de Candolle, Alphonse Rec. March lrst.-- Ans. May 2 1865 



Genève, February 8 1863 



My Dear Doctor, 



I was quite embarrassed at the errors that occurred with the enyoy or better said the envoys, that 1 made 

 to America about my work on the Oaks. Thankfully the error in regard the books was quickly corrected 

 as they had been placed in the box to Asa Gray. However I was worried about those Quercus that you 

 did not find in your herbarium. I hope that the damage is not as great as it may have seemed to you at 

 the beginning. Would you please investi gâte if your Quercus mon tan a has not been labeled as Quercus 

 Primus B. Castanea? In gênerai they must have arrived together with the species that I placed in a 

 common envelope from your herbarium. The ones that had been separated you will find again when you 

 examine them more closely, specially when the Prodromus is finished. 



You talk alot about the Quercus in Mexico ( "ail my Mexican Quercus"). According to my recollection 

 and my carefully edited manuscript, your herbarium, the way it arrived, was singularly poor in Quercus 

 from Mexico. I was struck by this the moment it arrived. It stood out when comparing it with other 

 herbariums. There was one interesting species that I named Quercus Wislizeni. I had it drawn. The 

 other samples weather the Wislizeni or the Gregg were very scarce and very insignificant. Most of them 

 where without fruit. I saw some Gregg (equally scarce and misérable) in the Herbarium of Florence 

 (Webb). Mr. Boissier did not have any. It was there that I found some samples from Gregg, Num.380, 

 that must have corne from you, because Mr. Boissier said that he did not own plants from Gregg. I laid 

 them aside and we will distribute them together with other plants and books. Nevertheless I kept every 

 herbarium separated, while collecting them but one cannot correct an error when one is dealing with 

 many comparable samples. 



The complète loss of your Euphorbia on their return to America, is in différent way much worse! It is a 

 misfortune similar to the loss in a shipwreck of the Chenopodiaciaes that Hooker had to lend to Bunge. 

 They contai ned typical and unique samples described by Maquin in the Prodromus. The practical but 

 not very agreeable conclusions are, that one must never lend single objects already described and not 

 lend important collections over long distances. Collectors pick many doubles that are regularly 

 distributed but not enumerated, therefor accidents such as I described are not so inconveniant. I know of 

 a traveler who brought back 500 species and 5000 samples, well enumerated. I also know of the one 

 who had 2500 species and 5000 samples. This occurred at the time of Bonpland and others. 



The Conifers for the Prodromus are in the hand of Parlatina, in Florence. He already had described 

 many living ones in the gardens. His work will not be finished until the end of this year or perhaps 

 earlier. At this moment I am printing part one of vol. XV. After this one I will be able to pnnt a chapter 



