PAST, PRESENT, AND PUTCTliB OP THE AUSTRALIAN FLORA. 145 



of the Teclmological Museum of Sydney, has in an admirable 

 volume, The useful Native Plants of Australia, 1889, not only col- 

 lected togethei' the scattered information extant, but has further- 

 more enriched the work with a multitude of original results, 

 chiefly from his own chemical laboratory. 



The active principle of the bark of Petalostigma, to whicli Dr. 

 Woolls refers as similar to quinine, beai-s, however, no chemir-al 

 resemblance to that alkaloid. Respecting his startling enuncia- 

 tions on the phytographic names of plants, he stands probably 

 alone, though new vernaculars might be put forward. I might 

 liave been tempted to exercise some censorship on his communica- 

 tion to the Victoria Institute, had the lamented author (in a 

 wish, as he wrote to me at the time, to pass an eulogium) not 

 refrained from placing the manuscript before me, so that it will be 

 best not to correct the minor inaccuracies which, occur, more 

 especially so as liis essay will have been before a meeting of the 

 Institute prior to this lengthened coi'oUary, now supplied as desired, 

 can reach London ; and as I cannot be aware what the comments 

 may have been at your gathering, but which on the whole must 

 bave been laudatory, even if this was not his " swan-song." 



In so large a subject as that on which he treats, it is impossible 

 to follow up his remarks very exhaustively, it may nevertheless 

 here be stated that for Mr. Malcolm Fraser's latest West Austra- 

 lian year-book a general vegetation sketch of the extratropic 

 portion of that vast territory has been provided, and this may 

 serve as an addition of what I had written myself on various 

 occasions since the two contributions in Hooher^s Keiv Miscellany of 

 18.53 appeared. 



Some homage is also due to Sir William Denison, wlio as 

 Govern or- Greneral of Australia at his time conceived the idea of, and 

 gave the first impulse to, the elaboration of our Colonial Floras. 

 Indeed, in letters to myself during the earlier years of the second 

 half of the century His Excellency detailed his views not only on the 

 preparations of Floras but also of Faunas, and now after forty years" 

 more research and preliminary publications the time is fast 

 approaching when for special higher education and utilitarian appli- 

 cation complete standard works on Australian zoology are needed ; 

 also the subject of providing " Colonial Floras " under the powerful 

 influence of Sir Joseph Hooker, was also early promoted by your 

 venerable and enlightened Vice-President, Sir Heniy Barkly, whilst 

 governing the colony of Victoria. 



All the Australian colonies have now their local Floras, that for 

 New South Wales by Moore and Betche, some collections for it 

 accumulating already in Sydney through Leichhardt, soon after 

 Cunningham had passed away, whose herbarium, however, 

 remained not in Australia. Mr. Bailey ably furnished a synopsis 

 for Queensland, Professor Tate an excellent manual for South 

 Australia, bringing geology and phytology also more particularly 



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