diff options
Diffstat (limited to '15998-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 15998-8.txt | 12801 |
1 files changed, 12801 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/15998-8.txt b/15998-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7fd239 --- /dev/null +++ b/15998-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12801 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and +Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2), by James Marchant + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2) + +Author: James Marchant + +Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #15998] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: *** + + + + +Produced by Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State +University Libraries., Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Josephine +Paolucci, Joshua Hutchinson and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Footnotes moved to end of book] + + + + +ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE + +LETTERS AND REMINISCENCES + +[Illustration: A.R. WALLACE (1913)] + + + + +Alfred Russel Wallace + +Letters and Reminiscences + + +By James Marchant + +_With Two Photogravures and Eight Half-tone Plates_ + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +Volume II + + +CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD + +London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne + +1916 + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME II + + +PART III + + +I. WALLACE'S WORKS ON BIOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION + +II. CORRESPONDENCE ON BIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (1864-98) + +III. CORRESPONDENCE ON BIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, ETC. +(1894-1913) + + +PART IV + +HOME LIFE + + +PART V + +SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS + + +PART VI + +SOME FURTHER PROBLEMS + +I. ASTRONOMY + +II. SPIRITUALISM + + +PART VII + +CHARACTERISTICS + +APPENDIX: LISTS OF WALLACE'S WRITINGS + +INDEX + + + + +LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME II + + +A.R. WALLACE (1913) _Photogravure Frontispiece_ + + +MRS. A.R. WALLACE (ABOUT 1895) + +THE STUDY AT "OLD ORCHARD" + +A.R. WALLACE ADMIRING EREMURUS ROBUSTUS (ABOUT 1905) + +GRAVE OF ALFRED RUSSEL AND ANNIE WALLACE + +WALLACE AND DARWIN MEDALLIONS IN THE NORTH AISLE OF THE CHOIR OF +WESTMINSTER ABBEY + + + + +Alfred Russel Wallace + +Letters and Reminiscences + + + + +PART III + + + + +I.--Wallace's Works on Biology and Geographical Distribution + + "I have long recognised how much clearer and deeper your insight + into matters is than mine." + + "I sometimes marvel how truth progresses, so difficult is it for + one man to convince another, unless his mind is vacant." + + "I grieve to differ from you, and it actually terrifies me, and + makes me constantly distrust myself. I fear we shall never quite + understand each other." + + --DARWIN TO WALLACE. + + +During the period covered by the reception, exposition, and gradual +acceptance of the theory of Natural Selection, both Wallace and Darwin +were much occupied with closely allied scientific work. + +The publication in 1859 of the "Origin of Species"[1] marked a distinct +period in the course of Darwin's scientific labours; his previous +publications had, in a measure, prepared the way for this, and those +which immediately followed were branches growing out from the main line +of thought and argument contained in the "Origin," an overflow of the +"mass of facts" patiently gathered during the preceding years. With +Wallace, the end of the first period of his literary work was completed +by the publication of his two large volumes on "The Geographical +Distribution of Animals," towards which all his previous thought and +writings had tended, and from which, again, came other valuable works +leading up to the publication of "Darwinism" (1889). + +It will be remembered that Darwin and Wallace, on their respective +returns to England, after many years spent in journeyings by land and +sea and in laborious research, found the first few months fully occupied +in going over their large and varied collections, sorting and arranging +with scrupulous care the rare specimens they had taken, and in +discovering the right men to name and classify them into correct groups. + +At this point it will be useful to arrange Darwin's writings under three +heads, namely: (1) His zoological and geological books, including "The +Voyage of the _Beagle_" (published in 1839), "Coral Reefs" (1842), and +"Geological Observations on South America" (1846). In this year he also +began his work on Barnacles, which was published in 1854; and in +addition to the steady work on the "Origin of Species" from 1837 +onwards, his observations on "Earthworms," not published until 1881, +formed a distinct phase of his study during the whole of these years +(1839-59). (2) As a natural sequence we have "Variations of Animals and +Plants under Domestication" (1868), "The Descent of Man" (1871), and +"The Expression of the Emotions" (1872). (3) What may be termed his +botanical works, largely influenced by his evolutionary ideas, which +include "The Fertilisation of Orchids" (1862), "Movements and Habits of +Climbing Plants" (1875), "Insectivorous Plants" (1876), "The Different +Forms of Flowers and Plants of the same Species" (1877), and "The Power +of Movement in Plants" (1880). + +A different order, equally characteristic, is discovered in Wallace's +writings, and it is to be noted that while Darwin devoted himself +entirely to scientific subjects, Wallace diverged at intervals from +natural science to what may be termed the scientific consideration of +social conditions, in addition to his researches into spiritualistic +phenomena. + +The many enticing interests arising out of the classifying of his birds +and insects led Wallace to the conclusion that it would be best to +postpone the writing of his book on the Malay Archipelago until he could +embody in it the more generally important results derived from the +detailed study of certain portions of his collections. Thus it was not +until seven years later (1869) that this complete sketch of his travels +"from the point of view of the philosophic naturalist" appeared. + +Between 1862 and 1867 he wrote a number of articles which were published +in various journals and