SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
September 12, 1923. 
Mr. Oakes Ames, 
North Easton, Massachusetts. 
Dear Mr . Ames: 
Thank you very much for your kind letter of 
September 8 which contains so substantial an offer 
of assistance for the proposed Costa Rican trip. 
I shall certainly make every possible effort to 
get as large a collection of orchids as possible, 
and I hope that it may be possible to obtain some¬ 
thing of real interest. I should be glad to have 
some instructions with regard to the preparation of 
alcoholic material in case it is desirable to ob¬ 
tain it. Transportation facilities in Panama are 
so favorable that there should be no difficulty in 
taking care of specimens preserved in liquid. 
I hope that Schlechter may be about at the end 
of his work upon Costa Rican orchids. It is re¬ 
markable that he is able to get together so much 
material for study. Tor some reason or other the 
Germans seem to be particularly active at present 
in the field of tropical American plants, and they 
have published recently a good many new species 
from Mexico. I should judge that they are not 
getting any new material at present, but are merely 
working over collections that accumulated before the 
war. 
■When in Panama I shall be glad to have the op¬ 
portunity of going out with Mr. Powell's collector, 
and doing anything possible to make his work success 
ful. Mr. Powell has kindly offered to assist in any 
way possible in my work while in the country, and I 
presume that he will send out his collector to accom 
pany me on some of the trips. 
