Alexander Garden has not heard directly from Linnaeus, but he has understood from John Ellis that Linnaeus still remembers him, although a long time has passed. The collection of specimens sent in 1763 [see Garden to Linnaeus, 2 June 1763{L3272}] seems to have been lost and did not reach Linnaeus, although it was confided to Daniel Solander in London with instructions to be forwarded to Linnaeus. The latest letter that Garden has received was dated 5 October 1761{L2983}.
Garden has produced a copy of the letter and the characters of the specimens sent in 1763 and sent that to Ellis in London, who will forward it to Linnaeus.
The present letter contains characters of seven plant species new to botany, as far as Garden has found. He leaves the naming to Linnaeus but suggests that one should be named after Ellis and another after his friend John Hope.
Garden also sends a character of an extraordinary animal, something between a lizard and a fish, and he also encloses a small specimen. A larger one, two or three feet long, has been sent to Ellis’s museum in London.
Garden wants some hints on new books or other resources that could be useful to him.