Michel Adanson had received a letter from Linnaeus [this letter has not come down to us] and expresses his thanks. He had planned to send an answer much earlier, but he has had other things to do.
First, Antoine de Jussieu had died, unexpectedly. At the same time, an eye disease had prevented Bernhard de Jussieu from fulfilling his duties in Académie royale des sciences at a time when there were to be excursions and demonstrations of European plants. During the summer, plants were to be collected, prepared and described, together with all other domestic work and a lot of presentations to the Académie.
Among the new observations sent from Sénégal, there was a description of Adansonia, by Adanson called Bahobab. It was Jussieu who had given it the name Charadrium spinosum Adansonia, and he had not sent Linnaeus the description since he thought that Adanson had better do that himself. Now, Adanson sends all the details, taken from his manuscript to the Académie and arranged according to Linnaeus’s principles [the description was published three years later, “Description d`un arbre”].
Adanson is about to send the second part of his work on Sénégal to the printer [Adanson refers to Histoire naturelle du Sénégal]. Linnaeus will receive a copy when it is ready [vol. 2 was never published].
Adanson has had trouble with the determination of a bird that resembles one that Linnaeus calls Charadrium spinosum. One reason is that Adanson only has Systema naturae, 6th edition, and not a newer edition of it. Also the one that Linnaeus calls Fulica spinosa is not certain, and Adanson specifies the differences in some detail.
Adanson can not comply with Linnaeus’s wish for shells and mussels, since they show so many individual variations. However, he will send some when there is an opportunity.
Adanson remarks that Agihalid is not a species of Ximenia as believed by Linnaeus. Adanson specifies the differences, and he has seen it in Sénégal and Egypt. It is definitely a new genus and not to be combined with any class of European plants. On the whole, he remarks that previous publications of exotic plants tend to prove unreliable when compared with what you see in their original locations.
Adanson forwards regards from Bernard de Jussieu.
Adanson is grateful that Linnaeus has promised to work on his becoming a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala [Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala], with which he would be glad to exchange observations on the natural history of Europe. On the other hand, Adanson is not free to handle the material from Sénégal, as he is bound by his patrons.
Other persons mentioned: Prosper Alpini and Charles Plumier.