febru- 

 ary, when our public trek-boats went the first time to Amsterdam 

 in this winter, having had a mighty pleasant frost, only two days 

 very severe, but no snow at all. 



In the mean time, I discovered that my friend who hath the 

 care of the before-mentioned packet, hath not done right with 

 some other packets. I suspect the same accident may [have] hap- 

 pened to the packet directed to you, wherefore I send to you 

 another copy of LintiEeus's Characters, of the Flora Virginica, 

 of the Fundamenta Botanica, and my Index, besides another 

 copy of my remarks upon your characters. There was in the 

 before-mentioned packet a letter to you, but having no copy of 

 it, I hope you shall excuse me to write another. The sumtna 

 summarum was, that I always shall be glad with your letters, 

 and sincerely answer to them ; the second part of my letter was 

 that I am thinking and meditating for a natural system of the 

 cochlece and conchce ; so that I beg you will be so kind to send to 

 me the testes of the land and sea-snails which are common in 

 your country ; and if there are to be met some shells and oys- 

 ters, you shall oblige me with a couple of each species. 



If you have any thing for me, pray direct it to Messrs. Dan. 

 and Bar. Van Zadelhoff, merchants at Amsterdam, by whose 

 care you get this paper. I shall be glad to hear from you as soon 

 as you have received these things. If I can be more of any use 

 to you, pray command freely, your most obedient servant, 



Joh. Fred. Gronovius. 



P. S. As you have seen that Dr. Linnaeus hath desired a copy 

 of all your characters, I have sent them to him. I hope by my 

 next letter to you to have more of his considerations upon them, 

 which I shall faithfully communicate to you. 



The following letters exhibit Dr. Colden's just appreciation of 

 the wide difference in character and object between an artificial 

 and a natural classification. His proposition to arrange plants in 

 natural groups or orders, in accordance with the ensemble of their 



