
          Answrd. [Answered] Sept. 24th 1841 A.G.


 Macon July. 5. 1841


 Messrs. [Misters] Torrey & Gray


 I ask the liberty of 
 addressing you by letter since I have taken upon
 myself the privilege of forwarding to you a Copy of
 our Manual of Botany, which you [added: will] no doubt recieve
 before you receive this. I have sent it directly to 
 Wiley & Putnam, by the hand of a merchant of
 our city, who left last week.


 I feel it a privilege to state to you, who on
 labouring so devotedly and successfully in the field
 of Botany, the objects aimed at in my work.


 I have endeavoured to place in the hands of our
 Southern students, a book which shall contain
 a brief description of [added: all] our common plants, and 
 arranged entirely by Natural Orders. I do not offer
 it as a complete work on Southern Botany, as I
 have in my possession many plants which are not
 described in this Manual. Being uncertain with
 regard to some of them and they not being common I
 have omitted them till more certainty can be attained.
 I have introduced none [added: but] of which I felt myself certain 
 of [crossed out: my] being correct. I have followed the arrangement which
 I though best at the time of writing but some parts of which I
        