Nov.. 1908.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 103 



Becker, T.udwig ( -i86t). 



Died near Cooper's Creek. Artist, naturalist, &c., of Burke 

 and Wills Exploring Expedition, i860. He collected plants at 

 different times. Not to be confused with Herman Beckler, 

 medical ofificer of the same expedition, who left it owing to some 

 dispute. See 5. 



He was a member of the Council of the Philosophical Institute 

 of Victoria for 1857. 



Meteorological, astronomical, and zoological papers by him 

 will be found in Trans. Phil. Inst. Vict., i., iii., v. He is repre- 

 sented by paintings in Nat. Gall., Melbourne. 



Speaking of Eremophila Beckeri, Mueller (Fragm., i., 156) 

 states : — " Speciem designavi nomine amici Ludovici Becker, qui 

 plures observationes in regnum animalium et vegetabilium terr?e 

 australis instituit, et nostras faunae et florae cognitionem delinea- 

 tionibus pulchris et fidelissimis auxit." 



He is commemorated by the following plants : — Hovea Becheri^ 

 F. V. M. = H. longifolia, R. Br., var. lanceolata ; Disoon Beckeri^ 

 F. V. M. = Eremophila Beckeri, F. v. M. = Myoporuin Beckeri^- 

 F. V. M, ; Ptilotus Beckeri, F. v. M. = Trichiniwn Beckerianwn, 

 F. V. M. 



BosiSTO, Joseph (182 7-1 898). 



Born at Cookham, Berkshire, 21st March, 1S27 ; died at 

 "Richmond, Victoria, 8th November, 1898. 



He was a pharmaceutical chemist, and arrived in Adelaide in 

 1848. He was probably the earliest manufacturer of essential 

 oils in Australia on a commercial scale, and gave special attention 

 to the manufacture of eucalyptus oil, building up a large business 

 in this article. He took to politics, and was in the Victorian 

 Legislative Assembly from 9th April, 1874, to nth March, 1889, 

 and from 20th April, 1S92, to 4th September, 1894, and, by 

 means of Exhibition Commissions and Royal Commissions, he 

 exercised considerable influence in the direction of the manu- 

 facture and utilization of products from Australian indigenous 

 vegetation. 



For useful biographical details, see 7, and also " Men of the 

 Time in Australia, Victorian Series" (2nd edition, 1882). 



His contributions to scientific literature include ; — " Abstract 

 of a Paper on the Yield and Uses of Volatile Oils from Native 

 and Imported Plants in the Colony of Victoria" (Proc. R.S. 

 Vict., vi., 52) ; " Some Notes on the Culture of Opium in Gipps- 

 land" {ih., x., 39) ; '' On the Culture of Mentha piperita, or True 

 Peppermint, in ^^ictoria, <S:c." («&.. x., 116); "Is Eucalyptus a 

 Fever-destroying Tree?" (ib. xii., 10). 



BuNCE, Daniel (1813- ). 



Born 1 8th March, 181 3. (See his " Australasiatic Reminis- 

 cences," p. 154.) 



