17th December, 1954.
Dear Dr. Knight,
Thank you so much for your letter answering my long series of questions, and for the two virus specimens.
I have started to work with both materials, but have not yet succeeded in obtaining good enough orientation.  They were almost dry on arrival, and I had some difficulty in re-wetting them.  When I added a few drops of freshly boiled distilled water to the CV4 a white precipitate formed.   However, there remains plenty of material free from this precipitate.  Its mechanical properties seem rather different from those of TMV.  It tends to stay as a gel at a greater dilution, which makes it more difficult to orientate.  I think the I-TMV is going to be somewhat easier.  Do you know how much iodine it contains?
I enclose a copy of a short paper which I am sending to "Nature".  (If it is rejected as being too long for "Nature" I shall send it elsewhere).  I should be grateful if you would be kind enough to show it to Professor Stanley and to Dr. Fraenkel-Conrat.
I will write again in a few weeks time to tell you whether I am having any success with your materials.
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,
Yours sincerely,
Rosalind Franklin.