To William Thiselton-Dyer   28 November 1885

28/11/85

 

The hardy Agave, enduring the clime of S. England, dear Mr Dyer, cannot be a Fourcroya, as I found the species of the latter genus always suffering from night-frosts even here, which is not the case with the Agaves.

Your brother in law1 is most successful at the smelting works, for extracting gold by means of fusing with lead.

His life is at present a rough one, but in our clime quite a healthy one, and the reminiscenses will be pleasing and even jocular to him in future life. I send him news papers.

This evening I have to make a presentation on behalf of the Melbourne School of Music to Mr Vogrich, a composer and grand pianist, before an audience of probably thousands of people in our great townhall.2 He was married last year to a young Victorian Lady, probably one of the most exquisite singers in the world. I am sorry Brian is not here, to hear her, as he is so musical. I took him to one concert during his short stay in Melb.

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller.

 

Next week my things will be packed for the Exhibition.3

With the loss of the garden, laboratory, cart, carpenter &c &c my wings are clipped; so I cannot fly far either in this direction, and I trust you will bear that in view as well as other jurors in fairly reporting on my things. I shall write to Dr Masters particularly also.4

 

Agave

Fourcroya

1
Joseph Hooker's son Brian.
2
M made the presentation and gave 'an elegantly designed address' (Argus, 30 November 1885, p. 6) at the farewell concert, held in the Melbourne Town Hall, by Max Vogrich and his wife, Miss Alice Rees, prior to their departure for Europe.
3
Colonial and Indian Exhbition, London, 1886.
4
Letter not found.

Please cite as “FVM-85-11-28,” 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 16 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/85-11-28