To Joseph Hooker¹    25 August 1862

Melbourne bot. Garden

25 Aug 62

My dear Dr Hooker.

I have to express to you my best thanks for the handsome addition, which you made to our Indian herbaria by the transmission of the recent set of specimens, which arrived pr Rowena simultaneously with other consignments through Mr Pamplin.

You will find in the normal herbarium, transmitted to Mr Bentham, many duplicates, which I will be happy (as you must be aware already) to place at your disposal for the Kew Herbarium.

Enclosed I forward draft for the Books out of the late Prof Henslows library.² I kept no duplicate of the pricelist, so Mr Pamplin will liquidate any balance yet remaining unpaid.

I am to the utmost alarmed, that neither you nor Mr Bentham announce by last mail, that the Box with Rutaceae, forwarded on the 27 March! pr Dover Castle had arrived, since the last mail did bring us notice of the arrival of the Ship! I have spent already some sleepless nights about this uncertainty of arrival of the plants, more particularly as I did not take out a bill of loading, but entrusted the case to Dr Thomson, the Surgeon of the Ship of Dover Castle in whose cabin it was placed on the day of sailing.

You will remember, that I wrote by the four successive mails³ on this subject, also by the Ship Dover Castle and I implore you, should the case nevertheless have gone amiss, to instruct some competent person privately to institute a search and I will be very glad to pay the expenses thereby incurred. The case must either be at the customshouse or at the Agents or be taken away by Dr Thomson, whose whereabouts must be easily ascertained unless he has gone again to Australia or elsewhere

I enclose a few seeds of Ranunculus Haastii, gathered on my request by Julius Haast, who thereby has now completed the material for the description of this singularly beautiful plant. In candor it will be but right to remark, that Mr Haast discovered the plant, & sent it at once to me and that after learning through Mr Haast the particular habitat of the plant an other collector supplied you subsequently with specimens. I leave it to your feelings of justice, how this question should be finally settled.⁴

I long much for seeing your genera;⁵ it will be a boon to Botanist[s] for ever, because the worlds flora is now sufficiently explored, to give to you the opportunity of judging, how the limits of genera could be permanently circumscribed at least in most cases.

Ever yours

Ferd Mueller

Of course the Dover Castle will have left, before you will receive this letter. The Rutaceae & Violarinae were in the consignment in all 18 fascicles, indeed the gem of our collection. The Dover Castle sailed from here on 27. March and arrived in June with you. The Orwell left with 16 fasc. of smaller orders 24 April, bill of loading being previously sent. The Kent left on 3 July with 2 boxes C[...]iferous & other other⁶ orders, 37 fascicles,⁷ bill of loading being also sent and the rest of Thalamiflorae went pr Roxburgh Castle on the 2[8] July, that being the seventh box containing 15 fascicles — and most probably I shall send some calyciflorae, i.e. Celastrineae, Rhamneae, Stackhousiaceae & Terebinthaceae pr Great Britain, destined to sail 16. September. If, as I most ardently hope, all consignments of Thalamiflorae safely arrived, there must be 123 fascicles in 7 boxes & 1 supplemental fascicle will be sent by Great Britain.

Calyciflorae

Celastrineae

Ranunculus Haastii

Rhamneae

Rutaceae

Stackhousiaceae

Terebinthaceae

Thalamiflorae

Violarinae