Dictated
Melbourne 5-3-96
Let me acknowledge dear Professor Setchell the receipt of your kind letter dated 3th
February,
and let me assure you that I shall always be glad to hear from you. It will afford
me pleasure to send you some Australian
but they do not occur near Melbourne, but mainly at the open Ocean outside this large
bay.
In my museum I have only typical specimens, no duplicates, as the latter are always
quickly consumed in interchanges. I will send you also miscellenious algs crudly dried,
which can be resoaked and prepared in Callefornia and you will easely be able to make
out at least the genera to which they belong. I am much beholden to you to send me
your excellent Treaticess on American Algs.
It is hardly necessary to say that I shall be glad to add as gems Callifornian Algs
named by you to the large collection of dried plants which I commenced in 1839 and
which embraces now about one million sheets. A very large portion of this were my
private property, but I located also that as a permanent gift in the museum here established
by myself since 1853. — Your wish to posess a portrait of mine for Your Herbariam
Hall I accede to with pleasure feeling quite proud with the request.
— You will have lamented the death of Professor Eaton, whose biography you so touchingly
give.
Perhaps you are not aware that he to some extent was drawn into his Algologic path
by myself in as much as I sent more than thirty years ago a large lot of crisply dried
Algs to Professor Asar Gray in interchange who handed the parcel over to Prof. Eaton
and this gave to the latter a new or additional imputus for studying oceanic vegetation.
With regrett I must tell you and Mis Eastwood that a package or case of Californian
from your Herbarium destined for me some months ago did never arrive here, it came
safely to Sydney, but as the American mailsteamer terminates there the consignment
was lost in transmission and all endeavours to trace it have been in vain. I am very
sorry indeed for this loss.
Very regardfully Your
Ferd von Mueller
P.S. The simplest quickest and cheapest methodes for our interchanges would be to
send dried plants in ½ lb parcels by ordinary post, several of these could be sent
by one mail. — I am not quite well.
As I have hardly any duplicates of Eucalypts and
s, I would suggest to send me of your dubious species leaves flowers and seedvessels
(
ripe
) also notes on bark of advanced trees, I will then be happy to give the names. The
same plan is adopted in South Africa.
