Genetics Department
University of Wisconsin
Madison 6, Wisconsin

November & 1951
Dear Alain :

I should have answered your letter sooner, but you should not have men-
tioned that you were about to take your vacation. This inhibited an immediate
reply, and while I usually answer letters the day they are received, if I
fail in this, they almost never geb to be answered. Anyhow, we hope you en-
joyed your trips, and Rope you will tell us about them.

Just so you won't think that the winter you spent here was the worst we
ever had, you'll be interested that we are just now recovering from a snowstorm
that tied up traffic all over the Midwest for days. But the sun has come out
agaln, and things should be more normal for a couple of weeks.

Nothing very much has happened since we saw you at Cold Spring Harbor. After
the symposium, we extended our trip slightly by driving to Woods Hole (where I
inflicted some slight damage to the bumper of our Plymouth, so that I had to
drive around for some time without a rear bumper--——- a rather "sans defense &
derriene" feeling." We finally got back home, going via the Ontarian corridor
along which we visited Robincow at London. The bumper—and frame~ injury to our
car was bad enough that we accepted a chance to trade it in for a new Dodge
which is slightly heavier, and has a fluid-drive-clutch, with manual gear-shift
that is very useful on snow and in traffic.

A Prof. Paul Mamil from the Belgian Agrnomic Institute at Gemblouz visited
here for some weeks. The last day of his sity, he wandered over to our lab. and
told us a very interesting story about converting indifferent soil bacteria to
specific nodule-forming types of Rhizobia. I got the impression that he knew
you, and had once even sent you some tires. At any rate, we had another chance
to practise our French.

Before this letter runs out, do you still want to pursue our arrangement
for bartering books? If so, I would appreciate it very much if you could get
the collected works of Winogradsky "Microbiologie du Sol, Probabmes et Methodes,
50 ans de recherches", Masson et Cie., 1949. Let us know if there are any books
or articles you would like in retumn.

Speaking of books, the collection of reprints in microbial genetics which
I saw through the press, has come out in book form. I would be pleased to send
you a copy, but am not sure how interested you would be.

Roger Stanier visited us last weekend or so; he is on his way to Paris, so
he should see you after February. Quin may go also, next summer.

I have a fellow in the lab now (Dr. David Skaar), from Sonneborn's lab.
working on coli serology~genetics. Not much new so far. Zinder is finishing
his thesis work-—- has succeeded in obtaining a serological "hybrid" of
S. typhi x typhimurium (Formula IK, XII, i;~). The genetic system in Salmonella
is very #ifferent from E. coli, but somewhat like the transformations in
pneumococcus that Harrdé&tt E-Taylor, e.g., is working on. It is very strange
that one and only one trait (of many tested) is transferred at one time. For
myself, I am thinking of beginning a study on some Actinomycetes, in which
there is a great deal of suggestive morphological information, but practically
no genetics. Next letter, I'11 tell you about some experiments that Esther
and I did, using velvet to solve the bacteriological problem of the origin of
drug-resistant adapted strains.

With our best regards,

C8 pnananasal o