Letter 3948

Worthy Sr: I received your letter, and should be glad if I could be so happy as to contribute any thing towards the resolving that mighty Controversy (as you call it) amongst Botonoyrapheus in order to which I have made the most diligent search, in that Ditch from whence the Captain brought a leaf of that plant, & which your self thought you saw it, but could find nothing there but water Parsnip, & water Hemlock, which makes me think that that which you suppose to be Henanthe was one of those, I could not be mistaken in thiss, for though there may be some kind of lileniss in ye leaf setneen water parsnip, & water Dropwort, yet there is none at all in ye tops, or flowers. for this water parsnip was in ye top life to an = ordinary garden parsnip. I took these plants up by ye roots, & found them to be no other than water parsnips, & water = Hemlocks, the staffs of which are a thick hollow trunk which arises from ye bottom of ye water, from whose [iomts?] there are many strings which fasten it to the mud, but could discern no bulbous, strumous, or protuberating roots, or tendons with = oval pindents, at ye ends of them, or any thing life them. This is all ye account that I can give you of ye plant. I hope I may be excused for not finding that which you say ye most learned virtuosoes will not allow to have any being in ye province of Nature. And should I have found it, it would have been as hard to have found any = Medicinal quality, or use it hath in ye [monol?] [Probinse?] of Physick, but I forget my self, not considering that Virtuosoes [routent] themselves in speculation only begging your pardon for this freeness I rest. your friend & servant to his power Mr: Dickenson