To George Bentham   27 February 1869

27/[2]/69.¹

It was my intention, dear Mr Bentham, to have sent an other case of Museum-plants to you by the Essex, but so much unforeseen work intervened, that I could not g[e]t it quite ready, and must now send it by the Sommersetshire which steamer will leave on the 8th March. That vessel brought the large caseful of Monopetaleae all right back. In the case now to be despatched you will get also some supplemental Verbenaceae & Labiatae, which now will be useful yet for the 5th volume.² The case will contain the rest of the Salsolaceae and some Dryandrae & Banksiae, but it will still need an other large box, to send the rest of these bulky plants. I have also added some Lichenes, and I earnestly draw your attention to the necessity to provide ere long for the cryptogamic volume.³ In all probability the phanerogamic volumes will be finished by the end of 1870, and if then only a commencement is made with the Cryptogams, the work will remain then likely for several years incomplete. I could undertake the ferns, — if you approved of it, and the Algae are available from poor Harvey's excellent writings, Sonder having however added one genus and several species (one Caulerpa) from my lately obtained tropical collections.

That leaves Fungi, Musci and Lichenes unprovided for, except that Mr Berkeley has promised to work up the Fungi for the L.S., and that at present the excellent Dr Lindberg in Helsingfors looks over my musci and Dr Gottsche over my Hepaticae again. But my collections in these plants are very incomplete and RBrown's, A. Cunningham's & A. Oldfield's have to be worked up de novo. Whether the overworked Mitten can help us, I dont know, but this you will be best aware of. Dr Sonder informs me, that C. Mueller is about to give a new edition of his work on Mosses,⁴ so he perhaps would be able to take the responsibility of this part of the Australian work.

My only desire in soliciting early consideration for this difficult cryptogamic volume is this, that my health is fluctuating and that after my death not the same facilities may exist, to obtain subsidies for the work, and really I should like to see the work closed, while I am spared to live.⁵

The Lichenes now sent are all from New England, & it would probably be best to place them at once into the hands of the Rev. Mr Leighton together with such as Dr Hooker already received from me.⁶ I have no duplicates left. So I expect a specimen back from each species. The material for a supplemental volume on the Phanerogamae is steadily advancing.⁷

While on the subject of these volumes, I would remark, that in all probability some scribifex will ask your permission to copy for one or the other of the colonies a special volume out of the general work. I hope you will not countenance such a proceeding, alike unjust to you as author and to the publisher. I may after a lapse of years, should I live so long, publish such special Colonial volumes myself on an altered plan of the present work and bring in recent and constantly accrueing supplements.

The sudden death of the great von Martius⁸ is an irreparable loss! I had an unanswered letter of his on my table and sent just off some supplemental fascicle of Palmae, which he desired.

In vastly varied knowledge and in elegance of language, I place this extraordinar man above all his Coetans, and can only compare him to Aristoteles & Humboldt. But what inspired me above all with a deep veneration for him was his warmth of genial sympathy and his condescending benignity, which he was pleased to show me and his religious philosophy emanating from his great labors. I do not think that his orations, delivered for nearly half a century before the Munich Academy are in intrinsic depth, magnificence of eloquence and luminosity of genius surpassed by those of any writer of any nation, either ancient or modern. His private letters, which are many, I shall retain among my most valued treasures.⁹

I attended last night at a ball of the mayor of Melbourne in honor of Prince Alfred.¹⁰ We are all glad to see H.R.H. again among us.

In working once more on Salsolaceae I came across a very curious plant, perhaps belonging to this order, unless it should prove an anomalous form of Phytolacceae. It occurs among Drummond's plants and I have given to this apparently new genus the name Trematocarya. But as I have failed to find male flowers, and such may exist on better specimens at Kew, I deferred publishing the diagnosis, but send it together with the plant. Perhaps you or Dr Hooker or Prof Oliver would be so friendly to inform me, what the nearest affinity of the genus may be, and perhaps it would be worthy of a place in the icones, which, as I observe — are devoted to plants of remarkable and mostly generically different structure¹¹ I feel very much indebted to you & Dr Hooker for giving Osbornia & Xanthostemon a place in it. ¹² Is Atriplex semibaccatum really as a species distinct from A. roseum? Does the latter get not also its fruit in the lower part succulent?

I received with much gratification the closing pages of the 4th vol.¹³ & feel indebted for all the liberal concessions made in my favor

Always your regardful

Ferd. von Mueller¹⁴

Let me hope sincerely, that you fully recovered from your rheumatic affliction.¹⁵

Your Anther system of the Eucalypti is excellent! Perhaps I may claim the fact of having first used the anthers for diagnosis.

On Eucalyptus for a monogram¹⁶ I continue to work occasionally, but my department is so much reduced now in means, that I cannot publish illustrations anymore! Hence a monogram of the kind mentioned¹⁷ will not be readily brought out in the most instructive form, at present.

I have still to send all Thymeleae, a large lot. Then you have the rest of the Dicotyledoneae. I shall sedulously work on Monocotyledoneae then, and have worked much in course of time on such difficult genera as Lepidosperma, Xerotes &c already.

Atriplex roseum

Atriplex semibaccatum

Banksia

Caulerpa

Dryandra

Eucalyptus

Fungi

Hepaticae

Labiatae

Lepidosperma

Lichenes

Monocotyledoneae

Monopetaleae

Musci

Osbornia

Palmae

Phanerogamae

Phytolacceae

Salsolaceae

Trematocarya

Thymeleae

Verbenaceae

Xanthostemon

Xerotes