magazines, and he read some important papers +before the Linnean, Entomological, and other learned Societies. These +included several on physical and zoological geography; six on questions +of anthropology; and five or six dealing with special applications of +Natural Selection. As these papers "discussed matters of considerable +interest and novelty," such a summary of them may be given as will serve +to indicate their value to natural science. + +The first of them, read before the Zoological Society in January, 1863, +gave some detailed information about his collection of birds brought +from Buru. In this he showed that the island was originally one of the +Moluccan group, as every bird found there which was not widely +distributed was either identical with or closely allied to Moluccan +species, while none had special affinities with Celebes. It was clear, +then, that this island formed the most westerly outlier of the Moluccan +group. + +The next paper of importance, read before the same Society in November +(1863), was on the birds of the chain of islands extending from Lombok +to the great island of Timor. This included a list of 186 species of +birds, of which twenty-nine were altogether new. A special feature of +the paper was that it enabled him to mark out precisely the boundary +line between the Indian and Australian zoological regions, and to trace +the derivation of the rather peculiar fauna of these islands, partly +from Australia and partly from the Moluccas, but with a strong recent +migration of Javanese species due to the very narrow straits separating +most of the islands from each other. In "My Life" some interesting +tables are given to illustrate how the two streams of immigration +entered these islands, and further that "as its geological structure +shows ... Timor is the older island and received immigrants from +Australia at a period when, probably, Lombok and Flores had not come +into existence or were unhabitable.... We can," he says, "feel confident +that Timor has not been connected with Australia, because it has none of +the peculiar Australian mammalia, and also because many of the commonest +and most widespread groups of Australian birds are entirely wanting."[2] + +Two other papers, dealing with parrots and pigeons respectively +(1864-5), were thought by Wallace himself to be among the most important +of his studies of geographical distribution. Writing of them he says: +"These peculiarities of distribution and coloration in two such very +diverse groups of birds interested me greatly, and I endeavoured to +explain them in accordance with the laws of Natural Selection." + +In March, 1864, having begun to make a special study of his collection +of butterflies, he prepared a paper for the Linnean Society on "The +Malayan Papilionidæ, as illustrating the Theory of Natural Selection." +The introductory portion of this paper appeared in the first edition of +his volume entitled "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection" +(1870), but it was omitted in later editions as being too technical for +the general reader. From certain remarks found here and there, both in +"My Life" and other works, butterflies would appear to have had a +special charm and attraction for Wallace. Their varied and gorgeous +colourings were a ceaseless delight to his eye, and when describing them +one feels the sense of pleasure which this gave him, together with the +recollection of the far-off haunts in which he had first discovered +them. + +This series of papers on birds and insects, with others on the physical +geography of the Archipelago and its various races of man, furnished all +the necessary materials for the general sketch of the natural history of +these islands, and the many problems arising therefrom, which made the +"Malay Archipelago" the most popular of his books. In addition to his +own personal knowledge, however, some interesting comparisons are drawn +between the accounts given by early explorers and the impressions left +on his own mind by the same places and people. On the publication of +this work, in 1869, extensive and highly appreciative reviews appeared +in all the leading papers and journals, and to-day it is still looked +upon as one of the most trustworthy and informative books of travel. + +When the "Malay Archipelago" was in progress, a lengthy article on +"Geological Climates and the Origin of Species" (which formed the +foundation for "Island Life" twelve years later) appeared in the +_Quarterly Review_ (April, 1869). Several references in this to the +"Principles of Geology"--Sir Charles Lyell's great work--gave much +satisfaction both to Lyell and to Darwin. The underlying argument was a +combination of the views held by Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Croll +respectively in relation to the glacial epoch, and the great effect of +changed distribution of sea and land, or of differences of altitude, and +how by combining the two a better explanation could be arrived at than +by accepting each theory on its own basis. + +His next publication of importance was the volume entitled +"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection," consisting of ten +essays (all of which had previously appeared in various periodicals) +arranged in the following order: + +1. On the Law which has regulated the Introduction of New Species. + +2. On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original +Type. + +3. Mimicry, and other Protective Resemblances among Animals. + +4. The Malayan Papilionidæ. + +5. Instinct in Man and Animals. + +6. The Philosophy of Birds' Nests. + +7. A Theory of Birds' Nests. + +8. Creation by Law. + +9. The Development of Human Races under the Law of Natural Selection. + +10. The Limits of Natural Selection as applied to Man. + +His reasons for publishing this work were, first, that the first two +papers of the series had gained him the reputation of being an +originator of the theory of Natural Selection, and, secondly, that there +were a few important points relating to the origin of life and +consciousness and the mental and moral qualities of man and other views +on which he entirely differed from Darwin. + +Though in later years Wallace's convictions developed considerably with +regard to the spiritual aspect of man's nature, he never deviated from +the ideas laid down in these essays. Only a very brief outline