To William Hooker   25 July 1861

Melbourne bot & zool. Garden,

25 July 61.

Dear Sir William.

I do not wish to send off my semiofficial letter¹ without a few additional lines especially expressive of warmest thanks of having through your and Dr Hookers very kind influence been elevated to a seat in the Society, in which Sir Isaac Newton once presided.² You made me with the joyful and triumphant news inexpressibly happy! It is an enigma to me, how you are able to give with such regularity to the world your magazine, fern publications &c. I hope finally my sendings will furnish some little addition to the vast treasures stored up in bot. Mag.³ I sincerely hope the fine & rare plants sent pr "Koh-i-noor" will live to reach Kew.⁴ For your Museum I am now indirectly working in piling up timber logs for the exhibition. The day before yesterday I forwarded a large parcel of Algae from Western port⁵ in a crude state pr "Lincolnshire" to you, and if under Harveys supervision they are prepared & named they may serve for interchanges. I deeply participate in the mournings for Prof. Henslow,⁶ feeling all the more how deeply affect these losses families — a poor sister of mine being prostrated on her sickbed with tuberculosis, her days being few. She is and was a most affectionate and ingenious lady, leaving two poor little children and a loving husband to mourn her loss.⁷

Pray give Mr Bentham my best thanks for his kindness of forwarding the "HongKong-flora"⁸ — I hope he will be satisfied perhaps pleased with my proposals which, if accepted, I will faithfully carry out.⁹

I enclose a plant perhaps new from N.Z. I owe it to the kindness of Judge Travers, whom, after receiving the flowering specimens, I requested to secure the enclosed fruit. Pray ask Dr Hooker to describe it. I do not wish to work up N.Z. plants, which belong to his botanical territory.¹⁰

I enclose 73-80 pag. of my "plants of Victoria"¹¹ Will you kindly direct Dr Hookers attention to the characteristic of Rhytidosporum, a good genus, also to the subgenera of Billardiera for his genera plantarum.¹² Are you aware of the existence of the genus Canarium in Australia? It seems Amyrhideae¹³ were formerly not known in Australia, nor, as I shall early prove, Connaraceae.

Dr Hooker refers to the desirability of furnishing an index of all Australian plants publish here in local journals.¹⁴ I have in vol. III transact. phil. Inst. anticipated his wish.¹⁵ I think the volume must have been sent to you. It ought to be supplemented by what I published in the pharmaceutical journal,¹⁶ which I believe you have also complete.¹⁷The Linnaea (as you are aware) published indices. Walpers annales¹⁸ collect these notes to some extent, but keeps not pace with discoveries.

For the valuable gifts of Indian plants pray accept my best thanks; they have as yet not arrived.

In the fish tank of the Lincolnshire I placed 5 sp. fish and Azolla, the latter for you.¹⁹ I hope it will reach you, an other trial of bringing this curious plant to Europe I will make by the "Anglesey" which leaves in about a week, the physician on board having promised to look after the little plant during the voyage.

The geographical and zoological discoveries of Du Chaillu are quite startling.²⁰ Pity he is not also Botanist, because those Central regions of Africa being full of endemic animals must also produce [new] and probably very striking types of vegetation, such as no other country is likely to aford.²¹ The Chief Officer of the "Lincolnshire" has taken such spare copies of the wanting Fragmenta as I had²² and which will complete 6 of your incomplete sets I suppose you received the sketch of the Araucaria Rulei, sent by last mail (with diagnosis).²³

I enclose notes from Sir Rich. Macdonnell and Sir Henry Barkly respecting the flora.²⁴

Pray give Dr Hooker & Mr Bentham & Prof Harvey my kind greeting and maintain your very kind sentiments towards your ever grateful and sincerely attached admirer

Ferd. Mueller.

Mr Oldfield will probably accompany the naval expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria.²⁵ Poor Becker, who furnished many of the illustrations for my botanical work died of scurvy in the interior.²⁶

Amyrhideae

Azolla

Billardiera

Canarium

Connaraceae

Rhytidosporum