Cryptogamic Botany 
A DEPARTMENT OF THE OBSERVER, 
PORTLAND, CONN. 
ELIZABETH Q. BRITTON, Editor. 
Columbia College, New York City. 
April 9th, 1896' 
■n ar Mr. Collins, 
T have been intending to write to you and 
congratulate you on that nice set of Algae just issued, in which 
you and others have done your share so nobly and so well. It is 
a credit to American students to have such work to show. And fur¬ 
thermore it throws all recent attempts to distribute exoiccatae 
by foreign collectors in the shade, and shows them what we call 
good work. I shall be only too glad to send you duplicates of mossa 
and will get re^dy a set for you at once! resides, I think I can 
rpomise r>rof -r,ailey for the Department, a set of the jaeger dupli¬ 
cates of Eurcj^e^an Mosses, I have 16 sets of them, and have taken 
care to keep as many duplicates as possible, in order to help Am¬ 
erican students to become independent of so much Eurc^kn help. 
kWlfl' •nlease let me know what book^you ha^ve in the Library too, as occa¬ 
sionally I have a duplicate to spare. Is there a | set of my re 
prints ? on the Mosses ? 
I do not know that it is necessary for us to make our section a 
chapter of the A.A. I rahter think we shall work better indepen¬ 
dently, simply using the Observer as our journal, for the present. 
The Linnean Pern Chapter wanted us, but their little pamplet can 
not afford illustrations, and they are very important. I shall be 
very glad to reveeive any su^ggestions, and am waiting to hear frera 
those who would like to help. My principal idea is to facilitate 
exchanges, stop this sending abjo^ad for nagi ing and distributing, 
our American Mosses, and teach others how to help themselves. 
Dr. Evans will give us soon 10-12 papers on the Hepaticae, which we 
