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[[preprinted]] GOUCHER COLLEGE
Baltimore, Maryland [[/preprinted]]

January 23, 1924

Mr. Waldo L. Schmitt,
U. S. National Museum,
Washington, D. C.

My dear Mr. Schmitt:

It gives me great pleasure to know that you are inclined to avail yourself of whatever opportunity the Carnegie Institution may be able to afford you for working on Tortugas Decapoda next summer..

In regard to the matter of expense I can say only that the Institution has in the past been accustomed to bear the expense of transportation, at least up to the amount of a round trip from New York to Key West by Mallory Line ($86.40), and practically the entire expense of Maintenance during the approved investigator's stay.  It is to be assumed, I think, that this practice will be continued, in which case you would draw upon your private account for very little.

As matters stand, you ^[[had]] better write to President Merriam, saying that your attention has been called to the announcement in [[underline]] Science [[/underline]] to which I referred you, and stating your desire to spend a month or six weeks studying and collecting Tortugas Decapoda with the idea of working them up systematically and ecologically.

The word to the effect that your attention was called to the Carnegie announcement will be enough to make it clear, I think, (in view of other facts known to the Institution) that I am the guilty party, without emphasizing the fact overmuch.

Whether you are to have collaborators or not, is not a matter that requires to be specified at present.  But if you may have your leave at practically any time you desire it, that should be mentioned for the benefit of all concerned, since it will permit the schedule of investigators to be fixed most aptly.  It is also worth mentioning that your research will require practically no apparatus, which the laboratory does not doubtless already possess.

As I said before, I have no official standing in this matter, but I believe the chances favor your project.  In any case you lose nothing by making the venture.

^[[Sincerely yours, W. H. Longley]]