Document information

Physical location:

Archives, Sisters of St Joseph, Perthville, NSW. 57.10.16

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Julian Tenison Woods, 1857-10-16. 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//letters/1850-9/1857/57-10-16-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

1
Photocopy — original letter not found.
Melbourne bot. Garden
16. Oct. 1857
Dear Sir
At the evening of a very busy day (this being the first show day of the season
2
This was the first day of the Horticultural Society's exhibition; see Argus, 17 October 1857, p. 4, col. f.
) I beg briefly to respond to your kind letter of Oct. 8th
3
Letter not found.
—. I was unable to do it at the moment of its receipt, having been requested to submit the annual estimates for this department to the Government,
4
See M to D. Moore, 13 October 1857 (in this edition as 57-10-13a).
and being likewise busy for the European mail. I hasten now however to thank you, for favoring the Victorian Institute with the promise of a paper, which I shall be happy to read; if entrusted to me, and which the Institute will be but too happy to print with the weight of your scientific reputation. As however from Dec til Febr. no meetings can be held according to the new rules, I would desire you to send your paper early in November, in order to enable us to incorporate it into the transactions of this year. After reading your paper I shall feel happy to propose you a corresponding member for it seems to me unjust, that a gentleman, who cannot profit directly from the meetings of the society, should contribute towards its funds.
5
Woods was elected an ordinary member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria at the Ordinary Meeting, 26 May 1858. See Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria , vol. 3 (1859), p. viii. See also Woods (1858).
I am most anxious to see flower and fruit specimens of the Banksia, which you think to be the B. serrata. The true Linnéan plant of that name is however restricted to East Australia. They may enable me to furnish to the appendix of De Candolles monograph of
Proteaceae

Search for Proteaceae in

6
Meisner (1856).
an additional note.
The by you enclosed Seaweed is
Conferva Darwynii

Search for Conferva Darwynii in

7
Conferva darwinii ?
Any information I or my friend Professor M'Coy may be able to give of the fern-impressions on Sand-stone from Geelong will be gladly given, but your friend ought to send the original specimen and deposit it at the Museum. If the fossil is new, we can publish it in our transactions.
With sincere respect and very best wishes for your welfare, I remain, dear Sir,
yours obediently
Ferd. Mueller.
P.S. Fossil fern, Banksia & Geological notes might be brought simultaneously before the Institute.
8
See Woods (1858), Woods (1859).