[Baron von Mueller wrote suggesting that the Society should originate a movement for the relief of the medical men in Charleston, who had been reduced to great straits by the recent earthquake.]1
The earthquake that struck Charleston, South Carolina, on the evening of 31 August 1886 was widely reported in the Australian press; see, for example, Argus, 3 September 1886, p. 5, with more detailed accounts provided later, for example Age, 21 October 1886, p. 5, which reported that 'Mayor Courtney has telegraphed that in order to shelter the homeless people, before the cold weather sets in, from 500,000 dol. to 700,000 dol. will be required immediatdly (sic). A large sum has been subscribed by people in England and the United States.' See also Nittli, Bollinger & Herrmann (1986), who also discuss the effects of the aftershocks, which continued for 30 years.
Letter not found. The text given here is from a report of the meeting of the Medical Society of Victoria held on 1 December 1886, Australian medical journal, 15 December 1886, p. 533.
Please cite as “FVM-86-11-00d,” 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