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[[underlined]]Congress Hall, Decem. 14. 1819.[[/underlined]]
Sir,
I had intended, at my leisure, to have submitted at some length, to the Columbian Institute, my ideas respecting the importance of attempting to collect a [[underlined]] National Herbarium [[/underlined]], comprizing specimens of all the native & naturalized Plants of our Country; But perceiving by the Newspapers that an adjourned ^[[insertion]] meeting [[/insertion]] is to be held this evening, and not knowing when the Institute may again assemble, - I beg leave through you, in this hasty manner, merely to suggest the subject, for the consideration of that body.  I cannot doubt but those members especially who have a taste for Botanical Science, will admit both the feasibility and the importance of the proposition. If a Botanical Committee were directed to organize a plan, & to solicit [[underlined]] specimens [[/underlined]], accompanied with notes of the place of growth, time of flowering, &c. from the Cultivators of Botany in the different