must +suffice to convey some of the most important points. + +In the childhood of the human race, he believed, Natural Selection would +operate mainly on man's body, but in later periods upon the mind. Hence +it would happen that the physical forms of the different races were +early fixed in a permanent manner. Sharper claws, stronger muscles, +swifter feet and tougher hides determine the survival value of lower +animals. With man, however, the finer intellect, the readier +adaptability to environment, the greater susceptibility to improvement, +and the elastic capacity for co-ordination, were the qualities which +determined his career. Tribes which are weak in these qualities give way +and perish before tribes which are strong in them, whatever advantages +the former may possess in physical structure. The finest savage has +always succumbed before the advance of civilisation. "The Red Indian +goes down before the white man, and the New Zealander vanishes in +presence of the English settler." Nature, careless in this stage of +evolution about the body, selects for survival those varieties of +mankind which excel in mental qualities. Hence it has happened that the +physical characteristics of the different races, once fixed in very +early prehistoric times, have never greatly varied. They have passed out +of the range of Natural Selection because they have become comparatively +unimportant in the struggle for existence. + +After going into considerable detail of organic and physical +development, he says: "The inference I would draw from this class of +phenomena is, that a superior intelligence has guided the development of +man in a definite direction, and for a special purpose, just as man +guides the development of many animal and vegetable forms." Thus he +foreshadows the conclusion, to be more fully developed in "The World of +Life" (1910), of an over-ruling God, of the spiritual nature of man, and +of the other world of spiritual beings. + +An essay that excited special attention was that on Mimicry. The two on +Birds' Nests brought forth some rather heated correspondence from +amateur naturalists, to which Wallace replied either by adducing +confirmation of the facts stated, or by thanking them for the +information they had given him. + +With reference to the paper on Mimicry, it is interesting to note that +the hypothesis therein adopted was first suggested by H.W. Bates, +Wallace's friend and fellow-traveller in South America. The essay under +this title dealt with the subject in a most fascinating manner, and was +probably the first to arouse widespread interest in this aspect of +natural science. + +The next eight years saw the production of many important and valuable +works, amongst which the "Geographical Distribution of Animals" (1876) +occupies the chief place. This work, though perhaps the least known to +the average reader, was considered by Wallace to be the most important +scientific work he ever attempted. From references in letters written +during his stay in the Malay Archipelago, it is clear that the subject +had a strong attraction for him, and formed a special branch of study +and observation many years before he began to work it out systematically +in writing. His decision to write the book was the outcome of a +suggestion made to him by Prof. A. Newton and Dr. Sclater about 1872. In +addition to having already expressed his general views on this subject +in various papers and articles, he had, after careful consideration, +come to adopt Dr. Sclater's division of the earth's surface into six +great zoological regions, which he found equally applicable to birds, +mammalia, reptiles, and other great divisions; while at the same time +it helped to explain the apparent contradictions in the distribution of +land animals. Some years later he wrote: + +In whatever work I have done I have always aimed at systematic +arrangement and uniformity of treatment throughout. But here the immense +extent of the subject, the overwhelming mass of detail, and above all +the excessive diversities in the amount of knowledge of the different +classes of animals, rendered it quite impossible to treat all alike. My +preliminary studies had already satisfied me that it was quite useless +to attempt to found any conclusions on those groups which were +comparatively little known, either as regards the proportion of species +collected and described, or as regards their systematic classification. +It was also clear that as the present distribution of animals is +necessarily due to their past distribution, the greatest importance must +be given to those groups whose fossil remains in the more recent strata +are the most abundant and the best known. These considerations led me to +limit my work in its detailed systematic groundwork, and study of the +principles and law of distribution, to the mammalia and birds, and to +apply the principles thus arrived at to an explanation of the +distribution of other groups, such as reptiles, fresh-water fishes, land +and fresh-water shells, and the best-known insect Orders. + +There remained another fundamental point to consider. Geographical +distribution in its practical applications and interest, both to +students and to the general reader, consists of two distinct divisions, +or rather, perhaps, may be looked at from two points of view. In the +first of these we divide the earth into regions and sub-regions, study +the causes which have led to the difference in their animal productions, +give a general account of these, with the amount of resemblance to and +difference from other regions; and we may also give lists of the +families and genera inhabiting each, with indications as to which are +peculiar and which are also found in adjacent regions. This aspect of +the study I term zoological geography, and it is that which would be of +most interest to the resident or travelling naturalist, as it would give +him, in the most direct and compact form, an indication of the numbers +and kinds of animals he might expect to meet with.