25, WILTON PLACE. S.W.
Sept 9 /74
My dear Sir
I have two or three of your letters which I ought to have acknowledged but I have had so much writing that I have had but little time or inclination for letters. I must now however write a line to say that your box of Monocotyledons has come safe to hand I found the parcels at Kew on my return from the meeting at Belfast1 all apparently in good condition but I have not yet looked into them. I am working hard at Genera2 of which we must get this part out before I do the last vol. of Flora Australiensis3 Asclepiadeae have given me a great deal of trouble but we are now advancing rapidly
You mention again the freight on your boxes of specimens I can only repeat what I said from the first that the Kew Herbarium had agreed to pay the freight on the boxes that come from you, but that there is a difficulty about advancing the freight on the boxes sent from Kew, and as that was so stated from the first as you may see if you still have my early letters I cannot now require them to do more. I have always paid the repairing and packing the boxes (generally 10'/ to 12'/ each) out of my own pocket besides sundry small charges incurred — but I cannot undertake to pay the freight to Melbourne4 — However now that must soon come to an end I have only to hope that I may live to get through this last volume but I feel I am getting very old.
We had a good meeting at Belfast at which Dr Hooker's address at our Section was particularly successful as well as really most valuable5
Yours faithfully
George Bentham
Baron v. Mueller
The parcel of Lord Howe's Island plants contained only one set 91 species Dr Hooker is willing to give a fair price which I presume cannot be above 30'/6
Asclepiadeae
Please cite as “FVM-74-09-09a,” 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 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/74-09-09a