XXXV 



eucalypti, acacias and other trees that have done so much to adorn 

 their hills and plains, and even to improve their climates. To the 

 Royal Gardens, Museums, and Herbarium of Kew he was a perennial 

 contributor of botanical treasures, continuously for upwards of forty 

 years, often at considerable personal cost. Of this the magnificent 

 specimen of the great fern, Todea barbara, in the Temperate House, 

 is a conspicuous example. It is a native of gullies in the Victorian 

 Alps, from whence Mueller had it transported by wagon to Mel- 

 bourne, at his own expense, and shipped from thence, as a gift, to 

 Kew. 



After botany the furtherance of geography was Mueller's constant 

 endeavour. He was President of the Geographical Society of 

 Victoria from its commencement, and author of valuable contribu- 

 tions to its Proceedings. According to a statement in the ' Melbourne 

 Argus,' it was he who induced Sir W. Macgregor to undertake the 

 exploration of New Guinea. He was an active member of Burke 

 and Will's Exploration Committee, and he ceaselessly urged upon 

 the attention of his fellow-colonists the importance of an Ant- 

 arctic Expedition. No better evidence could be adduced as to the 

 value attached to his own explorations and his efforts in the 

 advancement of geographical knowledge, than that at the Geo- 

 graphical Congress in Vienna he was one of the first to whom a 

 special vote of thanks was awarded for exceptional services in the 

 ause of this science. 



Amongst other instances of his devotion to science must be recorded 

 the fact that he was one of the three founders of the now flourishing 

 Royal Society of Victoria, which was established within a year of his 

 arrival in the colony. He was President of the Australian Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science at its second session, held in 

 Melbourne in 1889, and was an active member of the Horticultural, 

 Acclimatisation, and various other societies of the Colony. It may 

 further be mentioned, that being a discriminating devotee of music, 

 he was chosen acting President of the Melbourne Liedertafel. 



As with many other men of ardent disposition, Baron Mueller had 

 striking personalities. He is described as being of middle height 

 and frugal habits, dressing in black, wearing wooden shoes, and 

 boasting of never having been possessed of a watch or a looking- 

 glass. He was as voluble in conversation as indefatigable in 

 correspondence, asserting that the latter amounted to 3000 letters 

 annually, written with his own hand. His multitudinous titles, and 

 the decorations with which he delighted to adorn himself, were a 

 source of innocent gratification to him, especially his foreign heredi- 

 tary dignity of Baron, conferred on him by the King of Wurtem- 

 burg ; and the K.C.M.G. by Her Majesty on the announcement to 

 the Secretary of State for the Colonies of the completion of the 



VOL. LXIJI. / 



