Alphonse de Candolle 



Rec. June 16th. Ans Nov. 16th 



Geneva, June3 1879 



My dear colleague, 



It has been a. long time since we exchanged letters, but not brochures. I thank you for the American Juniper and 

 for the Agave shortii and more recently for several articles ail in an envelope from the American Academy. I 

 am happy to have received this proof of your scientific activities which is also maintaining you healthy. You 

 have received from me, four small booklets in 1878 (Physiol. studies in Jordan, Leafing of Plants, Conservation 

 in sait water). At the moment I have nothing else to offer you but I feel that I need to send you some lines to 

 show you that I am still in this world and that I have not forgotten you. 



Age has taken away the hearing of one of my ears and my eyes do not permit me to make observations other 

 than through a magnifying glass or a microscope. Therefore I let my son and my friends do the work on the 

 Phanerogamarum Monograph, where the second volume by Engler, will be published and will include the 

 Aroncieae. Instead, I occupied myself in publishing a volume on Phytography or the art to describe plants. I 

 hope the botanists will fmd this information useful, spécial ly, the actual distribution of the herbariums of the 

 ancient authors and of the important travelers. If you would like me to mention certain herbariums that have 

 been published or collections from often mentioned travelers, you only need to send me a note. For example 

 you probably have the séries of Fendler, Drummond, Weight, etc. In mentioning thèse we also recognize your 

 herbarium. 1 am mainly interested in the collections that contai n at least 400 spécimens. 



Dr. Muller has become professor at the University and co-director of the Garden. Therefore he no longer has 

 mue h time for me. He now and then cornes for purely scientific interests. I have an employée that helps me in 

 my physical activities. My herbarium has become enriched in the past year, by two excellent collections. One of 

 plants from Paraguay belonging to Balansa and the other contai ns the duplicates of the plants of Welwitsch. 

 The Portuguese have given me this collection according to the wishes of the invalid Welwitsch. 



Mr. Boissier just finished publishing the first volume of his Flora Orientalis. He is as persévérant as Mr. 

 Bentham in his publications. 



The government of Brazil has recently approved the necessary sum of money to continue the study of the large 

 Flora. This will energize activities in regards to descriptive Botany. In the meantime our attention is always 

 greater in anatomical and physiologie studies. 



Receive, my dear colleague, as always my most devout wishes. 



Alph. de Candolle 



