The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: Melbourne, bot Garden 1858. ¶ June 14th ¶ My dear Sir William ¶ ¶ It was my intention to have written to you a very long letter in answer to your very friendly communication dated April 11th, ¶ but ...

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RBG Kew, Directors' letters, vol. LXXIV, Australia letters 1851-8, letter no. 181. 58.06.14

Plant names

Asterolasia phebalioides
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Azolla
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Bauera rubioides
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Bauera sessiliflora
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Burtonia subalpina
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Crotalaria
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Denisonia
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Eucalyptus
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Grevillea confertiflora
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Grevillea dimorpha
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Howittia trilocularis
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Indigofera
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Marianthus bignoniaceus
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Phebalium bilobum
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Prostanthera spinosa
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Stylidium soboliferum
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to William Hooker, 1858-06-14. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/58-06-14>, accessed November 14, 2024

The first sheet of the MS carries an engraving entitled 'Kerrisdale on the King Parrot Creek'.

Melbourne, bot Garden 1858.

June 14th

My dear Sir William

It was my intention to have written to you a very long letter in answer to your very friendly communication dated April 11th,

Letter not found.

but an unusually heavy pressure of business has prevented me from doing so by this mail. I feel thankful in the extreme for your promise of sending other consignments of plants to us in autumn, and will endeavour to reciprocate in a proper manner. Particularly for the purpose of obtaining a stock of plants, valuable at home, for exchange, I despatched Mr Dallachi from this establishment two months ago to the Grampians, and now he is just returned with a lot of living plants in an excellent state, including , , , , , Gr. confertiflora,

Grevillea confertifolia?

, & other plants restricted mostly to that range, and of which I hope to establish a great many for Kew. I feel distressed that all the Fagi & most of the other plants died. My arrangements for filling Wardian Cases are much improved & as I have learnt by former failures, I may trust for better luck in my next consignments. I hope that Mr Duncans case came in good order.

See M to W. Hooker, 9 January 1858 (in this edition as 58-01-09a) and M to W. Hooker, 15 February 1858 (in this edition as 58-02-15b) for other references to Duncan's consignment.

Mr Adamson will probably go to Sir Rich. Macdonell, who is anxious to respond to your recommendation. I had unfortunately no fund to employ him on this establishment, but was on the lookout for a place suitable for him.

See M to F. Adamson, 8 June 1858 (in this edition as 58-06-08a) for the same information.

I fully concur with you, that I should not purchase plants on my own [risk], and have consequently written last mail, that as I require yet so many books, you would perhaps favor me with transferring the Saldo of my foreign draft to Mr Pamplin & I have added this time a draft for 40£ again for him, 20£ for a set of Linn. transactions, which Dr Hooker was kind enough to offer through Mr Kippist, for that price. My expenses are here so enormous, that I can safe but little, so that I do not feel myself in the position of becoming an ordinary member of the L.S.,

Linnean Society, London.

unless such should render the society more inclined to publish a portion of my north Austr. plants, for as I cannot enjoy the lectures, neither the museum nor the library, I think it might be regarded as vanity on my side, to be created a member, altho no one can have greater admiration for the venerable Linneans than myself, and under all circumstances I shall feel happy to contribute always towards their library & museum.

See also M to W. Hooker, 12 May 1858, in which he had asked Hooker to pay his fees from the fund Hooker managed on his behalf. M was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society on 20 January 1859, on the nomination of Joseph Hooker, William Hooker, William Harvey, J. Bennett, Thomas Bell, George Bentham, Robert Heward, John Hogg and Charles Darwin (Certificates of Fellows, Foreign Members and Associates, Linnean Society of London).

This month I forwarded some plants & pamphlets to them by the " Avon " under care of Dr Crozier the Surgeon-Superintendent of that vessel. — The same ship took to you a parcel with Wilsons Promontory sea weeds for friend Harvey, a small parcel of mosses which I brought lately from Mount Juliett,

Mt Juliet. For Harvey, see footnotes to M to W. Hooker, 15 May 1858 (in this edition as 58-05-15b).

and the new vol. of our philos. transact. for yourself.

Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria , vol. 3 (1858).

