355 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. 
~*y dear Lankester: At last, the Schlechterian promise lias been 
fulfilled and the Costa Rican orchid paper is in print. Schlechetr 
on November 26th. wrote to me that he had just received his copies 
from the printer. 1 have not yet received mine, but I have every 
reason to believe that the date of issue will not deprive us of 
priority. Sehleehter expresses the opinion that his Trigonidium 
Amparoanae is conspecific with T . Lankesterl. At least we saved 
that noble species to marie your activities, I imagine other pro¬ 
posals made by Sehleehter may meet with a similar fate, unless 
he has investigated a very different flora from the one that sur¬ 
rounds you, because Sched. Orch. contains a goodly number of new 
speeies that he may have overlooked in his studies or that he may 
have misinterpreted in his stride. I believe there are at least 
eighty new Costa Rican orchids in Sched. Orch., mostly the fruit 
of your discriminating and dainty selection from the lavish feast 
at your door* now I want to bite you, because you were not more 
diligent. But, for what you have done mu gratitude is imraeasurable. 
I am mindful of the great service you have done in my behalf a nd 
I realise that there was no need for you to regard me as anything 
more than a pestiferous nuisance; a botanical mendicant reaching 
out toward you, a greedy hand. 
Just as J finished the last line, Schlechters classic arrived. 
It bore postage stamps to the amount of 80 millarden marks,(more 
money than there is in the world,ttki±ggthhemiBskkaitppBwwiir values.) 
Over 300 pages. I have not yet counted the number of new genera 
and species, but X have noticed that,with few exceptions, none 
of your species &£& listed as having been found by Sehleehter*s 
collectors* How, this fact gives rise to shocking suspicions, un¬ 
less every little nook in Costa Rica is a hot-bed of endemism* 
How that the veil of obscurity is lifted from the Schlechter- 
ian promise, the mists of ambiguity are beginning to settle down 
in my herbarium, and my life in the immediate future will be de¬ 
voted to painful gr op Inga to find ray way to the light, I cannot 
send you lists of determinations with that promptitude which char¬ 
acterised the recent past, I must first build up again my poor 
herbarium to complete efficiency and interpret Sehleehter*s mono¬ 
graph by a consistent investigational campaign and perhaps by a 
visit to Berlin, 
•fell, let us push ahead* IIe|s|3 rae with your energy, and as 
the Hew Year comes in, make a resolve that you will think kindly 
of me and cheer my spirits with an occasional reminder of the 
Costa Rican wilds. 
Yours faithfully. 
