The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: Melbourne Botanic Garden, ¶ 5 February 1868. ¶ ¶ I am sending you again a few newspaper cuttings, esteemed Professor, that might be welcome for your ¶ ¶ Mittheilungen ¶ , ¶ Mittheilungen aus Justus ...

Document information

Physical location:

Sammlung Perthes Archiv,SPA ARCHPGM328,Forschungsbibliothek Gotha der Universität Erfurt. 68.02.05a

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to August Petermann, 1868-02-05 [68.02.05a]. 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/68-02-05a>, accessed September 11, 2025

MS annotated by Petermann 'Erh. 1. April 1868' [Received 1 April 1868]. For a published version of this letter, see Voigt (1996), p. 87.

Melbourne, im bot. Garten

5/2/68

Ich sende Ihnen, verehrter Herr Professor, wieder ein paar Zeitungs-Auszüge, die Ihnen für Ihre "Mittheilungen" willkommen sein möchten, namentlich die kurze Notiz über Capt. Cadells bedeutende Resultate.

Prinz Alfred besuchte meinen Garten, in welchem er zwei junge Tannen (Abies Alberti von Californien u. Saxono-Gothaea conspicua von Patagonien) pflanzte.

In Ihren Mittheilungen habe ich keinen Bericht über die letzte Reise MacIntyre's von Coopers Creek nach dem Flinders Flusse gesehen. Vielleicht ist mir die Nummer nicht zugänglich geworden, da ich das deutsche Vereinslocal während meiner längeren Krankheit nicht besuchen konnte. Ich schnitt aus der Ag. Zeitung die Spalten aus, welche den vollständigen Bericht mit genauen astronomischen Beobachtungen gaben u sandte Ihnen denselben zur Zeit.

McIntyres Reise ist die einzige, welche in dieser Richtung, wirklich sehr genaue astronomische Data lieferte. Es wäre schade, wenn dieser schöne Beitrag zur Geographie in Zeitungsspalten eines politischen Tagsblattes begraben blieben.

Wiederholt haben Sie mich gütig durch Übersendung von Ihren oder durch Sie erschienenen Aufsätzen erfreut wofür ich herzlich danke. Jüngst habe ich eine Anzahl Baumfarne nach Deutschland gesandt u meinen Agenten gebeten einen derselben an den herzogl. Garten in Gotha zu senden. Würden dort auch Sämereien austral. Gewächse willkommen sein.

Stets der Ihre

Ferd Mueller

Melbourne Botanic Garden,

5 February 1868.

I am sending you again a few newspaper cuttings, esteemed Professor, that might be welcome for your Mittheilungen,

Mittheilungen aus Justus Perthes' geographischer Anstalt , edited by Petermann.

especially the brief notice on Captain Cadell's significant results.

T he telegram sent by F rancis Cadell from Bowen on his return from his sea-borne exploration of n orthern Australia wa s widely reported in the press; see, for example, Argus , 10 January 1868, p. 5.

Prince Alfred

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

visited my Gardens, where he planted two young conifers (Abies albertii from California and Saxono-Gothaea

Saxe-Gothaea?

conspicua from Patagonia).

I have not seen a report on MacIntyre's

Duncan McIntyre.

last journey from Coopers Creek to the Flinders River in your Mittheilungen. Perhaps the number was not accessible to me, as I was unable to visit the German Club's rooms during my longish illness. I cut the paragraphs out of the Ag. newspaper and sent them to you; they gave a complete report with exact astronomical observations.

See Age, 23 November 1866, p. 5 and subsequent issues. As M indicates, McIntyre’s journal, as published there, includes a number of astronomically-determined positions. Petermann had already published in November 1867 an account of McIntyre's journey, based on what the Age had published and almost certainly prepared from the copy of this that M sent him, but focusing on specifically geographical matters including the astronomically-determined data; see Petermann (1867) and the associated map, McIntyre's reise in Central-Australien, 1865 & 1866 (see National Library of Australia's digitized copy http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232431714). M to A. Petermann, 29 February 1868 (in this edition as 68-02-29a) reports the receipt of the paper and map.

McIntyre's journey is the only one in this direction to provide very precise astronomical data. It would be a pity, if this splendid contribution to geography were to remain buried in the newspaper columns of a political daily paper.

I thank you sincerely, that you have repeatedly given me pleasure by kindly sending me your essays or those published by you. I have recently sent a number of tree ferns to Germany and asked my agent

O. W. Sonder. See also M to A. Petermann, October 1867 (in this edition as 67-10-00), and M to J. Lange, 14 August 1868 (in this edition as 68-08-14a).

to send one of them to the Ducal Gardens in Gotha. Would seeds of Australian plants also be welcome there?

Always yours

Ferd. Mueller.

Abies albertii

Saxono-Gothaea conspicua