
          alliance could settle this business definitively & forever
 it would be a happy circumstance for botany, & we should
 all submit, whatever  names they might adopt. But as this
 cannot be, we must take our chance; not with three
 legislations, but with three hundred; & congratulate ourselves
 that amidst the Babel of shifting nomenclature, we have
 still the Linnean names as landmarks to see our way by.

 But enough of this tirade about names. 
 The plant which passes here for Pisum maritimum
 is a true Lathyrus & must be different from the 
 European plant. I have called it L. maritimus [Lathyrus maritimus] ,
 as you will see. I am puzzled about a little
 plant growing upon our hills which passes for 
 Cardamine virg [virginiana or virginica?] but does not agree with the descr [description]
 being not auriculate. You will see on my 
 proof sheets a Eupatorium ovatum, Erigeron
 integrifolius, an Orchis grandiflora (a great beauty)
 Neottia gracilis &c. I will endeavor that you shall have
 these seasonably. Let me know exactly how fast you
 proceed & when you finish.

 Present my respects to Dr. Mead, Sec [Secretary]. Lin Soc [Linnean Society]
 & express to him my great regret at not being
 able to accept his flattering invitation to attend the
 anniversary festival of the society at Long Island

 With much esteem your sincere friend
 Jacob Bigelow

 Do my proofs reach
 you?
        