﻿^ol* 
  53*] 
  ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  lxiii 
  

  

  greatest 
  scientific 
  men, 
  and 
  the 
  world 
  in 
  general 
  a 
  great 
  botanist- 
  

   Ferdinand 
  von 
  Miiller 
  was 
  born, 
  at 
  Eostock 
  in 
  1825, 
  and 
  was 
  

   educated 
  for 
  the 
  medical 
  profession 
  at 
  Schleswig 
  and 
  Kiel. 
  He 
  early 
  

   manifested 
  a 
  keen 
  love 
  of 
  botany, 
  and 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  he 
  had 
  taken 
  his 
  

   M.D. 
  degree 
  he 
  made 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  flora 
  of 
  Schleswig- 
  

   Holstein, 
  and 
  became 
  an 
  active 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  German 
  Association 
  

   for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  Science. 
  Being 
  threatened 
  with 
  phthisis, 
  he 
  

   sought 
  a 
  more 
  genial 
  climate, 
  and 
  went 
  to 
  South 
  Australia 
  in 
  1847. 
  

   He 
  made 
  expeditions 
  into 
  the 
  interior 
  and 
  prosecuted 
  botanical 
  

   researches, 
  especially 
  into 
  the 
  mountain 
  flora. 
  He 
  then 
  acted 
  as 
  

   botanist 
  to 
  the 
  Gregory 
  explorations 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Leichardt, 
  

   returning 
  from 
  them 
  loaded 
  with 
  botanical 
  specimens. 
  He 
  was 
  

   then 
  appointed 
  director 
  of 
  the 
  Melbourne 
  Botanical 
  Gardens, 
  a 
  

   position 
  which 
  he 
  retained 
  until 
  1873, 
  when 
  he 
  became 
  Government 
  

   botanist, 
  and 
  devoted 
  himself 
  for 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  his 
  life 
  entirely 
  to 
  

   scientific 
  work, 
  producing 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  valuable 
  treatises 
  on 
  botan- 
  

   ical 
  subjects 
  which 
  gained 
  him 
  a 
  world-wide 
  reputation. 
  The 
  best 
  

   known 
  of 
  these 
  are 
  ' 
  Fragmenta 
  Phytographiae,' 
  ' 
  Flora 
  Austra- 
  

   liensis,' 
  and 
  ' 
  Plants 
  of 
  Victoria.' 
  His 
  ' 
  Select 
  Extra-tropical 
  

   Plants 
  ' 
  is 
  a 
  unique 
  work 
  of 
  its 
  kind, 
  cataloguing 
  plants 
  suitable 
  

   for 
  culture 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  part 
  of 
  Australia, 
  with 
  indications 
  of 
  

   their 
  uses. 
  Altogether 
  he 
  published 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  forty 
  volumes 
  in 
  

   English, 
  German, 
  and 
  Latin. 
  When 
  the 
  International 
  Geographical 
  

   Congress 
  assembled 
  in 
  Vienna, 
  five 
  special 
  votes 
  of 
  thanks 
  were 
  

   awarded 
  to 
  men 
  who 
  had 
  rendered 
  exceptional 
  services 
  to 
  science, 
  

   and 
  F. 
  von 
  Miiller 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  five. 
  In 
  1861 
  he 
  was 
  elected 
  

   a 
  Fellow 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  Society. 
  In 
  1891 
  he 
  was 
  created 
  an 
  hereditary 
  

   baron 
  by 
  the 
  King 
  of 
  Wiirtemberg 
  and 
  a 
  Commander 
  of 
  the 
  Order 
  

   of 
  St. 
  James 
  of 
  Portugal, 
  and 
  was 
  afterwards 
  made 
  a 
  Knight 
  of 
  

   the 
  Order 
  of 
  SS. 
  Michael 
  and 
  George 
  by 
  Her 
  Majesty 
  the 
  Queen. 
  

   He 
  was 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  150 
  learned 
  societies 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  America, 
  

   President 
  of 
  the 
  Australasian 
  Association 
  for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  

   Science 
  in 
  1890, 
  and 
  President 
  of 
  the 
  Section 
  of 
  Pharmacology 
  

   at 
  the 
  second 
  Meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Intercolonial 
  Medical 
  Congress 
  of 
  

   Australasia 
  in 
  1889. 
  He 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  describe 
  scientifically 
  

   the 
  Eucalypti, 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  discovered 
  thirty 
  varieties, 
  and 
  proclaimed 
  

   their 
  hygienic 
  and 
  therapeutic 
  properties, 
  disseminating 
  their 
  seeds 
  

   over 
  the 
  malarious 
  districts 
  of 
  Europe. 
  The 
  Baron 
  never 
  married, 
  and 
  

   lived 
  a 
  very 
  simple 
  frugal 
  life, 
  spending 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  his 
  income 
  on 
  

   his 
  scientific 
  pursuits. 
  His 
  whole-souled 
  devotion 
  to 
  his 
  favourite 
  

   study 
  and 
  his 
  indefatigable 
  industry 
  and 
  inexhaustible 
  patience 
  

  

  