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CABLE ADDRESS - MUSEUM, CHICAGO 
Chicago Natural History Museum 
[formerly field museum of natural history] 
ROOSEVELT ROAD AND FIELD DRIVE 
Chicago s, Illinois 
Dear Mr. AmeB? 
November 14, 1944 
Just now I have got myself into a pretty pickle, al¬ 
though it is one for which I am in no way responsible, at least 
not directly so. I received word from the Museo Nacional of Costa 
Rica that they were sending me a package of plants for determination 
and it arrived promptly, a very large package. On opening it I 
find that it consists in principal part of 256 specimens or orchid® 
collected by Alberto Brenes, all of the specimens to be Returned 
to that museum. Now I have received another latter from their 
director, stating they are sending still another lot, which I judge 
consists likewise principally of orchids. They send plant collect¬ 
ions from time to time, some good and some bad, but never before 
has there been a similar sending or orchids. 
Naturally I should like to get rid of the orchids, for I can 
not name them myself, except for an occasional one. I have glanced 
at part of the specimens. Many of them, the smaller plants at least, 
can be divided. What I wish to ask now is whether you would be 
willing to take the orchid collection, naming it when you can con¬ 
veniently do so, and returning the specimens to Oosta Rica, except 
for suoh material as you want to retain, duplicate or otherwise. 
If you should be willing to undertake this more or lese thankless 
task, I shall be glad to send the lot on to you as soon as the new 
sending arrives. 
The present director of the Oosta Rican museum is Romulo Va¬ 
lerio R., brother of Juvenal Valerio, the former director, who is 
now with Wilson Popenoe in Honduras, at the new agricultural 
school. Their father, a very intelligent man, was by profession 
a sculptor of santos or church images. He had a deep interest in 
Roman history, and as a result he gave to all his rather large fam¬ 
ily of children classican Roman names. The youngest boys were 
twins, whom he named Romulo and Remo, and they were called by their 
family Momo and Memo. This one is MomoJ 
While upon the subject of orchids, I should like to inquire 
about the status of manuscript of the Guatemalan ones. The manu¬ 
script for the Flora of Guatemala is now almost complete, except for 
the introduction. I have submitted for publication the first (to 
be published) volume, which will begin with Moraceae and run to 
the beginning of Leguminosae, more or Icbb. This has been done 
because of war conditions. I wish Swallen to write up the grasses, 
but he is in Brazil and will not return until the war ends. I can do 
the group myself but not nearly so well as he. At any rate, all 
the families not already written up for the flora are provided for, 
so that publication need not stagger along like that of the Flora 
bf Peru. There will be six or seven thick volumes of the Flora of 
Guatemala. 
If and when the orchid part is ready for publication, it can 
begin part II, the one preceding that now in process of publication. 
If the orchid treatment is as long as I suppose, it could well 
be printed as a separate part, which would make it more easily 
ADDRESS ALL CORRESPONDENCE, PUBLICATIONS AND PACKAGES TO 
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, CHICAGO 8, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. 
