254 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\^ August^ 



Church. The letter was written in his 102cl 

 year, and is extremely interesting for the warm 

 spirit of love for horticultural pursuits, as well 

 as for its being a letter from such a famous 

 old man. The writer has, however, ended his 

 days in peace, since the letter was written. We 

 are indebted to Mr. J. Prazer, of Rochester, 

 N. Y., for a perusal of this interesting letter. 



Hon. Chas. A. Dana. — This gentleman 

 whose horticultural taste is not far behind his 

 literary reputation, and whose beautiful grounds 

 at Glen-cove, afford a fine specimen of good 

 gardening, has gone for a brief period of rest 

 and recreation on a visit to Europe. Our read- 

 ers have had the benefit of occasional notes 

 from his experience, and may hope for further 

 favors on his return. 



The Poverty of Prof. Louis Agassiz. — 

 A great deal has recently been made of a saying 

 attributed to Prof. Agassiz, and recently quoted 

 by Vice-President Steele, in an ad(Jress before 

 the Montgomery County (Ohio), Horticultural 

 Society. "If Agassiz," says Mr. Steele, "was 

 right when he said he couldn't afford to turn 

 aside from his scientific investigations -to make 

 money, his life was in the truest and noblest sense 

 successful." If Professor Agassiz ever said this, 

 it must have been as an answer intended for an 

 immediate purpose. It is too much the fashion 

 to take these hasty sayings of great men, and 

 which were perhaps quite proper for the special 

 occasion on which they were used, as drops of 

 wisdom applicable to their whole lives, and as 

 something to be envied by all the world besides. 

 It will be well to remember that Agassiz' love 

 of science did not make him poor or keep him 

 poor. He left quite a large estate, and his son 

 is probably among the wealthiest of Boston. 

 It is doing an injury to science to create the im- 

 pression that its students must necessarily be 

 poor, and. the poorer they are the more they are 

 to be envied. It is time this stuff had an end to 

 it. 



Baron Ferdinand Yon Mueller. — This 

 distinguished Botanist, whose work in Australia 

 is so well known and appreciated in the United 

 States is the subject of an admirable likeness in 

 the L'' Horticulteur Belgique, for June. From 

 the notice, we learn that the Baron was born at 

 Rostock, in Germany, on the 30th of June, 1825. 

 In 1839 he entered on a course of studies as a 

 physician, but early showed a disposition for sci- 



ence — especially for Botany and Chemistry. 

 Still he pursued his medical studies, and in 1846, 

 and 1847, found him in the University of Kiel. 

 But his health suffering in the cool German cli- 

 mate, he determined to settle in Australia. His 

 passion for botany increased as he surveyed the 

 unknown forests of this wonderful land, and be- 

 tween 1848 and 1852, he made numerous vo3'ages 

 of discovery. His remarkable successes, requir- 

 ing as they did so much courage and persever- 

 ance, commended him to the colonial govern- 

 ment, and in 1852 he was chosen government 

 Botanist, to the Colony of Victoria. He took 

 an active part in the Gregory expedition for the 

 relief of the unfortunate Louis Leichardt and 

 his companions. On the failure of this, Muel- 

 ler himself organized a new one, which though 

 failing in its immediate objects, produced inval- 

 uable scientific results. In 1856 he became Di- 

 rector of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. He 

 has produced no less than 175 volumes on vari- 

 ous subjects connected with Australian advance- 

 ment. He will be best known to Americans by 

 his profound researches among the numerous 

 species of Blue Gum or Eucalyptus. His labors 

 have been acknowledged all over the world, and 

 he has received honors from the governments of 

 England, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Austria. 

 France and Germany, have sent him honors sel- 

 dom accorded to the mere scientific man ; and 

 the Queen of England has quite recently added 

 to what that country has already done, by mak- 

 ing him a Knight Commander of one of the 

 honorable Orders of that Kingdom. 



Professor Asa Gray. — This distinguished 

 botanist had a narrow escape from a serious ac- 

 cident on his recent botanical trip South. He 

 was on the train which broke through the bridge 

 near W5^theville, Virginia, and in which acci- 

 dent some of the Company's employes were 

 killed. The locomotive, tender and baggage- 

 car went through, and left the car in which was 

 Professor Gray, and friends, just on the edge of 

 the yawning gulf. When, as in the case of the 

 Ashtabula bridge accident, useful men and wo- 

 men lose their lives, there is no end of examina- 

 tions as to why a rotten bridge is allowed to 

 stand; but when only a few feet stands between 

 a similar national calamity , nothing is heard about 

 it, and other bridges go on rotting away until 

 some more precious lives are sacrificed. In 

 these days of scientific advancement, there can 

 be no possible excuse for a rotten bridge, and in 

 all cases where accidents result from such care- 



