president's address. 779 



by Port Albert and Wilson's Promontory, having travelled 1500 

 miles and collected nearly 1000 species of plants. 



In the next year he visited more of the mountains of the colony, 

 many difficult regions of Southern Australia, Lake Albert, the 

 Murray Lagoons, the Cobboras Mountains, the Snowy and Buchan 

 Rivers, travelled 2500 miles, and collected upwards of 500 

 different plants 



In 1844-5 he again visited the Austi'alian Alps, the Avon 

 Ranges, Mount Wellington, the Snowy Plains, the Bogong Range, 

 Mounts Hotham and Latrobe, and the Murrigang Mountains, 

 raising the Victorian flora to 2500 species, including Cryptogams. 



In 1855 he accompanied A. C. Gregory in his celebrated 

 expedition before mentioned, from Sydney across Northern 

 Australia, visiting the islands on the east #nd north coasts, 

 ascending the Victoria River, exploring the limits of the great 

 desert, traversing Arnheim's Land, and reaching the mouth of the 

 Albert in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the Gilbert River, and 

 then travelling south-east, crossing the Lynd, the Burdekin, the 

 Suttor, the Belyando, the Mackenzie and the Dawson, and 

 returning to Sydney, via Brisbane, without the loss of a member 

 of the overland expedition. 



This extraordinary journey was considered only second in 

 point of interest and extent of unknown country traversed to 

 Leichhardt's first expedition, especially as continuous and 

 systematic collections and observations abounding in novelty and 

 interest were made. 



Mueller is said to have travelled, in his various expeditions, 

 over 20,000 miles. Sir William Hooker refers to him as the 

 " Prince of Australian botanists," and Bentham appears often 

 to have deferred to his opinion on account of his having had the 

 opportunity of seeing living specimens, though Bentham himself, 

 on account of his knowledge, not only of Australian botany, but 

 of that of the whole world, must have been a more competent 

 classifier than one who dealt with the local flora only. 



Mueller formulated the cortical s} r stem of grouping our gigantic 

 myrtles after having found that woodcutters, by paying attention 