[3] + +The keynote of the general scheme of distribution, as set forth in these +two volumes, may be expressed as an endeavour to compare the extinct and +existing fauna of each country and to trace the course by which what is +now peculiar to each region had come to assume its present character. +The main result being that all the higher forms of life seem to have +originally appeared in the northern hemisphere, which has sent out +migration after migration to colonise the three southern continents; and +although varying considerably from time to time in form and extent, each +has kept essentially distinct, while at the same time receiving +periodically wave after wave of fresh animal life from the northward. + +This again was due to many physical causes such as peninsulas parting +from continents as islands, islands joining and making new continents, +continents breaking up or effecting junction with or being isolated from +one another. Thus Australia received the germ of her present abundant +fauna of pouched mammals when she was part of the Old-World continent, +but separated from that too soon to receive the various placental +mammals which have, except in her isolated area, superseded those older +forms. So, also, South America, at one time unconnected with North +America, developed her great sloths and armadilloes, and, on fusing with +the latter, sent her megatheriums to the north, and received mastodons +and large cats in exchange. + +Some of the points, such for instance as the division of the sub-regions +into which each greater division is separated, gave rise to +considerable controversy. Wallace's final estimate of the work stands: +"No one is more aware than myself of the defects of the work, a +considerable portion of which are due to the fact that it was written a +quarter of a century too soon--at a time when both zoological and +palæontological discovery were advancing with great rapidity, while new +and improved classifications of some of the great classes and orders +were in constant progress. But though many of the details given in these +volumes would now require alteration, there is no reason to believe that +the great features of the work and general principles established by it +will require any important modification."[4] + +About this time he wrote the article on "Acclimatisation" for the +"Encyclopædia Britannica"; and another on "Distribution-Zoology" for the +same work. As President of the Biological Section of the British +Association he prepared an address for the meeting at Glasgow; wrote a +number of articles and reviews, as well as his remarkable book on +"Miracles and Modern Spiritualism." In 1878 he published "Tropical +Nature," in which he gave a general sketch of the climate, vegetation, +and animal life of the equatorial zone of the tropics from his own +observations in both hemispheres. The chief novelty was, according to +his own opinion, in the chapter on "climate," in which he endeavoured to +show the exact causes which produce the difference between the uniform +climate of the equatorial zone, and that of June and July in England. +Although at that time _we_ receive actually more of the light and heat +of the sun than does Java or Trinidad in December, yet these places have +then a mean temperature very much higher than ours. It contained also a +chapter on humming-birds, as illustrating the luxuriance of tropical +nature; and others on the colours of animals and of plants, and on +various biological problems.[5] + +"Island Life"[6] (published 1880) was begun in 1877, and occupied the +greater part of the next three years. This had been suggested by certain +necessary limitations in the writing of "The Geographical Distribution +of Animals." It is a fascinating account of the relations of islands to +continents, of their unwritten records of the distribution of plant and +animal life in the morning time of the earth, of the causes and results +of the glacial period, and of the manner of reckoning the age of the +world from geological data. It also included several new features of +natural science, and still retains an important place in scientific +literature. No better summary can be given than that by the author +himself: + +In my "Geographical Distribution of Animals" I had, in the first place, +dealt with the larger groups, coming down to families and genera, but +taking no account of the various problems raised by the distribution of +particular _species_. In the next place, I had taken little account of +the various islands of the globe, excepting as forming sub-regions or +parts of sub-regions. But I had long seen the great interest and +importance of these, and especially of Darwin's great discovery of the +two classes into which they are naturally divided--oceanic and +continental islands. I had already given lectures on this subject, and +had become aware of the great interest attaching to them, and the great +light they threw upon the means of dispersal of animals and plants, as +well as upon the past changes, both physical and means of dispersal and +colonisation of animals is so connected with, and often dependent on, +that of plants, that a consideration of the latter is essential to any +broad views as to the distribution of life upon the earth, while they +throw unexpected light upon those exceptional means of dispersal which, +because they are exceptional, are often of paramount importance in +leading to the production of new species and in thus determining the +nature of insular floras and faunas. + +Having no knowledge of scientific botany, it needed some courage, or, as +some may think, presumption, to deal with this aspect of the problem; +but ... I had long been excessively fond of plants, and ... interested +in their distribution. The subject, too, was easier to deal with, on +account of the much more complete knowledge of the detailed distribution +of plants than of animals, and also because their classification was in +a more advanced and stable condition. Again, some of the most +interesting islands of the globe had been carefully studied botanically +by such eminent botanists as Sir Joseph Hooker for the Galapagos, New +Zealand, Tasmania, and the Antarctic islands; Mr. H.C. Watson for the +Azores; Mr. J.G. Baker for Mauritius and other Mascarene islands; while +there were floras by competent botanists of the Sandwich Islands, +Bermuda and St. Helena.... + +But I also found it necessary to deal with a totally distinct branch of +science--recent changes of climate as dependent on changes of the +earth's surface, including the causes and effects of the glacial epoch, +since these were among the most powerful agents in causing the dispersal +of all kinds of organisms, and thus bringing about