THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS., U.S.A. 
September 22nd,1941 
Mr# R#E# Holitum 
Botanic Gardens, 
S ingap ore PERSONAL 
Dear Mr# Holttum: 
In the last number of the"Journal of the Washington Academy of 
Science", Dr# 0#F# Cook,of the U#S#A# Department of Agriculture,has pu¬ 
blished an incredible article on Hevaa # The gentleman in question must 
be insane to reel off such stupidities ,as you may readily learn reading 
his "vapours"# Since he does not like Hevea he renames it Siphonia »then 
to add to the discomfiture of the reader he kneads it up with Caoutchoua # 
In brief,the contribution in question is incredible and you should read 
it to decide whether I exaggerate# 
Normally,a thing of the kind goes to the wastebasket,where it 
belongs# But I am sure that in this case some confusion will result* Seeing 
a work by somebody who is on the staff of the Department of Agriculture of 
the U#S#A#,which is published by the Washington Academy of Science,the 
candid reader will believe that Cook is justified in seme measure in chang¬ 
ing names for these very important economic trees# The truth is that he is 
not justified at all# 
; I have written a short article on the score,which I include# If you 
think you can use in any comirg number of of your Journal you are welcome 
to it. I am not very ^Bxious to have it published very soon,either# For 
instance:, I would rather have it published in the autumn 
of 1942AtfrSn^in the Spring. I am sure that I will have oppositions for 
" tapping on the head " Dr# Cook,and I never care to have oppositions coming 
when the time for being reconfirmed on the staff here emSs up# That 
time,I should speeifyjis between January and April each year,so I do not 
cane to have anything ruffling Ihe waters in those months,or 1 mm shortly 
before January f Trom August to November are the best months,that is,the 
safest# Seeing that I do not particularly indorse the use of " old names 
our good friend Corner will understand where I stand# Then,of course,with 
Comer I believe that we should confess that we are still very much ignorant 
of the systematy of tropical plants. To confess that here . 4 *.# Oh mis non*, 
jamais/#We know all# _ 
mss# of 15 pages attached 
Sincerely yours, 
& 
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