355 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, JIass. December 26, 1923 . 
My dear Mr» Powell: 
I suppose you are laboring under the impression 
that I am forgetful of your existence. The truth is, I have been 
busy keeping abreast of my work and driven pretty hard by the num¬ 
erous duties that are mlhe to attend to. On top of everything, 
Pchlechter*s Costa Rican paper came in* I have benn much perplexed 
by this publication end I imagine it will take the better part of 
the winter to assimilate and digest its numerous proposals. I hope 
this Costa Rican venture puts an end to Schlechter's Central Amer¬ 
ican efforts for some time to come. 
I sent off to the mounter the greater part of 
your "field specimens", last week. Among them was the Scaphyglottis 
in which you are interested. I will have the specimens in hand 
again in another week, and then I will give my undivided attention 
to this genus until your questions are answered and your mind is 
put at ^est, I cannot leave this subject ithout telling you that 
your specimens will make a creditable showing in the herbarium 
and that they are a source of great joy to me. Some of the speci¬ 
mens are perfect examples of herbarium teehniique and I am sure 
that you can keep up with the best of the leaders- I am overjoyed 
to have the different localities represented and to know that you 
are working conscientiously in my interests. Surely I have in 
hand the best collection of Panama orchids that exists. If you 
keep at work, there will be no hope for future rivals. 
I am afraid we must change jj&i&aafiKUB brcvicaule 
to SPldendrffia ^chAech ferilimum Schlecther published and earlier 
species under this name, therefore it is untenable for the Panama 
species. Kindly take notice, but refrain from using the new name 
until it is published in Sehed. Orch. 7. 
