Ferdinand von Mueller

1

MS is a copy written by Ernst Heyne.

Copy

Turnham Green, London,

August 29 1865

My dear Dr Mueller

In consequence of the state of my health, which has totally put an end to my botanical pursuits, I have determined to dispose of my herbarium & library. I have already sold to the Government of this country my noble collection of dried Orchidaceous plants and it is now incorporated with the public herbarium at Kew.

2

For the fate of the remainder of the herbarium, and of Lindley's library, see Lucas (2008).

The remainder of my collection awaits a purchaser and with my friends Hooker & Bentham I quite agree, that no one can appreciate their value better or indeed so well as a working Botanist most highly distinguished like Yourself.

In an young Colony, such as Victoria, there is always an inevitable difficulty in teaching the Natural Sciences, owing to the impossibility of obtaining extensive materials authentically named, on which students can rely with confidence, and this is most especially the case with the peculiar vegetation of our immense Australian colonies with which you are so much more familiar than anyone else I mean in a scientific as well as a practical point of view.

3

See N. Lindley to M, 5 September 1865, also M to J. McCulloch, 29 November 1865.