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Washington May 22[[superscript]]d[[/superscript]]. 1823

Asbury Dickens Esq[[superscript]]r[[/superscript]]
Secretary of the Columbian Institute

Sir

I take the liberty of sending you a small cabinet of minerals which I must beg of you to do me the favor to present to the Columbian Institute. The few specimens of which this collection is composed were found, with the exception of the slab of Schuylkill marble, in Virginia and principally in the neighborhood of the Blue Ridge which may in truth be denominated a perfect stone house of minerals. Specimens of petrified wood are found to exist in almost every part of Virginia, and those included in this collection would not have been thought worthy of a place in your cabinet and consequently would not have been presented, were they not peculiarly remarkable for the veins