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1 copy T. 3-5-86. Feb 1886 Hitchcock K 3 upper Feb 1886 Mr. G. Brown Goode Asst. Director U.S. Nat. Museum Dear Sir:- I herewith transmit to you my report for the month of February 1886. Respectfully R Hitchcock March 3[[underlined]]rd [[/underlined]] 1886 During the month of February almost the entire collection of vegetable fibres from Mexico, received from the New Orleans Exposition, exclusive of the cottons, [[strikethrough]] ?? [[/strikethrough]] was catalogued and placed in reserve for mounting. Sixty-five specimens, not all of them [[strikethrough]] distinct [[/strikethrough]] different fibres, but all of value in some way, have been selected for preservation or for distribution as duplicates. The collection came in good condition but owing to the manner of labeling the specimens they have not the full value to the museum that they should possess. There is no doubt this collection would have been of far greater interest, had the writer been sent to the Exposition to attend to the collecting and packing. That work was done as well as can be expected by persons not particularly conversant with the subject. But when it is considered that such names as ixtle, magney, pita, and others are indiscriminately applied in commerce, without regard to the sources of the specimens, but only to their appearance and uses, and when it is also considered that even microscopical examination is not always
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Changed Jul. to Feb and removed some unnecessary formatting syntax