Document information

Physical location:

92.03.00b

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Ralph Tate, 1892-03 [92.03.00b]. 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/1890-6/1892/92-03-00b-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

1
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'A valuable botanical collection', South Australian register, 26 March 1892, p. 5. The item reports Tate's judgment of the excellent value of the botanical collection made by R. Helms during the Elder Exploring Expedition, not only from 'its magnitude, estimated at 1,000 species, but from the intelligent selection of the material'. The quotation from M's letter is introduced by 'Baron F. Von Mueller bears testimony to this in a letter to Professor Tate, in which, after recording his satisfaction that the specimens were being sorted by the Professor, with Mr. Helms's assistance, he says:—'.
Pray remember me kindly to Mr. Helms, and express to him my admiration of so much work done under so adverse circumstances … When you meet Sir Thomas congratulate him that his expedition brought so much material to enrich biology in various of its branches.
2
The results of the expedition were published in Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. 16, part I (1892), part II (1893) and, after a grant had been provided by Robert Barr-Smith, part III (1896); for the treatment of the plants attributed to Helms, see B96.14.02. See also B93.02.03, B93.13.13, B93.14.07 and B93.14.08 for early publication of new species.