
          Recd. [Received] May 28  
 Ansd [Answered] Apr 8th                                             


 New Albany March 15th 1838


 Dr. Torrey


 Sir


 On my return from last spring
 my time was so much occupied in commencing the drug
 and apothecary business in addition to my practice, that
 I had no time to devote to botanical pursuits till the
 middle of summer. But from this time to the end of
 the season I made an addition to my catalogue of
 187 species, besides a few that I have not yet determined
 & perhaps some of them are new species. Of these (the ascertained
 species) about 40 are grasses and a few Cyperaceae.
 I have found the study of the grasses much more
 interesting than I anticipated, though in some cases
 I have experienced considerable difficulty from the
 want of specimens for comparison, and shall endeavor
 to remedy this inconvenience by procuring Dr Gray's
 specimens of the grasses on my next visit to New York.


 Mr Griswold informed me that he & Dr Short had sent
 specimens of the same species to you & Dr Gray that had
 at one time been named the [Agrost. lateriflora?] and [crossed out: at another] [added: afterwards]
 the [Polessogan?] racemosa, and he pronounced what I had
 called the Agros. laterif. to be the [Polypaq. racum?]. On a examination 
 I was confirmed in my first opinion especially
 as it differed widely from the generic character of [Polypaq?]
 I [crossed out: also] suggested [crossed out: illegible] to Mr. G. that they had probably 
 been led into an error by this similarity of habit of the
 A. Lat. of the Pol. var. & was shortly after confirmed in my
 opinion, on examining a specimen from
 Cincinnati that had the characters of Polypaq? racum?] though
 its general appearance was precisely that of the Ag. lat.
 which is very abundant in this place. Dr Short on his
 visit to this place, pronounced what I had called the [Cin.?]
 arundin. (which he admitted was its former name) to be the

        