596 



NA TURE 



[OcTOliER 2 2, 1896 



BARON SIR FERDINAND VON MUELLER. 



NEWS of the death of this distinguished botanist 

 and geographer reached London on the loth inst., 

 ■causing some surprise, as it was not known here that 

 his health was failing. Born at Rostock in 1825, and 

 educated at Kiel, he emigrated to Australia in 1847, in 

 consequence of hereditary symptoms of phthisis ; having 

 previously lost his parents. .Mueller belonged to the 

 school of botanists, now fast diminishing in numbers, 

 who began their studies in the field instead of in the 

 laboratory. Before leaving Europe, he devoted much 

 time between 1840 and 1847 to the investigation of the 

 flora of Schleswig-Holstein. On his arrival in .-Xustralia, 

 he took service as a druggist's assistant in .'\delaide — 

 a post he seems to have held for a brief period, as he 

 was soon engaged in exploring South Australia. From 

 1848 to 1852 he travelled at his own expense. At this 

 date he was appointed, by Governor La Trobe, to the 

 newly-created post of Government botanist, and soon 

 visited the previously unexplored Australian .'^Ips. .^bout 

 this period he entered into correspondence with the late 

 Sir ^A'illiam Hooker, which led to the publication of the 

 results of his earlier journeys in Hooker's A'i'Tl' Journal 

 of Botany, beginning with the fifth volume. In 1854 

 the Victorian Institute was founded' — the first institu- 

 tion of its kind, I believe, in Australia proper, though 

 Tasmania had its Royal Society some three years 

 ■earlier ; and Mueller was one of the first and most 

 prolific contributors to its Transactions. It was here 

 that he published the new plants collected in the 

 Australian Alps. 



In 1855-56 .Mueller was attached as botanist to 

 Gregory's expedition across North Australia, from the 

 Victoria River to the Albert River. In 1857 he was 

 appointed Director of the Melbourne Botanic (iarden ; 

 but in 1873 he was superseded, owing to his too rigidly 

 scientific management, though he still retained charge 

 of the herbarium and library. Great as were his exer- 

 tions and his enthusiasm on the introduction and culti- 

 vation of useful and ornamental plants, he failed from a 

 practical standpoint. His work on "Select Extra- 

 tropical Plants eligible for Industrial Culture," &c., was 

 an extraordinary success ; yet not on account of its 

 practical value, for it has none, but as a work of general 

 reference it is very useful. Nine editions have appeared, 

 including an American, a Erench, and a German edition. 

 During the forty-nine years of his Australian life, 

 Mueller was such an unceasing and copious writer, that 

 it is impossible to do more than glance at some of his 

 more important publications. It was from the first his 

 ambition to write a " Flora " of the entire country, and 

 his almost innumerable papers were written with that 

 view ; but when it came to the point, the task, for various 

 reasons, was confided to the late George Bentham, and 

 Mueller most cordially cooperated with him by sending 

 his collections and notes to Kew. Of that I can speak 

 with some authority, having acted a very humble, though 

 congenial, part in connection with the earlier volumes of 

 the classical " Flora Australiensis." Mueller, however, 

 found enough to do in publishing the thousands of 

 novelties collected by himself, and by others under his 

 direction. His " Fragmenta Phytographia; .'\ustralia;" 

 is the chief, but by no means the sole repertorium of his 

 descriptions. Prominent among his more utilitarian 

 works are the illustrated monographs of the genera 

 Eucalyptus and Acacia. His "Census of Australian 

 Plants," so carefully compiled with regard to dates, re- 

 ferences and authorities, is exceedingly useful for pur- 

 poses of comparison with the floras of other countries, 

 and has been extensively used by the writer and others. 

 Hut Mueller was much more than a botanist and 

 j;eographcr ; he was always a promoter, and often the 



1 SubsequL-nlly the Philosophical Institute, and then the Royal Society. 



NO. 1408, VOL. 54] 



originator, of movements for the scientific, social, and 

 material welfare of the country he had made his 

 home. He was in turn President of the Philosophical 

 Institute, of the (Geographical Society 1 Victorian branch 1, 

 of the Australian Association for the Advancement of 

 .Science, and various other bodies and societies. He has 

 also the reputation of having been a most devout and 

 philanthropical person. .'\nd, in spite of his not being 

 a practical horticulturist, he did more probably than any 

 other person to promote the commercial — that is to 

 say, the useful — development of cultural industries in 

 Australia, and more than any other person in the dif- 

 fusion of useful .Australian plants in other parts of the 

 world. He had probably a wider correspondence than 

 any living botanist, and few are the establishments that 

 have not been in some way benefited by him. The 

 value of his work consists largely in the fact that he did 

 exactly the kind of work that was required in a young 

 country for its material as well as its moral development. 

 It is true that his work exhibits more industry than 

 genius ; but, after all, what he undertook gave little 

 scope for the latter quality. There was, however, a weak 

 side in his character, which it would be affectation to 

 pass over entirely, though one would say as little about 

 it as possible. He had an inordinate craving for titles, 

 distinctions, and admiration. This led him to publish, 

 in all sorts of places and languages, what it would have 

 been much better to have kept together, and to indulge in 

 vagaries in botanical nomenclature which are simply 

 deplorable and damaging to his character as a sincere 

 servant of science. Nevertheless, the c:ountry to which 

 he devoted nearly half a century of active life was proud 

 of him, and justly so, and willingly honoured him during 

 his lifetime, and will doubtless long cherish his memory 

 W. BOTTINU Hkmslev. 



NOTES. 



OlR Aiiieiican contemporary, Scicnic, suggests the formaliuii 

 of an International Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 recent events having shown that members of the various national 

 Associations regard co-operation in a corilial manner. The 

 British Association meets in Toronto next year, and the American 

 Association, after meeting at Detroit, on the Canadian frontier, 

 will adjourn to Toronto to welcome our Association to the 

 American continent. Another instance of community of feeling 

 is afforded by the decision of the British .\ssociation to meet 

 at Dover in 1899, in order to promote an interchange of visits 

 between its memliers and those of the French Association, which 

 will meet at Boulogne in the same year. These signs of fellow- 

 ship indicate that the time has come when an international con- 

 gress for the advancement of science may be profitably con- 

 sidered. Among the many .subjects which would benefit b)- 

 international co-operation are bibliography, nomenclature, defini- 

 tion of units, exploration, and science teaching. The amal- 

 gamation would al.so impress the collective weight of science 

 upon the outside world, and would thus be able to claim a more 

 adequate support and recognition of scientific progress. The 

 proposal of our contemporary is that the first meeting of an 

 international congress of this character should take place in 

 Paris in the first year of the twentieth century. In considering 

 the question of the amalgamation of Associations for the 

 Advancement of Science, it must be remembered that great 

 international congresses are often too unwieldy to be satisfactorily 

 managed, and that the confusion of tongues at such gatherings 

 is a constant factor working against success. 



Science has just lost two of its foremost workers. We refer 

 to Dr. Henry Trimen, F.R.S., late Director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, who died at Peradeniya on Sunday 



