Juae 25. 1959. 
My. J. Bruce Bredin. 
P* O, Box 87, 
Wilmington 99 » Delaware. 
Dear Mr. Bredin: 
1 am enclosing a copy o£ a report on your recently sponsored 
expedition to the Caribbean prepared by Dr* Waldo B, Schmitt. 
It is a more or less preliminary account that he plans to amplify 
in part, and to add a few illustridions lor later ptiblication in the Annual 
Report of the Secretary. 
I share with you what must have been your concern for the three 
members of your party who, shortly after their return, succumbed to 
what their ctoctors diagnosed as bird or bat fever, resulting, I am told, 
from the inhalation of the dry spores of a ^ I , II I 11 || .1 I. |I i l I HI 
latum which flourishes (in some places even in this country# on their 
'drq^ngs. The attacks last about ten days or ^o weeks (haring which 
the patient runs a fluctuating temperature, at times several degress shove 
a hundred, and feels very weak and listless •« almost "Du*' symptoms. 
Recovery is rapid and leaves no aftereDects, and most fortianately , so far 
as known, confers lifetime immunity. 
Dr. Gates-Clarke, who was a member of your 1958 expedition, 
came down with a severe case of hepatitis about the same time, just a 
few wedks after embarking on a Latin American tour seeking his favored 
microlepidoptera. He too has recovered from this infection. 
These several illnesses in individuals traveling for the Institution 
have led me to form a committee within the Institution for the purpose of 
preparing a handbook for the guidance (health- sickness- sanitation) of 
those traveling or carrying on scientific investigations in foreign countries. 
I shall be happy to inform you of the results of its deliberations as they 
are made known to me. 
My kindest regards and my most enthusiastic gratitude to you for 
your continuing interest in the Smithsonian Institution. I do hope to have 
the privilege of seeing you very soon. 
I Sincerely yours, 
Leonard Carmichael, 
Secretary. 
Enclosure 
W. L. Schmitt:L:Carmichael:lp 
