4th_. Dr. Torrey expresses his interest in the botany and natural
history, generally, of the country visited by me last summer. "Your kind
offer to place in my hands the botanical rarities which, from time to
time, you may acquire, in your interesting journeys, I fully appreciate.
It will give me great pleasure to examine the collections made by Dr.
Houghton during your last expedition.
"My friend Mr. William Cooper, of the Lyceum, will be happy to lend you
all the assistance in his power in determining the shells you have
collected. He is decidedly our beat conchologist in New York, and I
would rather trust him than most men--for he is by no means afflicted
with the mania of desiring to multiply new species, which, is, at
present, the bane of natural history.
"You speak of having discovered some interesting minerals, especially
some good native copper. Above all the specimens which you obtained, I
should like to see the native magnesia which you found in serpentine. I
am desirous of analyzing the mineral, to ascertain whether its
composition agrees with that of Hoboken and Unst (the only recorded
localities in our mineralogical works).
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