Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne bot. & zool

Garden, 15. June 1859

Dear Sir William

I can assure you it was with high pleasure, that I again received one of your kind & important letters,

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Letter not found.

and every disciple of phytology must be highly gratified seeing you retain such a lively interest in the progress of our favorite science & I in particular observing your unceasing desire to promote the Australian Flora. Sir Will. Denison has also in his last letter to me, dated [9] June,

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Letter not found.

alluded to this subject, saying "I forgot, whether I informed you, that I had submitted to the Government at Home a proposal, that it should take upon itself the task of publishing a natural History of the British Colonies, the Colonies to provide for the descriptions & drawings, the Government at Home to pay for the printing & engraving. This would be a magnificent undertaking, and we might arrange, if it were acceded to by the Imperial Government, that you should take charge of the Botany of Australia"

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William Denison wrote to William Hooker on 11 June 1859 that he 'should be delighted to lend my best assistance in forwarding your views as to the publication of a comprehensive flora of Australia indeed the subject was brought under my notice by an old Tasmanian friend Mr W Archer — but I have submitted to the Govt a grand scheme for the publication of the Natural History — (Botany — Zoology — Entomology &c & Geology) of the British Colonies. — I hear from Sir R Murchison that the subject has been submitted to the Geographical & Royal Society to report — and I have great hopes that the scheme will be adopted' (RBG Kew, Directors' letters, vol. LXXV, Australian and Pacific letters 1859-65, letter no. 51). The proposal for the 'grand scheme' was submitted by Denison to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on 27 December 1858, but it was not proceeded with because of the expense. See correspondence in National Archives, London, CO 201/513, NSW Despatches 1860.

Hooker had written to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on 1 May 1858, recommending the publication of a Flora of Australia and that 'In the carrying out of such a publication it would be of especial consequence to secure the aid of Dr Mueller' (National Archives, London, CO 201/506, NSW original correspondence 1858, offices part 1, 4249 Australia, f. 36). The Colonial Office replied that the Commissioners of the Treasury 'did not deem it expedient' to support a grant for the Flora of Australia that year, but that they would consider a proposal for the following year (Earl of Carnarvon to W. Hooker, 18 August 1858 (RBG Kew, Kew Gardens, Colonial floras, f. 40.)) However, when Hooker asked in February 1861 for support for a Flora modelled on Bentham's Flora of Hong Kong (Bentham (1861a), the proposal was firmly rejected, as the Commissioners of the Treasury 'think that any works of the proposed description may be left to the enterprise of the Colonies themselves' (T. Elliot to W. Hooker, 24 April 1861, in this edition as M61-04-24).

Thus our Governor General. — I had a consultation with our own worthy Governor Sir Henry Barkly on this point, and it is our opinion, that there will be little difficulty of getting for a series of years £1000 voted annually by our Legislature of Victoria, to carry the work out. The estimates will be soon drawn up for 1860 & I will do my utmost to impress on the members of the House of Parliament, many of which I am befriended with, the importance of this aid for a noble branch of Australian Literature.

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See H. Barkly to W. Hooker, 14 June 1859 (in this edition as M59-06-14).

I further coincide with his Excellency Sir Henry Barkly in the opinion, that a joint work by Mr Bentham and myself would be more complete & I would venture to say more free of errors, than if the work was undertaken by our celebrated friend alone. For altho' I not for a moment consider myself in the remotest way equal to the task with Mr Bentham, I still may contend, that I enjoyed unrivalled opportunities of examining plants in a living state & that I can furnish very ample material about the distribution of species. I would therefore propose, to work order after order up as far as my now magnificent material of plants extends, furnishing an english diagnosis & description of species, genera & orders, to which Mr Bentham probably would be inclined to add those plants in species or variety which I do not possess, add quotations, figures and correct names, identify species & so forth. Mr Bentham will have no doubt a rich store of additional species to describe from Drummonds & Cunninghams Collections & probably even from Brown's

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Robert Brown (1773-1858).

& Banks's — I would if this plan met with your & Mr Benthams approbation send regularly by the monthly mail the msc. as I go on. For the printing and illustrating of the work the £1000 may be remitted annually wholy or nearly so, & probably it would supply also Mr Bentham with clerical aid.

If the Governments of N.S. Wales & South Australia should contribute towards the work, th[e]n the plates may be made very numerous.

That I have here excellent series of specimens may be proved by the fact, that when I lately worked up the

Ranunculaceae

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for the Flora of Victoria I could not help reducing Dr Hookers 4 Tasmanian Clematides to 2, 9 Ranunculi to 5, and I am under the impression that in the larger genera the species of R Br. must be reduced in an equal proportion, and those of less experienced Australian Botanists at a larger scale still.

Probably you will say, my dear Sir William, that it is difficult to carry a work under joint authorship out at such a distance, where in case of discrepancy of opinion the differences cannot be settled verbally. But I think it might be very well arranged, that each authors writings are distinguished by his initials, so that he may be responsible for it alone. If under such arrangements the "plants of Australia" can be published, I need not say that I shall feel proud to work with one of the most learned & amiable Botanists of the age, and that I shall not fail to do the utmost, to render my own writings worthy of your & his acceptance I have about 10 plates ready for the Flora of Victoria. But possibly this work under the above arrangement may merge into the universal work.

At the end of the 1. volume of my fragmenta to be finished this year I will give an index of all it contains & the philos. Institute is just printing likewise an alphabetical ennumeration of the plants scattered through four volumes of their transactions.

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The indexes are in B59.13.04 and B59.13.03 respectively.

This will greatly facilitate reference.

I have hope to receive an interesting supply of plants from Mr Oldfield, who went on my private expense to the Murchison, West Austr, from whence I expect him back every day. I shall thereby obtain new material for the Fragmenta, and as soon as I have Dr Hookers 500 identifications of Indo-Australian species, I shall learn what is new of the rest of the Gregorian collections & would then add the new species also for the Fragmenta, by which an important volume of Australian plants would be finished. It does the intelligent & disinterested Mr Archer much credit, to exert himself so much for the work in question. Pray give him my kindest regards. I revised the

Stylideae

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once more. The order will receive few future additions, for amongst the numerous W. Austral species I possess already there was only one new.

I forgot to mention, that I will gladly send the unica of my herbarium along with the msc. to Mr Bentham as the work proceeds. These unica might then either be figured or after Mr Benthams inspection returned.

I have yet to say a word about Synonymy. I think never a msc. or printed name should be quoted when it not was accompanied by published description, but every name accompanied by such, as it tends to ilustrate a species. Mr Bentham, I am sure, will not enter any untenable msc. names of my plants into his writings.

The fascicle of Flora Tasmanica containing the mosses has not yet reached me, but I feel sure to get it soon, as I have ordered it from Mr Pamplin.

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W. Wilson (1860).

I had a letter from the excellent Harvey & shall gladly sell for him the 20 copies of phycographia, which he forwarded.

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Letter not found; Harvey (1858-63).

I have collected a large supply of Algae lately, amongst them

Polyphysa Peniculas

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at Port Phillip.

Pray give the assurance of my friendly attachment to Dr Hooker & allow me to subscribe myself

There are some seeds & specimens for Dr Harvey yourself & Prof. Lindley shipped pr. "Avon"