12/2/81.
It affords me much pleasure, honored Sir, to transmit to you a copy of a list of cryptogams, in which your honored name predominates as an authority. The Algs have appeared already by Sonder (1050 spec.) the fungs are under the press by Cooke, chiefly from Berkeleys determination. (900 sp.)1
Since the death of my adored friend Dr Hampe, it will be necessary, that I should enjoy the privilege of entering into regular communication with an other Bryologist, and I therefore venture to ask, whether you are willing to examine without much delay any mosses, which from various parts of Australia I might still be able to accumulate. If so, would your other engagements as a leading bryologist of this age enable you to bestow on material, forwarded by me, always early attention?2
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller
Would you oblige by supplementing the present list of Mosses by those of Tasmania? I do not wish merely to transcribe it from your important essay of 18603 without critical reference to recent literature; besides you may be in the possession of other supplementary material. Jaegers index4 seems merely a compilation, though an excellent guidance; moreover it is incomplete and partly already behind time.
The references to the treatments of the algae and fungi, which were published as supplements to vol. 11 of M's Fragmenta phytographiae australiae (Sonder (1880), Cooke (1881)), suggest that M sent Mitten a copy of Hampe (1881), the supplement on mosses prepared by Hampe for the same volume. M almost certainly also sent a proof of at least the section on mosses of the 'Additamenta pro supplemento voluminis unidecimi' [Additions to the supplement to volume eleven] that he had prepared (B81.13.13), since his statement about Mitten's name predominating applies much better to this than to Hampe's original list, in which Mitten's name does not occur very often.
Hampe died on 23 November 1880. Mitten responded positively to M's request (see M to W. Mitten, 24 May 1881) and the section on mosses in M's 'Additamenta', as finally published, includes (pp. 114-5) a list supplied by Mitten of species additional to M's list, something that Mitten could not have prepared without knowing what M had already listed.
Mitten (1860).
Jaeger & Sauerbeck (1870-9).
Please cite as “FVM-81-02-12,” 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