BARON FERDINAND VON MUELLER. 



33 



island continent of Australia, should have been in each case, first 

 of all, a botanist. 



A notice of Baron Mueller's life was some time since half prom- 

 ised for these columns. In an issue of the Victorian Naturalist, 

 now more than a year old, there is published a biography of the 

 Baron, from which we transcribe here a few of the leading facts of 

 his life, which was one of great industry and large results. 



He was born in Rostock, Germany, in 1825, and received his 

 education at the University of Kiel, where he attended the botany 

 lectures of Nolte. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was con- 

 ferred in 1846, and in 1847, at the advice of his physician, he 

 emigrated to Australia. 



In 1852 he was appointed Government Botanist of the colony of 

 Victoria. "From that time onward he devoted himself with untir- 

 ing, and one might almost say with phenomenal, energy to the 

 work of the post, which was described as the investigation of the 

 vegetable resources of the colony, though it may be said without 

 any exaggeration whatever that, whilst Victoria had the honor of 

 claiming him as her botanist, the other colonies shared almost 

 equally in the advantages to be derived from his wide knowledge ; 

 he was in fact, though not in name, Government Botanist of Aus- 

 tralia. Not only was his reputation world-wide, but, what is more 

 remarkable, there was probably no township or hamlet in the 

 whole of Australia, from Cape York to Hobart and from Sydney to 

 Perth, in which the name of Baron von Mueller was not known 

 and respected." 



He was greatly interested in the geographical exploration of 

 Australia and devoted a great amount of time to field work. "As 

 early as 1853 he had been to the top of Mt. Buffalo, and the same 

 year found him starting alone from Melbourne, with three horses, 

 to explore what were then the almost untrodden wilds of Gippsland. 

 The sight of him, as he passed through what was then the countri- 

 fied suburb of Hawthorne, mounted on his favorite pony, and driv- 

 ing before him his pack-horses laden with his collecting material 

 and slender allowance of food, is still vividly remembered." 



Very early he began to accumulate material for a comprehensive 

 Flora of Australia. When the time came, however, it seemed 

 absolutely necessary that the work should be done by some Euro- 



