PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 9 



One of his executors frequently announced his intention 

 of writing a life of the Baron, but he probably realized 

 that he had not the necessary technical knowledge, as he 

 died without accomplishing anything. Meantime Mr. 0. A. 

 Topp, a competent authority, during a visit to England, 

 made enquiries as to the encouragement he would receive 

 in writing a life, and abandoned the idea. The probability 

 is now that a full life of Mueller will never be written. 



A well-informed life of this remarkable personality would 

 have been very interesting, but the reputation of this great 

 botanist is not dependent on an extraneous circumstance 

 like this. His reputation rests on his published works, and 

 any steps taken with the view of rendering his works more 

 available and more complete, will enhance that reputation. 



Personally I think Australia is poorer through no memoir 

 of him as a man, having been published. I will leave aside 

 the question of a publication concerning him as a botanist 

 for the present. The late Dr. A. W. Howitt had, and the 

 venerable Mr. Panton,late Police Magistrate of Melbourne, 

 has innumerable reminiscences of the man who was invari- 

 ably known as "The Baron." Mr. Panton is one of our 

 best authorities in Australian geography and exploration, 

 and on those subjects Mueller was intensely interested. 



He was fond of homage from the younger men. For 

 some years business and private affairs took me frequently 

 to Melbourne and I always paid my respects to him. Except 

 once, when I was making a very brief stay, and I was full 

 of business. To my horror, he and his chum, the late Sir 

 Frederick McCoy, bore down on me in Collins Street and 

 the Baron gave me a good talking to. I had never made 

 such a hole in my manners before, and on the next occasion 

 of my visit to him, perhaps in the way of heaping coals of 

 fire, he paid me the unusual compliment of seeing me into 

 the old St. Kilda bus, and this is how he looked. 



