To Benjamin Franklin from Jan Ingenhousz, 24 October 1774
From Jan Ingenhousz
Abstract: Ingenhousz letterbook, Gemeente-Archief, Breda
October 24. [1774]
That every body here expects his vindication but that I begin to suspect it will not be published till the American affairs are settled;5 that I allwas looked upon America as the abode of tranquillity. That I was much pleased with the translation of his work in Fransh. That mr. Reich Van der schoot gardiner to the Emperour6 has sollicited me to send him de annexed list of some american Plants to be found in Pensylvania and Carolina, and to beg him to get some of their seeds by good oportunity. That, Dr. Collin told me he had 8–10 Pound arnica ready, which he will send to Sir John Pringle after new year when his book will be printed, that he is more and more convinced it’s the greatest antiseptic.7
to Dr franklin at Mrs Stephenson Cravenstreet near the Strand London.
5. BF did not publish his vindication in the affair of the Hutchinson letters, as he had promised Ingenhousz he would in his letter of March 18 above; the tract is printed below at the end of the year.
6. Richard Van der Schot or Schott (c. 1733–90) was a native of Delft. Emperor Francis I brought him to Austria in 1753 to develop the grounds of Schönbrunn, sent him the next year on a tour of South America and the West Indies, and in 1762 put him in charge of the botanical and zoological gardens of the palace; he held this position until his death. See Johann F. Reichardt, Vertraute Briefe geschrieben auf einer Reise nach Wien … (2 vols., Munich, 1915), II, 136–7; Alice M. Coats, The Plant Hunters … (New York, etc., [1970]), p. 333.
7. Heinrich Josef Collin (1731–84) was a Viennese doctor who was doing research in drugs at the city hospital. He had published one work on arnica in 1773, and another appeared in 1775; neither proved to be of lasting value. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie … (56 vols., Berlin, 1967–71), IV, 407.