Preiss was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents such as
Ludwig Becker,
Hermann Beckler,
William Blandowski,
Amalie Dietrich,
Wilhelm Haacke,
Diedrich Henne,
Gerard Krefft,
Johann Luehmann,
Johann Menge,
Carl Mücke (a.k.a. Muecke),
Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker (a.k.a. Ruemker),
Moritz Richard Schomburgk,
Richard Wolfgang Semon,
Karl Theodor Staiger,
George Ulrich,
Eugene von Guérard,
Robert von Lendenfeld,
Ferdinand von Mueller,
Georg von Neumayer, and
Carl Wilhelmi who brought their "epistemic traditions" to Australia, and not only became "deeply entangled with the Australian colonial project", but also were "intricately involved in imagining, knowing and shaping colonial Australia" (Barrett, et al., 2018, p.2). He arrived at the
Swan River Colony on board the
Britmart on 4 December 1838, remaining there until January 1842; during this time he became a British subject.
Specimens During his time in Western Australia, Preiss collected about 200,000 plant specimens, containing from 3,000 to 4,000 species. His collections, together with those of
James Drummond, formed the basis for early study of Western Australian flora. In 1842, he left Western Australia for
London, where he broke up and sold his plant collection to recoup his costs. Various botanists published species based on his specimens, and these were later collated by
Johann Lehmann to form the multi-volume
Plantae Preissianae Sive Enumeratio Plantarum Quas in Australasia Occidentali et Meridionale Occidentali Annis 1838-41 Collegit L, published in Hamburg between 1844 and 1848. Today, over 4,000 of his specimens are cared for at the
National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL),
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, almost 2,000 specimens at
Lund University Biological Museum, and other institutions. The specimens collected by Preiss were not limited to plants: they included birds, reptiles, insects and
molluscs. The molluscs were described by
Karl Theodor Menke and published in
Hanover in 1843 titled
Molluscorum Novae Hollandiae Specimen. In October 1839, Preiss tried to sell his collection of bird skins to the colonial government in
Perth, but it was declined. Preiss's collection of animals was sold in parts throughout Europe to museums and collectors. The only distinguishable collection of any note, still extant, is in the Municipal Museum of Halberstadt. The collection of bird skins, representatives of 181 species, was also distributed to various museums; one set that was viewed in 1937 at Hamburg's Zoölogical Museum was lost when the building was destroyed in the subsequent bombing campaigns at the city. The first specimen of the
Western Swamp Tortoise was collected by Preiss in 1839 and sent to the Vienna Museum where it was labelled
New Holland, but was not named
Pseudemydura umbrina until 1901 by Seibenrock. No further collections of the species were recorded until 1953. ==Germany==