the actual +distribution that now prevails. This led me to a careful study of Mr. +James Croll's remarkable works on the subject of the astronomical causes +of the glacial and interglacial periods.... While differing on certain +details, I adopted the main features of his theory, combining with it +the effects of changes in height and extent of land which form an +important adjunct to the meteorological agents.... + +Besides this partially new theory of the causes of glacial epochs, the +work contained a fuller statement of the various kinds of evidence +proving that the great oceanic basins are permanent features of the +earth's surface, than had before been given; also a discussion of the +mode of estimating the duration of geological periods, and some +considerations leading to the conclusion that organic change is now less +rapid than the average, and therefore that less time is required for +this change than has hitherto been thought necessary. I was also, I +believe, the first to point out the great difference between the more +ancient continental islands and those of more recent origin, with the +interesting conclusions as to geographical changes afforded by both; +while the most important novelty is the theory by which I explained the +occurrence of northern groups of plants in all parts of the southern +hemisphere--a phenomenon which Sir Joseph Hooker had pointed out, but +had then no means of explaining.[7] + +In 1878 Wallace wrote a volume on Australasia for Stanford's "Compendium +of Geography and Travel." A later edition was published in 1893, which +contained in addition to the physical geography, natural history, and +geology of Australia, a much fuller account of the natives of Australia, +showing that they are really a primitive type of the great Caucasian +family of mankind, and are by no means so low in intellect as had been +usually believed. This view has since been widely accepted. + +Having, towards the close of 1885, received an invitation from the +Lowell Institute, Boston, U.S.A., to deliver a course of lectures in the +autumn and winter of 1886, Wallace decided upon a series which would +embody those theories of evolution with which he was most familiar, with +a special one on "The Darwinian Theory" illustrated by a set of original +diagrams on variation. These lectures eventually became merged into the +well-known book entitled "Darwinism." + +On the first delivery of his lecture on the "Darwinian Theory" at +Boston it was no small pleasure to Wallace to find the audience both +large and attentive. One of the newspapers expressed the public +appreciation in the following truly American fashion: "The first +Darwinian, Wallace, did not leave a leg for anti-Darwinism to stand on +when he had got through his first Lowell Lecture last evening. It was a +masterpiece of condensed statement--as clear and simple as compact--a +most beautiful specimen of scientific work. Dr. Wallace, though not an +orator, is likely to become a favourite as a lecturer, his manner is so +genuinely modest and straightforward." + +Wherever he went during his tour of the States this lecture more than +all others attracted and pleased his audiences. Many who had the +opportunity of conversing with him, and others by correspondence, +confessed that they had not been able to understand the "Origin of +Species" until they heard the facts explained in such a lucid manner by +him. It was this fact, therefore, which led him, on his return home in +the autumn of 1887, to begin the preparation of the book ("Darwinism") +published in 1889. The method he chose was that of following as closely +as possible the lines of thought running through the "Origin of +Species," to which he added many new features, in addition to laying +special emphasis on the parts which had been most generally +misunderstood. Indeed, so fairly and impartially did he set forth the +general principles of the Darwinian theory that he was able to say: +"Some of my critics declare that I am more Darwinian than Darwin +himself, and in this, I admit, they are not far wrong." + +His one object, as set out in the Preface, was to treat the problem of +the origin of species from the standpoint reached after nearly thirty +years of discussion, with an abundance of new facts and the advocacy of +many new and old theories. As it had frequently been considered a +weakness on Darwin's part that he based his evidence primarily on +experiments with domesticated animals and cultivated plants, Wallace +desired to secure a firm foundation for the theory in the variation of +organisms in a state of nature. It was in order to make these facts +intelligible that he introduced a number of diagrams, just as Darwin was +accustomed to appeal to the facts of variation among dogs and pigeons. + +Another change which he considered important was that of taking the +struggle for existence first, because this is the fundamental phenomenon +on which Natural Selection depends. This, too, had a further advantage +in that, after discussing variations and the effects of artificial +selection, it was possible at once to explain how Natural Selection +acts. + +The subjects treated with novelty and interest in their important +bearings on the theory of Natural Selection were: (1) A proof that all +_specific_ characters are (or once have been) either useful in +themselves or correlated with useful characters (Chap. VI.); (2) a proof +that Natural Selection can, in certain cases, increase the sterility of +crosses (Chap. VII.); (3) a fuller discussion of the colour relations of +animals, with additional facts and arguments on the origin of sexual +differences of colour (Chaps. VIII.