INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

felegram: STATISTICA, CALCUSTA-£E 203, BARRACKPORE TRUNK ROAD
Telephones 56-3222-27 (6 lines) CALCUTT A435

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Me. Ta (My India.

Octeber 14, 1957,

Dear Dr. Lederberg,

Your letter is nost welcome. I had heen trying to fix
tnines, but my boss, Professor Mehalenobis, has been out of India, and
nes only recently returned. However as Bnabha has fixed your time ,the
question of foreign exchange does not arise. I have heard nothing from

Bombey : this is unfortunately typical of India.

We will meet you at the airport here, and give you bed
and board. 4n eutomobile will be at your disJosal. I will fix a lecture
for you in Calcutta on the evening of Friday Nov. 8th. But I would
very much lire it if you could give one here ( five minute's walk from
your bedroom } on the morning of Saturday Nov.9th or Monday Nov 11th .
The remaining daylight hours will be at your disposal. I need « lot of

information to plan them. So I am asking you a lot of questions.

1, Is there any one here whom you want to meet,or whose
Jaboratory you want to see ? It will be a job to protect you against
people who want to show you their laboratories.

2e Would you like to see either of the following, which are,
in my opinion, the best genetics and cytology being done here ?

(a) Jute Research Institute. Jute will be nearly over, but
other fiber plants are under investigation, and a few genes are to be
seen, Anyway you get an idea of high grade agricultural practise.

(b) The cytological work of Dr. and Mrs. Sharma. They say

some of the local clants have consistantly fewer chromosomes in their

leaves than in growing points, pollen mother cells, etc.

rect
INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

Telegram: STATISTICA, CALCUTTA-35 2
, 203, BARRACKP 2
Telephones 56-8222-27 (6 lines) cee OK eee

CALCUTTA=35

I am sorry to ask you so much, but as you have only three days we
must plan them for you. Let me be clear, by the way, that in my opinion
the accomodation here is much pleasanter than in a hotel. You will
either be in a flat in the Director's home, on in the Guest House. We
will find out your tastes in food. There isn't much alcoholic liquor. By
the way, if you touch down at Rangoon, yy 50 Burma cheroots ( or more if

you like them ). If you dislike them you can dispose of them here.

I regret this questionnaire. But you can't see much in three days,
and I must get a notion of where your interests lie. Of course we could
q
arrange Q shopping simultaneous with & botany » or o’ comparative

religion with Q bird - watching.

I believe the best job for a geneticist here would be to start
clonal propagation of palm trees. If one could get whole groves of trees

as good as the best in the country one would get a very high yield.

Yours sincerely,

0. BS. bldene

( J. B. S. Haldane )

Dr. Joshua Lederberg,
Dept. of Bacteriology
University of Melbourne.