SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
September 19, 1922. 
Mr. Oakes Ames, 
355 Commonwealth Avenue, 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Dear Mr. Ames: 
It is not through intentional neglect that I have de¬ 
layed so long in writing about the Central American trip and 
in replying to various letters of yours but because of a mis¬ 
understanding as to the time of your leaving for Europe. 
When I returned to Washington the middle of June, I was told 
that you were to sail within a couple of days, and so did not 
have time to write then, but we learned afterwards that we 
had been mistaken as to the date of your departure, and that 
I should have had a month in which to write I 
A few days ago I received the labels for the Central 
American collection and have just begun writing them, an 
operation that will require some time, but as soon as possible 
I shall send the orchid specimens to you. You will be disap¬ 
pointed in them, for I did not get into any good orchid 
country. Still, I got what there was, and collected all that 
I saw, if they were in determinable condition. 
The whole trip was a most successful one generally, with¬ 
out any unpleasant incident of any sort, and everywhere I 
was given the moat liberal assistance for work. In the five 
months spent in Salvador, I visited almost all parts of the 
country and collected 4,600 numbers. Doctor Calderon and 
myself are expecting to publish in San Salvador a list of the 
species now known from that country. Doctor Calderon, who is 
employed in the Department of agriculture there, is an enthu¬ 
siastic and very intelligent collector, and he has sent us a 
series of nearly a thousand numbers, several specimens of 
each. He is continuing the work for the purpose of building 
up a national herbarium, and should get a lot of good material. 
He has collected a few orchids, of which we shall send you 
specimens. If you can send him any publications, he would 
appreciate them very much, for they are anxious to build up 
a botanical library. At present they have practically 
nothing. His address is Dr. Salvador Calderon, Laboratorio 
Quimico de la Direcci6n General de Agricultura, San Salvador, 
El Salvador, C. A. 
