13/2/82.
You
kind letter of the 28. Dec.,
dear Mr Mitten, together with the large and important list of mosses reached me a
few days ago by last mail. I am particularly beholden to you for constructing this
extensive list, which obtains additional value through the new species recorded in
it. As remarked in my letter of end of January,
I had sent into print
the list of mosses, which I had added to Hampe's
from the Flora Tasmanica,
from Jaeger and Sauerbeck
and from msc. notes from you & C. Mueller; but I had kept the fungs and mosses in
type, as Dr Cooke
intended also to forward some more additions by the end of the year, and I was thus
enabled to
append
to my compilation timely the additional species contained in your list.
I thought this the better course in justice to yourself, as you use in many cases
genera, different to those adopted by J. & S.,
and as you follow also an other systematic arrangement. My list (strictly Australian)
was nearly as large as yours, as Tasmania alone gave a great addition from Sir J.
Hooker's work. When I requested our lamented friend Dr Hampe to enumerate
merely
the species
of Continental Australia
, I aimed not at a full enumeration of the whole cryptogams of Australia for the XI
vol. of my fragmenta; but the extra duties for the international Exhibition
here rendered it impossible to finish, as intended, the vol. in 1880; and this gave
me time, to complete the different indices to date, only the venerable Dr Gottsche
having sent no addenda, having as I am aware, but little to add from material within
his
reach. Hence I accept all the more gratefully
your
offer of additions also of
.
My total sum of Australian Cryptogams (ferns excluded) is now 3417, as
printed off
, a large share of these having come from me or from collections formed by correspondents
on my request. No doubt, future research will add much in all branches of
, but it will be a matter of time. That you work up novelties so quickly is a great
encouragement, and as Dr C. Mueller seems so much engaged with the editorship of "die
natur", I shall send in future all mosses to you, if you will name them kindly. That
Dr Hampe should not have possessed the "Flora Tasmanica" seems astonishing to me,
especially when I think, that I presented my own private copy of that costly work
to Prof Lindberg of Helsingfors, after his lamentations in this respect; and I may
add, that I did not earn the
slightest
gratitude from him!
—
That you determined the
from the Victoria-River,
is particularly pleasing, as I found in all the journeys in 1855 & 1856 from North
West Australia to the ranges of the tropical East coast (3-4000 miles) til we reached
the eastern slopes of the Ranges only 3 Mosses in North Australia; but it must be
remembered, that we were mostly away from the narrow belt of coast jungles. In Central
Australia over wide stretches, equal in extent to half Europe, no mosses of any kind
occur, so far as known, though a few fungs and lichens. But in the crevices of the
very limited number of mountains possibly some may yet be latent. Do any Mosses occur
in the Sahara-region? and What does Central South-Africa offer in this respect. The
Lake-Regions ought to be rich in them.
I have sent you by this post the Census of the plant-genera of Australia.
Your list of Austral. & Polynesian Mosses will be submitted with a few introductory
words from me to the R.S. of Victoria at the first session (after the Dec-febr. vacation)
in March.
I am beholden to you, for the generous spirit, in which you met me and cooperated
with me, and if you will tell me, how I can show my gratitude, it shall be done so
far as I can. Perhaps you have lots of duplicates of Cryptogams for disposal, and
I could purchase them readily for my Museum.
So soon as the XI vol is bound, the alphabetic index being now in type, I will forward
a copy. It may however be some weeks before the vol. is actually out.
Is there really no chance of the issue of a cryptogamic vol. with B. & H. genera?
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller
Please correct any errors in the bryologic portion of the Census of genera, & let
me know. Where are the
from Drummond described?
