"Cunard R.M.S. 'Caronia'. Wed." "There are two men, one German and one Russian, going to Princeton (where Veblen is), who are interested in topology, which is the type of geometry I was working at last year. There was a man whose work much interested me at that time, named Urysohn; I had thought he was a German, but it turns out he was a Russian, at Moscow University." "It seems there is a great deal of good mathematics being done in Moscow just now." "Veblen has been reading my Analysis of Matter, particularly the geometry part, which is about his specialty."

The letter was to have been posted in New York.