From Joseph Hooker   20 July 1864

Kew July 20/64.

My dear Mueller

The two fibres which you sent as used for brush making are

Black bast - Brown or Monkey bast = Attalea funifera

Mexican fibre = Agave mexicana Lam.1

I sent you a fortnight ago by a young friend2 who went in a sailing ship 2 plants of Papyrus, in different compartments of a box, one to be kept rather moister than the other. I hope that both will arrive in a living state. We are all well, my father leaves for Norfolk tomorrow, to take a short holiday. I have just returned from a visit to Harvey at Dublin & Wicklow where we went a short tour with Mrs Harvey & Mrs Hooker. The weather was delightful.

My father is still busy at his Ferns, he will see about returning yours. I shall also enquire about your Carices, Mrs Boott has made over all her husbands collections to us, but I did not observe your Carices amongst them,3 no more did Mr Oliver.4 We shall look again however.

Most sincerely yr

J D Hooker5

Agave Mexicana

Attalea funifera

Carex

1
See M to J. Hooker, 24 May 1864 (in this edition as 64-05-24a).
2
See J. Hooker to M, 17 June 1864.
3
M sent specimens of Carex ‘intended … for the Kew Herbarium’ but which he wished Francis Boott to examine before incorporation; see M to W. Hooker, 26 May 1861. Two years later, M announced that another collection had been sent for examination and return; see M to W. Hooker, 29 April 1863 (in this edition as 63-04-29a). Just after this was forwarded to Boott from Kew, he fell dangerously ill; see W. Hooker to M, 26 July 1863. He died on 25 December 1863. M to G. Bentham, 12 December 1863, includes a request for the collection's return to Melbourne. The parcel was back in Melbourne by the following October; see M to J. Hooker, 25 October 1864 (in this edition as 64-10-25a).
4
Daniel Oliver.
5
Filed with the MS is a clipping from The Times, 9 August 1872, containing a report of a debate in the House of Commons the previous day over an acrimonious dispute between Joseph Hooker and the Commissioner of Works Acton Ayrton (on which see MacLeod [1974]).

Please cite as “FVM-64-07-20,” 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 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/64-07-20