Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 17 November 1805
From Benjamin Smith Barton
Philadelphia, 17th of november, 1805.
Sir,
In the month of June, last, I did myself the honor to forward for your perusal, Mr. Pearson’s printed paper on a peculiar manure. If the paper be at Washington, I shall esteem it a favor if you will send it, under cover, to my Brother, Richard P. Barton, who resides near Winchester, in Virginia. He is a good farmer, and anxious to see the paper. Or, if more agreeable to you, it may be returned to me, in Philadelphia.
I have seen, but have not yet had time to examine with sufficient attention, the animal collection of Capt. Lewis. The bird is, unquestionably, Corvus Pica, which I find inhabits Hudson’s-Bay. I take the Marmot to be the Arctomys Citillus, common in the north of Asia, & even known, before, to be a native of our western coast. I long to see the large horns of a species of Sheep. I doubt not, this will prove to be the Taye of California, described and figured by Venegas, in 1757.
With great respect, I remain, Sir, Your very obedient and humble servant, &c.,
B. S. Barton
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 19 Nov. and so recorded in SJL.
Pearson’s printed paper: probably George Pearson, “On the Use of Green Vitriol, or Sulphate of Iron, as a Manure; and on the Efficacy of paring and burning depending partly on Oxide of Iron” (Philosophical Magazine, 21 [1805], 52-62).
The Jesuit historian Miguel Venegas, in his account of Baja California, described and depicted the tayè, an animal whose name was attributed to the Monqui people (Miguel Venegas, Noticia de la California, y de su conquista temporal, y espiritual hasta el tiempo presente, 3 vols. [Madrid, 1757], 1:43).