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you managed the Medical Botany. If you had a text book what was it. The J[?] are reviewing the first nine chapters of your botany. The [?] have [stacked?] on Gray's [lessons?].
I hope you are enjoying your work to the full extent. Come and see me as soon as you can.
We are at Professor Budd's for the present until our goods come and we can get settled. Pres't Hart is quite young, very active and [?] [?] all [??].
Yours very truly Byron D. Halsted
97
Iowa Agricultural College, Ames.
Department of Botany, May 8th 1885.
Dear Professor Bessey.
Many thanks for your card received this day. There is no rush at all for the collections in Mr Arthur's hands. I was only desirous of locating the specimens and when they come back will add to the collections, – arranging if needed. Miss Minnie Knapp is taking a post graduate course in Botany and we are looking into the grasses. We find a fine lot in the unmounted specimens and am placing some of the best in the herbarium.
The Juniors have been studying the pollen grains of Juniper today among other things. The grains proved unusually interesting. It may be an old thing to you. In water, the outer coat separated after a few minutes after which the grains [?] of [?]
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twice their former size. By the addition of weak [?] by [?] the second coat was removed leaving the granular contents as [?] that seemed to have a thin coat holding them in place.
One of the brightest of the Juniors in class this May gave [us?/as?] a distinction between Gymnospores & Angiosperms that the pollen grains of the former are more than [unicellular?]. Our recent observations would settle that though of course we did not consider the ground taken a [?] [on?/one?].
Another and perhaps as interesting point was the fact that there were two distinct kinds of pollen grains and the Juniper. There is the kind above mentioned and a second somewhat smaller the contents of which [?] of being quite homogenous were rolled up in small balls like spoers in a [sporangium?]. The coats of these did not separate neither did they swell up as did the others by the use of water or [?]. There were about [five?] percent of this form. I had two of the sudents draw the grains. Normal grain at a (both cards) – one coat [?] to b. – coats c. c – granul[ar?] contents d. – second coat [?] e – abnormal grains f.f. –
Yours sincerely B. D. Halsted
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5/[8185?]
e [illustration]
d. [illustration]
a [illustration]
c. [illustration]
b. [illustration] [?]
f [illustration] [?]
Pollen [???]
f. [illustration]
f. [illustration]
a. [illustration]
a. [illustration]
b [illustration]
[illustration] c
Pollen of Sun[?] [?]
Bardwell Del.
100
Iowa Agricultural College, Ames.
Department of Botany, May 15 1885
Dear Professor Bessey:
I inclose some specimens of what I take to be Veronica perigrona upon which a cystopus is growing. I do not find that this plant has been recorded as the host of a cystopus If you say that the fungus is new as far as the [?] is concerned I will see about working the matter farther. I feel almost duty bound to send any new or to me new, thing to Dr. Farlow that comes in the Pronosporeae. But he is away and if you say the host is on the list already I will let the matter drop. Otherwise I ought to gather may [strains?] and have the subject worked up.
Yours in haste Byron D. Halsted