Melbourne bot Garden
10/10/72
I feel exceedingly gratified, rev. and dear Sir, with the enumeration of the Fungi in the May-number of the Linnean Society's proceedings.1 It is an important addition to the mycology of Australia and of special value as coming from the greatest master in that branch of science of this age
If we add the species named from Preiss's collection by Fries2 and those recorded from Tasmania by yourself in J. D. Hooker's work,3 we get already a fair number of species for this part of the globe, as a basis for future studies. I shall devote a summer in our ranges largely for studies of this kind, when the volumes on the Cotyledonous plants are finished,4 and I shall meanwhile seize on every opportunity to get new material. The only discouraging and intimidating circumstance connected with these researches is the almost complete absense of mycologic works in our libraries here. My Department is too poorly endowed to purchase works for this or indeed any other series of researches, and my private means are so heavily taxed for the study of Cotyledonous plants, for geographic, chemical medical and other literature, that I feel myself debarred to obtain the literary material for fungi, mosses, lichens &c also. Should fortune yet smile on me late in life; it may become otherwise
With grateful remembrance of your great kindness and best wishes for your health & happiness
your regardful
Ferd von Mueller
Berkeley (1873); the part of the journal containing this paper was issued on 29 May 1872 (Gage & Stearn (1988), p. 216).
Fries, 'Fungi', in Lehmann (1844-7), vol. 2, pp. 130-40.
Berkeley (1860).
Bentham (1863-78). The work ended with vol. 7, including the ferns; no volume containing fungi was published as part of the series.
Please cite as “FVM-72-10-10a,” 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