17 
to the condition of the material. 
If you get into the region of Davidia involu - 
crata , I hope you can get a considerable quantity 
of seed. It is a shame that so little has been 
done in the dissemination of this wonderful plant 
which will grow anywhere from here southward. Al- 
though it io an ornamental, it is such a striking 
one that I think we ought to "be associated v/ith 
its dissemination. 
The increasing activities heiB in Washington 
sometimes make me long to get off where I am out 
of hearing of the honk of automobiles and the 
noise of street cars. 
Referring to your letter of October P4, I am 
sorry to hear that you had an attack of dysenterjr. 
It is a very uncomfortable and depressing malady. 
I hope you will convey to the missionaries who 
have been so helpful to you the personal thanks of 
this Department. We owe much to the missionaries, 
and I am one of those v^ho appreciate the great 
work v/hich they are doing in China. 
In regard to the similarity betvreen P yrus cal - 
leryana and P. betulaefolia , we have made a careful 
study of cro*ss sections of these fruits, longi- 
tudinal sections I mean. Mr, Wight has discovered 
that different varieties vary greatly in the mark- 
ings of the carpels of the fruit, which can be 
seen plainly by cutting them in tv/o longitudinally. 
I wonder if it is not possible that you could de- 
tect a reliable difference between the tv/o species 
by cutting them open. Of course, I realize that 
this suggestion is going to get to you long after 
the difficulty you are talking about is over. 
Please do not form the impression that, be- v 
cause letters do rot come to you as regularly as 
they used to, your work is not just as important 
as it was before - in fact it is more so. Everyone 
during these war times is so busy with his own par- 
ticular work that the interchange of Ideas and 
courtesies have been cut down to the limit. If 
you were here in Washington, T could explain this 
to you in a fevi minutes, and I think you could 
understand it. 
You will be particularly grieved, of course, 
over Mr. Stuntz's death and its effect on the ex- 
plorers' notes, although v;e can remedy this ef- 
fect shortly, for I have in mind a man who I be- 
lieve is peculiarly fitted for that part of Mr, 
Stuntz 's work. 
September ?1, I9I8. 