I am compiling now a set of specimens for your herbarium also. — I received Prof Harveys admirable phycol. Austr. fasc. 1

Harvey (1858-63). Fasc. 1 was published in 1858.

too late, to secure subscribers previous to the despatch of this mail, but I cannot [doubt]

MS torn.

that if the publisher forwarded a number of copies for sale to one of the Melbourne booksellers, that there would be no difficulty to dispose of them, besides that many here would be excited to collect.

I feel very deeply obliged for your undertaking the onerous task of disposing of my seeds sent by the Roxburgh Castle. — If Prof Asa Gray rightly gets the largest consignment shipped in March last per "Red jacket" arrived safely I can reckon also on a large supply from the United States, particularly seeds of their noble oaks & pines, which should always be packed in dry sand.

Is it not possible to get the remarkable Verbenaceous Genus , published. I enclose a plate of figured for the Flora of this colony.

Is it not possible ... this colony is a marginal note on the first folio of the MS without any indication of its intended position in the letter. See B62.03.03, pl. X.

It appears there is difficulty in publishing my Msc. on North Austr. plants. Now since the Government have consented to let me have the use of their press for the following numbers,

M requested the use of the Government Printer in M to J. O'Shanassy, 1 April 1858, and received it in J. Moore to M, 24 April 1858.

I could publish in the Fragmenta all those plants, that are identified, no matter whether they are Australian or Cosmopolitan. For the old s, s &c &c of Linn are in many instances not yet properly described from living specimens up to the present day! _

It was with the deepest gratification to receive Mr Blacks notes.

Almost certainly Allan Black, Curator, Kew Herbarium 1853-64; the notes have not been located.

I am very very thankful for them & wished he could give me more, altho in many instances I can not agree with him, for some species look alike, until carefully analised. Mr Black referring to my printed diagnosis of will see how different it is from . I will send the living plant in my next case.

I have given more notes on Tasm. plants for Dr Hooker, some from Oldfield, who is just here [at present in my cottage]

Partially obscured by binding. Augustus Frederick Oldfield had been collecting for M in Tasmania. The 'notes … for Dr Hooker' have not been found.

You do me the undeserved honor of speaking of my botanical energy. What shall I say? — I wished that at the end of my days I had done a tenth of the good for the science, you have done for it, my beloved and venerable friend. I can never without admiration look over the long array of your works in my own little library even, incomplete as it is, and you have given more yet than our lost friend Nees an example of a working botanical senex? How your unparalleled experience must have been brought to bear on the continuation of your species filicum.

W. Hooker (1846-64). Hooker had resumed publication with vol. 2 in 1858.

— I have just issued the second number of my fragmenta.

B58.06.01

I think at least every quarter one should come out, so that a small volume may be ready every second year, with a set of good descriptions, to which the index would give the key. The first number was printed on my own expense.

B58.03.01. This fascicle exists in two states that differ in a number of ways. Copies of bound volume 1 containing the first state have been custom bound; bound copies issued by the Government Printing Office have the first fascicle reset in the same style as the second and subsequent fascicles. The most readily observable difference is that M’s privately printed state has the heading FRAGMENTA PHYTOGRAPHIÆ AUSTRALIÆ in a single line; the second state has AUSTRALIÆ on a second line.

Did the live through Mr Wilsons

J.S. Wilson. See M to W. Hooker, 26 October 1857 (in this edition as 57-10-26a).

voyage? Otherwise I can send it again. —

I had a very kind & affectionate letter from the father of my poor friend Dr Elsey.

Letter not found.

It is indeed a hard fate; to loose a son, a only son, and one upon all who knew him more intimately looked as a rising great man! and possessing an amiable character & true virtue.

See M to J. Elsey, 20 May 1858.

—

I have given a list of plants, which I think new, to Mr Kippist in case the L.S. should like to publish more of my North Australian rar[e]ties.

The list has not been found.

Every your

attached

Ferd. Mueller.

Many thanks for the comparison of the Eucalypti.

Probably in preparation for publication as B58.11.01. See also M to W. Hooker, 12 May 1858 and J. Hooker to M, 22 June 1858.