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85.09.02

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Ferdinand von Mueller to the Medical Society of Victoria, 1885-09-02. 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/1880-9/1885/85-09-02-final.odt>, accessed May 15, 2026

1
Letter not found. The text given here is from Australian medical journal, 15 September 1885, pp. 395-6 (B85.09.08), in the report of a meeting of the Medical Society of Victoria held on 2 September 1885, at which a paper by F. J. Owen on 'Notes of a case of poisoning by Eucalyptus' was read. The letter is dated to the day of the meeting, as this was M's usual practice when apologizing for absence at evening meetings. The extract is introduced by 'The Hon. Secretary read a letter from Baron von Müeller, in which, after regretting his inability to be present, he said:'.
I shall be much interested in the particulars of Dr. Owen's case, and look forward to the publishing of it in the Medical Journal . Eucalyptus Extract would not be oil, so in that respect also the information will be interesting. When, many months ago, I gave excerpts from Prof. Hugo Schulz's essay on the therapeutic value of eucalyptus oil, I was much startled by the remarks he made about large doses being taken by himself.
2
B83.10.03, p. 23.
It was, however, distinctly stated that the oil was from E. Globulus, that it was redistilled, and for a long time aerated and placed under the influence of light. With Tacitus I can only say relata refero ,
3
I do not vouch for the truth of what I am saying.
as I made no physiological or therapeutic experiments with the oil myself; but I was particular, in mentioning Dr. Schulz's large doses, that it was not the ordinary oil, but a somewhat altered refined product, and that it was not the oil of E. Amygdalina used by the Greifswald professor.