
          Charleston 12 Septbr 1832.


 Sir


 Although I have not the pleasure of your acquaintance yet the
 importance of the subject on which I will address you will, I hope, sufficiently
 excuse for the liberty. The high standing, which you have in the scientific
 world has induced me to believe that you will give every aid in your power
 to foster the undertakings that have in view the enlargements of science.
 I departed last year from Germany for this country with the intention
 to explore some part of it. Although Stephen Elliott the great Botanist
 be no more, yet I perceive with pleasure that botany is making
 rapid increases in Charleston, even among the fair sex. I spend my leisure hours
 I devote to the study of medicine and to my favorite study, natural history.
 My object in addressing you is to state to you the design, which I have
 in forming an expedition to [added: Sth] Florida for the purpose of collecting
 specimens of natural history, in the several departments, of botany,
 mineral, entomol etc. The variety of plants is certainly great
 especially in East Florida, where the Flora, as I should suppose [added: then]
 has a familiarity to that of Mexico and the West Indies, and the
 number of described plants will certainly be enriched with at least
 200 new ones. The Tortugas offer a great field for conchology
 the streams [added: in the interior Florida] for Ichtyologic. Not having for the present means
 enought to carry it through at my own expense, I will undertake it
 by subscription; the money is afterwards returned in the collected
 subjects. The tiket [ticket] is only $10 a member, 1 specimen or something
 of the smaller kind of every species of plants will be forwarded
 to every member; plants which cannot be collected in so large a
 number as 80-90 of the same species, are distributed after proportion.
 Persons taking 2 tikets [tickets] will get of course the double number
 especially of those which could not be collected in sufficient number
 as to 70-80 of the same species. Persons can subscribe as any of the
        