BY J. H. MAIDEN, F.L.S. 25 



His brother, Air. E. D. Oldfield, kept a commercial 

 school in Hobart for many years, and gave his brother's 

 herbarium to Kew after his death. 



He made extensive collections in Tasmania for 

 Mueller and others (see " Fragmenta"), and a brief ac- 

 count of his researches in Western Australia will be 

 found in (9). 



" Mr. Augustus Frederick Oldfield. one of the early scien- 

 tific investigators of Tasmania and Australia, died in London 

 on May 22. He had been afflicted with blindness for nearly 20 

 years, consequent upon the fatigue, privations, and exposure 

 incident to his wonderful feats of pedestrianism in the pursuit 

 of his favourite study — botany. The new plant was to him a 

 greater prize than the discovery of gold, and in his search for 

 such he was most indefatigable, both in Tasmania and Aus- 

 tralia; but some 20 years since his health became impaired and 

 his sight, aft'ected. He went to London for treatment, but with- 

 out avail, and he soon lost his sight altogether — a sad state, 

 mdeed, for one whose sole pleasures in life were dependent 

 upon vision. However, though unable as an author to per- 

 petuate the extensive knowledge he had acquired, he most un- 

 selfishly placed it at the disposal of those in a position to make 

 it available in the world of science, as is testified to by Dr. 

 Hooker, as President of the Royal Society, who, in supporting 

 the claim of the now deceased to some substantial recognition 

 of unrequited scientific labours, culminating in so sad an afflic- 

 tion as blindness, says:' — ' I have known Mr. Augustus Oldfield 

 for nearly 20 years as a most active, able, industrious, and 

 trustworthy naturalist, and especially botanist, whose disin- 

 terested labours and collections have thrown great lights on 

 the flora of many distant, and some of them previously wholly 

 unexplored, districts of Australia. I should add that the libe- 

 rality with which he has dealt with the materials he collected 

 is beyond all praise. He gave specimens and information of 

 the most valuable description to public institutions, wherever 

 they were likely to be of use, without return of any kind, and 

 placed his knowledge at the disposal of naturalists in the most 

 enlightened manner. To the Flora of Tasmania his labours were 

 most important, and I am indebted to him for much valuable 

 aid, as the supplement of that work especially shows. I can 

 truly say that I know of no case of modest worth of heart, 

 hand, and head more deserving of public recognition by the 

 Governments of Australia than that of Mr. Augustus Oldfield." 

 The above testimony notwithstanding, as well as that of Baron 

 von Mueller in" a similar strain, failed to secure any such re- 

 cognition as desired, though application for it was made to the 

 Government of Tasmania. Some of the iournej^s performed by 

 the deceased in his scientific investigations, alone . and afoot, 

 were not unattended with danger at a time when many abo- 

 rigines were still in possession of their native home — the bush. 

 However, by tact, he in some way placated them, and, although 

 sometimes threatened, he was never in any way harmed. This 

 was particularly the case when walking from Sydney to ]Mel- 



