October 8th, I9II. 
y dear Dr. Schlech.ter: 
You must excuse me for having remained 
silent for such a long time. Beginning in February I had a task to 
perform which necessitated unusual concentration on subjects out¬ 
side the realms of botany and it is only now that I feel that I 
can again take up the threads of botanical work and discharge my 
obligations to you and to other good people, tome time are I prom¬ 
ised to prepare’ for you a drawing of Begonia a.ffinis . In a few days 
from now I shall have this ready for you. I y own specimen is a 
fruiting one collected in 1861 by Austin, this species is one of 
the rarest of Hew .England orchids and I fear that I shall be un¬ 
able to procure material for you until some collector finds dup¬ 
licates . 
I have not yet received the specimens promised 
in your letter of Deo ember 2nd, 1910, but I suppose you have been 
too’busy to attend to me. I can offer in exchange one of the sets 
of duplicates from the Philippines which hr. TTeber is preparing 
for me. I can also send you a, duplicate set of Father Vanoverbergh^ 
orchids which he is collecting for me in Bontoc Subprovince, Luzon. 
Vanoverbergh’s material is beautifully prepared and I think you 
will welcome it. Undoubtedly some of the species will be duplicat© 
of those which you have already received in exchange from the 
Bureau of Science, but I am sure you will be willing to take 
chances on the understanding that the material is unusually good 
and very sure to supnleraent in a desirj ffi fcifemanner the collections 
which you already have. As bathe Vanoverbergh and ' :, eber are collect 
ing orchids specially for me and as I am making up sets of the 
specimens they send in I think it will be to your advantage to set 
aside for me some of your desirable duplicates, eber is collect¬ 
ing where ®fer the prospects are good and is in a general way under 
the supervision of Lr. berrill. Phis is the first time that col¬ 
lectors have spent special attention to Orcidaceae since the Ameri¬ 
can occupation of the Philippines. The distributions from the 
Bureau of Science have simply included orchids which were picked up 
in an off hand manner. The Weber and Vanoverbergh material is 
wholly at my disposal. I expect in a short time to have collector 
in the West Indies and in tropical America. 
Are you going to send me Die Orchideen von Teu- 
Gulnea? I wish you would keep me supplied with separates of your 
orchid publications. I am always glad to send you my humble contri¬ 
butions. 
Hoping to receive a package from you very soon, 
Yours sincerely, 
<1 |Lu. a~ Pt~w+~ — £ -'" ’ -a- L u! 
» TrjU it. 5 rf fT- 
_ a L M —. ^ k. OtA/W* J W-A-XX , 
