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RBG Kew, Kew correspondence, Australia, Mueller, 1882-90, ff. 267-8. 88.12.18

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Ferdinand von Mueller to William Thiselton-Dyer, 1888-12-18. 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/1880-9/1888/88-12-18-final.odt>, accessed June 5, 2026

18/12/88
1
Date stamped: Royal Gardens Kew 28. Jan 89.
With renewed delight,
2
See M to W. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 November 1888.
dear Mr Dyer, I express my words of deep gratitude for all you have done for Australia in my individuality, to see on the Science of this continent one of the grandest honors bestowed, within the scope of the great British forum of science for distribution.
Only your letter
3
Letter not found.
now makes it fully clear, how select this bestowal is; and I must recognize, that many of the most Worthy must pass away without this fascinating concatenation of great names touching them, simply because the gift is of such rarity and cannot reach all, who deserve it!
4
Mueller had been awarded a Royal Medal by the Royal Society of London. The Society awarded only two Royal Medals each year, covering all fields of science.
I am quite touched with Sir Joseph's goodness, in thinking of me before already, a fact learned only now by me,
5
M had been under consideration for the medal twenty years earlier, at the time Alfred Russel Wallace was awarded the 1868 Medal; see J. Hooker to C. Darwin, 17 May 1867, and C. Darwin to J. Hooker, 21 May 1867, in Burkhardt et al. (1985- ), vol. 15, pp. 262, 272.
so that I am doubly beholden to your illustrious Socer.
6
Latin for 'father-in-law'.
Quite charmed am I with the companionship of the Italian Astronomer and the British physiologist.
7
At the Royal Society's Anniversary Meeting on 30 November 1888, the Society's Copley Medal for that year was presented to the physiologist T. H. Huxley, the Rumford Medal to the Italian astrophysicist Pietro Tacchini, and Royal Medals to M and the physicist Osborne Reynolds.
The action of Mr Carruthers and particularly Dr Masters has been also most kind indeed.
8
See M to P. Sclater, December 1887, and notes thereto.
As I am just preparing for the Presidential Adress in the therapeutic Section of the med. Congress
9
Second Intercolonial Medical Congress of Australasia, Melbourne, 1889; see B89.13.16.
for which several hundred names are enrolled and which will be held early in January I cannot write much, but add, that I hope ere long to show you by some continental honor my gratitude in a tangible manner.
Regardfully and gratefully your
Ferd. von Mueller
When the official communication reaches me I shall fully endeavour to express my profound appreciation
10
See M to G. Stokes, 1 January 1889.
Might not someone, going across to Denmark or other continental coast-places be shown the manner in which
Kochia hirsuta

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occurs along with
Suaeda maritima

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. It would then be more hopeful to find it even when occuring in the almost glabrous form, as it may be quite [...]
11
illegible — word[s] obscured by binding.
any how.
12
The final paragraph is the only text on f. 268, and is placed here as it has the same date stamp as f. 267.