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[printed letterhead]
No. [written] 1678 [printed] Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D. C.

[written]
say four or five hundred dollars
a year. The amount of course
will depend on what they are
willing to give. It would be a
great thing for the University
or Chicago, to have a complete
Museum of the Natural His-
tory of the Northwest; it would
be a sure card in the com-
petition for classes. Let the
report be a subsequent thing. If
the State authorises a State
Survey, then the advances
of the above mentioned parties
might be returned.

It will give me much
pleasure to have you come to
Washington and spend as
much time as you can among
our collections & books. I will
give you enough to do, to fam-
iliarize yourself with the prac-
tical part of curatorship, and