Letters from Alexander Greig to his uncle, John Greig, a prominent lawyer of Canandaigua, New York. Most of the letters date from 1840-1842 and describe Alexander Greig's studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Greig writes of the fees involved, surgical operations he witnessed ("very unpleasant"), his concurrent studies with a Dr. Watson (probably John Watson, P&S 1832), the state of the medical profession in New York, and the competition the College was facing from the newly opened medical school of the University of the City of New York (New York University).

The 1847-1849 letters are largely from New Orleans, where Alexander had accompanied a brother who had gone there for his health. He discusses his work as a physician there, including tending to cholera victims, and describes a disastrous break of the levees in 1849. The single 1826 letter, though by an Alexander Greig, is almost certainly not the same person as the author of the rest of the letters.