500 
REVIEWS. 
Colonies themselves, and transmitted to them from Mr. Bentham, a 
specific offer on that Botanist’s part, to describe all the plants of their 
continent in the same form and style as the Flora of Hong Kong, 
and at the same rate of remuneration. This application was instantly 
responded to by Sir John Young, Governor-in-chief of the Australian 
Colonies ; Sir H. Barldy, Governor of Victoria ; Sir G. Bowen, 
Governor of Queensland ; and Sir D. Daly, Governor of South Aus¬ 
tralia, by their laying the proposal before their respective Parlia¬ 
ments, who accepted each a share of the expense, and conjointly 
commissioned Mr. Bentham to proceed with the work. Western 
Australia alone pleaded inability on pecuniary grounds. The 
colony of Victoria, justly proud of her eminent colonial explorer 
and botanist, 13r. Mueller, would gladly have seen the work entrusted 
to that indefatigable author, than whom no one was better qualified 
for the undertaking, whether by special study or by personal expe¬ 
rience of Australian plants, throughout a great part of that vast con¬ 
tinent. But many circumstances rendered it impossible that Hr. 
Mueller should carry out such a work; amongst others one was in¬ 
superable : viz. that almost all the early Australian Herbaria were 
in London, and must be studied and quoted; including Banks and 
Solander’s made during Cook’s first voyage, Brown’s made during 
Flinders’ expedition, Allan Cunningham’s made during King’s voyage 
and his subsequent expeditions, which together extended over twenty 
years continuously employed in travelling and collecting; all the Tas¬ 
manian plants of Gunn,and others; S.W. Australian of Brummond ; of 
Baxter from King George’s Sound, and the Herbaria made during the 
coast voyages of the “ Plerald,” “ Kattlesnake,” “ Beagle,” and other 
Government surveys; besides a host of minor collections formed by 
Mitchell, Sturt, Grey, Bidwell, Hill, Caley, Sieber, Moore, Macarthur, 
Ac., in many parts of the coast and interior. Then, too, there was the 
necessity of studying the materials contained in the Paris and Vienna 
Herbaria, and comparing the important type specimens of Preiss, 
belonging to Hr. Sonder of Hamburgh, which form the basis of two 
volumes on the plants of S.W. Australia, containing descriptions of 
two thousand species, many of them bad, and more imperfectly des¬ 
cribed. Of these and other drawbacks, Hr. Mueller was fully sensible, 
and acting up to his convictions, he unhesitatingly withdrew all his 
claims to the authorship of a work, for which he had made extensive 
preparations, and to the publication of which he had long looked 
forward as the height of his ambition ; and preferring Mr. Bentham’s 
claims on these and other grounds of a scientific nature, to his own, 
he earnestly recommended the acceptance of his offer on the part of 
the Victorian Government. Nor did Hr. Mueller’s disinterestedness 
cease here, for he further proposed that ,£100. of the Colonial grant 
annually made to him for his own publications, in connection with 
the Victorian Flora, should be transferred to that of Mr. Bentham’s 
Australian Flora ; and made arrangements to transmit the whole of 
his magnificent Herbarium by instalments to Kew, to aid in the pre- 
