Melbourne Botanical and Zoological Gardens,
21st June, 1860.
My very dear Sir—
To so world-famed celebrity amongst palæontological authors as yourself, it is perfectly superfluous to state that the Victorian fossil determined by you as an undescribed species of Taeniopteris, accords fully with the generic diagnosis originally published by Brongniart (Prodr. 16);1 but as you were particularly desirous that I should compare this new species of the genus Taeniopteris with recorded definitions, I gladly responded to your request, and beg to give it as my opinion that I regard the T. Daintreei in no way different from its congeners.
Most regardfully, dear Professor, yours,
(Signed) Ferd. Mueller
Professor McCoy, &c., &c.
Taeniopteris Daintreei
Brongniart (1828). The reference to Taeniopteris is on p. 46.
Letter not found. The text given here (B61.13.02) is a footnote to McCoy (1861), p. 97. McCoy was responding to a paper by W. B. Clarke (1861), who doubted that a fossil fern found in coal rocks at the mouth of the Bass River, Vic, belonged to the genus Taenipoteris. The footnote is keyed to McCoy's comment: 'I will simply prove my assertion, if not to the satisfaction of Mr. Clarke, certainly to that of every one else, including one authority at least (Dr. Mueller), to whom, I believe, he admits the necessity of paying deference in botanical matters'. For documents on the long-running dispute between Clarke and McCoy on the age of Australian coal beds, of which this was part, see Moyal (1976), chapter 6, and Organ (1990).
Please cite as “FVM-60-06-21,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on