to defray the expense of making the base.  It is for you to decide, however, which form fo base you prefer.



As you remember in one of your letters the price seems to be a little high.  The use of marble at the bottom to protect the woodwork is not absolutely essential, but it prevents the injury of the wood-work above when floors are cleaned by scrubbing and washing.  At Argentina they did not use the marble below on the lower edge of the base, but the bases were made of mahogany to the point where they rested upon the floor, and this was also done in London.  That of course would perhaps reduce the price somewhat in either case.



There is one thing that I must call your attention to, however, which is of great importance and that is that the tops of the bases must not be put on unitl after the specimen has been completed.  They should be prepared and set to one side, and the last thing that is done is to palce the covers, or tops, of the bases in position after the skeleton has been set up.  Our workmen must have access to the bottom of the case in order to place the uprights in position and the uprights in position and secure them into place.  The work of setting up the specimen, as we have done it, is somewhat complicated, and it involves the necessity for some freedom as thte vertebrae of the body are first assembled and then by pulleys raised, lifted, and lowered upon the steel supports, which carry their weight. There must be head room enough to do this and I presume that such head-room exists below the middle of the whale, which you showed me in your photographs, If that is the place where the specimen is to be locate.



Owing to the disturbed condition of affairs in Mexico, and the statement which was made some time ago that Vera Cruz was in the hands of the revolutionists I have hesitated a little in making final