Copy
Turnham Green, London,
August 29 1865
My dear Dr Mueller
In consequence of the state of my health, which has totally put an end to my botanical pursuits, I have determined to dispose of my herbarium & library. I have already sold to the Government of this country my noble collection of dried Orchidaceous plants and it is now incorporated with the public herbarium at Kew.1
The remainder of my collection awaits a purchaser and with my friends Hooker & Bentham I quite agree, that no one can appreciate their value better or indeed so well as a working Botanist most highly distinguished like Yourself.
In an young Colony, such as Victoria, there is always an inevitable difficulty in teaching the Natural Sciences, owing to the impossibility of obtaining extensive materials authentically named, on which students can rely with confidence, and this is most especially the case with the peculiar vegetation of our immense Australian colonies with which you are so much more familiar than anyone else I mean in a scientific as well as a practical point of view.2
Please cite as “FVM-65-08-29,” 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