John Kirk Townsend Correspondence To Victor Gifford Audubon

Correspondence from naturalist John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to naturalist and scientific illustrator Victor Gifford Audubon (1809-1860) concerning the exchange and classification of animal specimens and skins, dated July 20, 1848. Townsend writes he is sending a box of squirrel skins to Victor Audubon, and he offers to forward quadruped specimens he is expecting that were collected by John Charles Frémont (1813-1890) in California. Townsend writes that several of his own skins, including "the only perfect specimen of the curious & rare Plecotus Townsendii," are in the hands of naturalist John Bachman (1790-1874), despite several requests for their return, and Townsend asks Victor Audubon to mention the matter if he writes to Bachman. He also writes that he hopes the health of Victor Audubon's father, John James Audubon (1785-1851), has improved.