Hunt Institute Archives Text Discovery Platform

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Box 43, Gamboa,
September 14, 19

Dear Julian:

Yesterday wall brought the first volume of the Flo
of Guatemala, which you so kindly and thoughtfully sent. I
have heard from several sources that it was an excellent j
which is more than confirmed upon personal examination. I
don't know how to thank you enough. As I skim through it,
read the localities, in the Alta Verapaz, Retalhuleu, Quez
tenango, Huehuetenango etc., all parts of Guatemala unknown
me, my mouth fairly waters, and I envy you both your unequal
privilege of seeing those untouched parts of a wonderful l
I have been in Guatemala twice, but unfortunately both time
briefly, but even in such a short stay it was evident that
far and away the most interesting of the Latin American co
I had until recently supposed that perhaps Peru might be a
but those who have seen both say that Guatemala is by far
finer of the two.

Things run along here about as you will remember, ex
ing that we are in a new location, since intense crowding
Sone has made it impossible, at least so far, to get our o
ation back. In some ways it is probably just as well, sinc
no feeling that we are here on any permanent basis. The Fl
goes forward slowly, and I'm trying to get in as good lic
possible toward its completion. I am doing rainfall maps o
place, on the meager data available, and hope to do some s
accompanying maps showing plant distribution. It all will
from perfect, since Panama presents many peculiarities not
elsewhere. Local knowledge of, or interest in, the plants
about zero. The usual answer to inquiry about native names
Pretio, ---(a long pause) Estos son flores de la naturaleza
there is not a single resident of Panama, native or foreig
is interested enough to collect so much as a single herbar
sheet. I worked on don Alejandro Mendez, Director of the M
acional for the better part of two months, trying to sell
on the idea of having school teachers in the outlying dist
send in dried specimens of interesting things, but all it
to was to have don Alejandro write a long memorial to the
calculated to display his personal erudition, but not desi
to any concrete results. Oh, well.

Lou Williams writes me that your next field to congu
be Honduras. I envy him the opportunity of being in the fie
yourself and Dr. Standley, and being able to profit by you
experience. We read in the papers in St. Louis of the exce
job you did in Ecuador and Venezuela on Quinine, and I onl
we could have gotten together & exchanged experiences.