Rumsey Wing to Hamilton Fish, January 25, 1871

Mr. Wing to Mr. Fish

Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 54, the contents of which I regard as very important, I desire to correct a slight error into which I had fallen, as I learn from conversations with President Morena and Minister Leon.

The accidental manner of the discovery of the remarkable qualities of the cundurango, as detailed in the dispatch referred to, is entirely correct, with the single exception that the fruit, and not the leaves, are poisonous, and it was in the absence of the fruit that the woman used the wood, supposing, as she did, that it must contain the same destructive properties.

From information given me by the distinguished gentlemen mentioned above, I am more than ever convinced of the great value of the discovery and the necessity for immediate scientific experiments with the wood.