Anders Sparrman encloses in his letter to the Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences [Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademien, i.e., Pehr WilhelmWargentin] seeds he has collected during the 28 months he has accompanied the English explorers [Sparrman refers to James Cook’s second voyage, where he was appointed as assistant naturalist to Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, Johan Georg Adam Forster ].
It is his wish that these seeds be distributed among members of the Academy of Sciences.
First and foremost, the seeds should be sent to Linnaeus. He should have most tropical seeds, and the rest should be taken care of by those who have greenhouses. Otherwise it would be advisable to distribute other seeds to different parts of Sweden, e.g. to Lars Montin in Halmstad and Peter Jonas Bergius in Stockholm.
Sparrman has put these seeds in 14 bags; inside there are labels with botanical information. He has put sulphur inside to protect the seeds from insects. During the transport, the ship’s doctor will take care of them. In this way he hopes to preserve them the whole way home. He also encloses some plants from New Zealand and Terra de Fuego which are enveloped in wax and addressed to Carl Gustaf Ekeberg. Sparrman admits it would have been better if every kind of seeds had been sorted with its special address, but he apologizes for that not being done by referring to his work with collecting natural history specimens and describing plants, not to mention all the obstacles and difficulties that will occur on expeditions like this one. Sparrman concludes his letter by giving a survey of the marks he has used to indicate the countries and climates where the seeds were collected. There are also descriptions of the use of the plants and advice about their cultivation in Sweden.
Finally, Sparrman lists and describes the contents of the 14 bags.