-X.); (4) an attempted solution of +the difficulty presented by the occurrence of both very simple and +complex modes of securing the cross-fertilisation of plants (Chap. XI.); +(5) some fresh facts and arguments on the wind-carriage of seeds, and +its bearing on the wide dispersal of many arctic and alpine plants +(Chap. XII.); (6) some new illustrations of the non-heredity of acquired +characters, and a proof that the effects of use and disuse, even if +inherited, must be overpowered by Natural Selection (Chap. XIV.); and +(7) a new argument as to the nature and origin of the moral and +intellectual faculties of man (Chap. XV.). + +"Although I maintain, and even enforce," wrote Wallace, "my differences +from some of Darwin's views, my whole work tends forcibly to illustrate +the overwhelming importance of Natural Selection over all other agencies +in the production of new species. I thus take up Darwin's earlier +position, from which he somewhat receded in the later editions of his +works, on account of criticisms and objections which I have endeavoured +to show are unsound. Even in rejecting that phase of sexual selection +depending on female choice, I insist on the greater efficacy of Natural +Selection. This is pre-eminently the Darwinian doctrine, and I therefore +claim for my book the position of being the advocate of pure Darwinism." + +In concluding this section which, like a previous one, touches upon the +intimate relations between Darwin and Wallace, and the points on which +they agreed or differed, it is well, as the differences have been +exaggerated and misunderstood, to bear in mind his own declaration: +"None of my differences from Darwin imply any real divergence as to the +overwhelming importance of the great principle of natural selection, +while in several directions I believe that I have extended and +strengthened it."[8] + +With these explanatory notes the reader will now be able to follow the +two groups of letters on Natural Selection, Geographical Distribution, +and the Origin of Life and Consciousness which follow. + + + + +PART III (_Continued_) + + + + +II.--Correspondence on Biology, Geographical Distribution, etc. + +[1864-93] + + * * * * * + +H. SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_29 Bloomsbury Square, W.C. May 19, 1864._ + +My dear Sir,--When I thanked you for your little pamphlet[9] the other +day, I had not read it. I have since done so with great interest. Its +leading idea is, I think, undoubtedly true, and of much importance +towards an interpretation of the facts. Though I think that there are +some purely physical modifications that may be shown to result from the +direct influence of civilisation, yet I think it is quite clear, as you +point out, that the small amounts of physical differences that have +arisen between the various human races are due to the way in which +mental modifications have served in place of physical ones. + +I hope you will pursue the inquiry. It is one in which I have a +direct interest, since I hope, hereafter, to make use of its +results.--Sincerely yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_53 Harley Street. May 22, [1864]._ + +My dear Sir,--I have been reading with great interest your paper on the +Origin of the Races of Man, in which I think the question between the +two opposite parties is put with such admirable clearness and fairness +that that alone is no small assistance towards clearing the way to a +true theory. The manner in which you have given Darwin the whole credit +of the theory of Natural Selection is very handsome, but if anyone else +had done it without allusion to your papers it would have been wrong.... +With many thanks for your most admirable paper, believe me, my dear Sir, +ever very truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street. March 19, 1867._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I am citing your two papers in my second volume of +the new edition of the "Principles"--that on the Physical Geography of +the Malay Archipelago, 1863, and the other on Varieties of Man in ditto, +1864. I am somewhat confounded with the marked line which you draw +between the two provinces on each side of the Straits of Lombok. It +seems to me that Darwin and Hooker have scarcely given sufficient weight +to the objection which it affords to some of their arguments. First, in +regard to continental extension, if these straits could form such a +barrier, it would seem as if nothing short of a land communication could +do much towards fusing together two distinct faunas and floras. But here +comes the question--are there any land-quadrupeds in Bali or in Lombok? +I think you told me little was known of the plants, but perhaps you know +something of the insects. It is impossible that birds of long flight +crossing over should not have conveyed the seeds and eggs of some +plants, insects, mollusca, etc. Then the currents would not be idle, and +during such an eruption as that of Tomboro in Sumbawa all sorts of +disturbances, aerial, aquatic and terrestrial, would have scattered +animals and plants. + +When I first wrote, thirty-five years ago, I attached great importance +to preoccupancy, and fancied that a body of indigenous plants already +fitted for every available station would prevent an invader, especially +from, a quite foreign province, from having a chance of making good his +settlement in a new country. But Darwin and Hooker contend that +continental species which have been improved by a keen and wide +competition are most frequently victorious over an insular or more +limited flora and fauna. Looking, therefore, upon Bali as an outpost of +the great Old World fauna, it ought to beat Lombok, which only +represents a less rich and extensive fauna, namely the Australian. + +You may perhaps answer that Lombok is an outpost of an army that may +once have been as multitudinous as that of the old continent, but the +larger part of the host have been swamped in the Pacific. But they say +that European forms of animals and plants run wild in Australia and New +Zealand, whereas few of the latter can do the same in Europe. In my map +there is a small island called Nousabali; this ought to make the means +of migration of seeds and animals less difficult. I cannot find that you +say anywhere what is the depth of the sea between the Straits of Lombok, +but you mention that it exceeds 100 fathoms. I am quite willing to infer +that there is a connection between these soundings and the line of +demarcation between the two zoological provinces, but must we suppose +land communication for all birds of short flight? Must we unite South +America with the Galapagos Islands? Can you refer me to any papers by +yourself which might enlighten me and perhaps answer some of these +queries? I should have thought that the intercourse even of savage +tribes for tens of thousands of years between neighbouring islands would +have helped to convey in canoes many animals and plants from one +province to another so as to help to confound them. Your hypothesis of +the gradual advance of two widely separated continents towards each +other seems to be the best that can be offered. You say that a rise of +a hundred fathoms would unite the Philippine Islands and Bali to the +Indian region. Is there, then, a depth of 600 feet in that narrow strait +of Bali, which seems in my map only two miles or so in breadth? + +I have [been] confined to the house for a week by a cold or I should +have tried to see you. I am afraid to go out to-day.