To George Bentham   15 May 1870

15/5/70.

 

The arrival and perusal of your kind letter and the pages on Myoporinae, dear Mr Bentham, have given me very great pleasure. The still continued disorganisation of my Department renders my duties in this planting season still more difficult, and as from 70,000 to 80,000 plants have to be selected for the Cemeteries churches & schools during this season from my nurseries I cannot write so explicitly on many points as I wished. First of all I beg however to express a hope, that the mild summer weather will restore your strenght fully & that you will give every care to its preservation and not endanger it by exposure or over work. I have some what hastily jotted down a few notes on your admirable treatise of the Myoporinae.1 The plurality of ovules in some species must have astonished Alph de Candolle as much as me, and takes me certainly by surprise. I had a letter from [A] D.C. by this months mail & will allude to this newly revealed fact in Myoporinae while replying. Let me thank you for your disinterested generosity in retaining my authority for so many species.2

The new typography is excellent. I look forward with pleasure to the coming pages.

Always your regardful

Ferd von Mueller

 

I am also busy at times in arranging the phytologic [aspects] for our industrial new Musuem

The case with Ptilotus &c has just safely arrived by the Ship "Crusader"

Half the votes of my already retrenched estimates are struck off!

 

Myoporinae

Ptilotus

1
The sheets of Bentham (1863-78), vol. 5, pp. 1-31 containing Myoporineae were sent in March, see George Bentham to M, 17 March 1870.
2
Bentham in some cases used M's herbarium names, as well as citing his publications. M's main report on Myoporinae is B68.03.04, pp. 147-51, published not long after he had packed the herbarium specimens to send them to Bentham; see M to G. Bentham, 5 February 1868.

Please cite as “FVM-70-05-15,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/70-05-15