--Believe me ever +most truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street. April 4, 1867._ + +My dear Mr. Wallace,--I have been reading over again your paper +published in 1855 in the _Annals_ on "The Law which has regulated the +Introduction of New Species"; passages of which I intend to quote, not +in reference to your priority of publication, but simply because there +are some points laid down more clearly than I can find in the work of +Darwin itself, in regard to the bearing of the geological and zoological +evidence on geographical distribution and the origin of species. I have +been looking into Darwin's historical sketch thinking to find some +allusion to your essay at page xx., 4th ed., when he gets to 1855, but I +can find no allusion to it. Yet surely I remember somewhere a passage in +which Darwin says in print that you had told him that in 1855 you meant +by such expressions as "species being created on the type of +pre-existing ones closely allied," and by what you say of modified +prototypes, and by the passage in which you ask "what rudimentary organs +mean if each species has been created independently," etc., that new +species were created by variation and in the way of ordinary generation. + +Your last letter was a great help to me, for it was a relief to find +that the Lombok barrier was not so complete as to be a source of +difficulty. I have also to thank you for your papers, one of which I had +read before in the _Natural History Review_, but I am very glad of a +separate copy. I am rather perplexed by Darwin speculating on the +possibility of New Zealand having once been united with Australia (p. +446, 4th Ed.). The puzzle is greater than I can get over, even looking +upon it as an oceanic island. Why should there have been no mammalia, +rodents and marsupials, or only one mouse? Even if the Glacial period +was such that it was enveloped in a Greenlandic winding-sheet, there +would have been some Antarctic animals? It cannot be modern, seeing the +height of those alps. It may have been a set of separate smaller +islands, an archipelago since united into fewer. No savages could have +extirpated mammalia, besides we should have found them fossil in the +same places with all those species of extinct Dinornis which have come +to light. Perhaps you will say that the absence of mammalia in New +Caledonia is a corresponding fact. + +This reminds me of another difficulty. On the hypothesis of the coral +islands being the last remnants of a submerged continent, ought they not +to have in them a crowd of peculiar and endemic types, each rivalling +St. Helena, instead of which I believe they are very poor [in] peculiar +genera. Have they all got submerged for a short time during the ups and +downs to which they have been subjected, Tahiti and some others having +been built up by volcanic action in the Pliocene period? Madeira and the +Canaries were islands in the Upper Miocene ocean, and may therefore well +have peculiar endemic types of very old date, and destroyed elsewhere. I +have just got in Wollaston's "Coleoptera Atlantidum," and shall be glad +to lend it you when I have read the Introduction. He goes in for +continental extension, which only costs him two catastrophes by which +the union and disunion with the nearest mainland may readily be +accomplished.... --Believe me ever most truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street. May 2, 1867._ + +My dear Sir,--I forgot to ask you last night about an ornithological +point which I have been discussing with the Duke of Argyll. In Chapter +V. of his "Reign of Law" (which I should be happy to lend you, if you +have time to look at it immediately) he treats of humming-birds, saying +that Gould has made out about 400 species, every one of them very +distinct from the other, and only one instance, in Ecuadór, of a species +which varies in its tail-feathers in such a way as to make it doubtful +whether it ought to rank as a species, an opinion to which Gould +inclines, or only as a variety or incipient species, as the Duke thinks. +For the Duke is willing to go so far towards the transmutation theory as +to allow that different humming-birds may have had a common ancestral +stock, provided it be admitted that a new and marked variety appears at +once with the full distinctness of sex so remarkable in that genus. + +According to his notion, the new male variety and the female must both +appear at once, and this new race or species must be regarded as an +"extraordinary birth." My reason for troubling you is merely to learn, +since you have studied the birds of South America, and I hope collected +some humming-birds, whether Gould is right in saying that there are so +many hundred very distinct species without instances of marked varieties +and transitional forms. If this be the case, would it not present us +with an exception to the rule laid down by Darwin and Hooker that when a +genus is largely represented in a continuous tract of land the species +of that genus tend to vary? + +I have inquired of Sclater and he tells me that he has a considerable +distrust of Gould's information on this point, but that he has not +himself studied humming-birds. + +In regard to shells, I have always found that dealers have a positive +prejudice against intermediate forms, and one of the most philosophical +of them, now no more, once confessed to me that it was very much against +his trade interest to give an honest opinion that certain varieties were +not real species, or that certain forms, made distinct genera by some +conchologists, ought not so to rank. Nine-tenths of his customers, if +told that it was not a good genus or good species, would say, "Then I +need not buy it." What they wanted was names, not things. Of course +there are genera in which the species are much better defined than in +others, but you would explain this, as Darwin and Hooker do, by the +greater length of time during which they have existed, or the greater +activity of changes, organic and inorganic, which have taken place in +the region inhabited by the generic or family type in question. The +manufactory of new species has ceased, or nearly so, and in that case I +suppose a variety is more likely to be one of the transitional links +which has not yet been extinguished than the first step towards a new +permanent race or allied species.... + +Your last letter will be of great use to me. I had cited the case of +beetles recovering from immersion of hours in alcohol from my own +experience, but am glad it strikes you in the same light. McAndrew told +me last night that the littoral shells of the Azores being European, or +rather African, is in favour of a former continental extension, but I +suspect that the floating of seaweed containing their eggs may dispense +with the hypothesis of the submersion of 1,200 miles of land once +intervening. I want naturalists carefully to examine floating seaweed +and pumice met with at sea. Tell your correspondents to look out. There +should be a microscopic examination of both these means of +transport.--Believe me ever truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street. July 3, 1867._ + +My dear Mr. Wallace,--I was very glad, though I take in the _Westminster +Review_, to have a duplicate of your most entertaining and instructive +essay on Mimicry of Colours, etc., which I have been reading with great +delight, and I may say that both copies are in full use here. I think it +is admirably written and most persuasive.--Believe me ever most truly +yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +TO HERBERT SPENCER + + +_Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. October 26, 1867._ + +My dear Mr. Spencer,--After leaving you yesterday I thought a little +over your objections to the Duke of Argyll's theory of flight on the +ground that it does not apply to insects, and it seems to me that +exactly the same general principles do apply to insects as to birds. I +read over the Duke's book without paying special attention to that part +of it, but as far as I remember, the case of insects offers no +difficulty in the way of applying his principles. If any wing were a +rigid plane surface, it appears to me that there are only two ways in +which it could be made to produce flight. Firstly, on the principle that +the resistance in a fluid, and I believe also in air, increases in a +greater ratio than the velocity (? as the square), the descending stroke +might be more rapid than the ascending one, and the resultant would be +an upward or forward motion. Secondly, some kind of furling or +feathering by a rotatory motion of the wing might take place on raising +the wings. I think, however, it is clear that neither of these actions +occurs during the flight of insects. In both slow- and quick-flying +species there is no appearance of such a difference of velocity, and I +am not aware that anyone has attempted to prove that it occurs; and the +fact that in so many insects the edges of the fore and hind wings are +connected together, while their insertions at the base are at some +distance apart, _entirely precludes a rotation of the wings_. The whole +structure and form of the wings of insects, moreover, indicate an action +in flight quite analogous to that of birds. I believe that a careful +examination will show that the wings of almost all insects are slightly +concave beneath. Further, they are all constructed with a strong and +rigid anterior margin, while the outer and hinder margins are +exceedingly thin and flexible. Yet further, I feel confident (and a +friend here agrees with me) that they are much more rigid against +_upward_ than against _downward_ pressure. Now in most insects (take a +butterfly as an example) the body is weighted behind the insertion of +the wings by the long and heavy abdomen, so as to produce an oblique +position when freely suspended. There is also much more wing surface +behind than before the fulcrum. Now if such an insect produces by +muscular action a regular flapping of the wings, flight must result. At +the downward stroke the pressure of the air against the hind wings would +raise them all to a nearly horizontal position, and at the same time +bend up their posterior margins a little, producing an upward and onward +motion. At the upward stroke the pressure on the hind wings would +depress them considerably into an oblique position, and from their great +flexibility in that direction would bend down their hind margins. The +resultant would be a slightly downward and considerably onward motion, +the two strokes producing that undulating flight so characteristic of +butterflies, and so especially observable in the broad-winged tropical +species. Now all this is quite conformable to the action of a bird's +wing. The rigid anterior margin, the slender and flexible hind margin; +the greater resistance to upward than to downward pressure, and the +slight concavity of the under surface, are all characters common to the +wings of birds and most insects, and, considering the totally different +structure and homologies of the two, I think there is at least an _a +priori_ case for the function they both subserve being dependent upon +these peculiarities. If I remember rightly, it is on these principles +that the Duke of Argyll has explained the flight of birds, in which, +however, there are of course some specialities depending on the more +perfect organisation of the wing, its greater mobility and flexibility, +its capacity for enlargement and contraction, and the peculiar +construction and arrangement of the feathers. These, however, are +matters of detail; and there are no doubt many and important differences +of detail in the mode of flight of the different types of insects which +would require a special study of each. It appeared to me that the Duke +of Argyll had given that special study to the flight of birds, and +deserved praise for having done so successfully, although he may not +have quite solved the whole problem, or have stated quite accurately the +comparative importance of the various causes that combine to effect +flight. + +--Believe me yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_57 Queen's Gardens, Bayswater, W. December 5, 1867._ + +My dear Mr. Wallace,--I did not answer your last letter, being busy in +getting out my second edition of "First Principles." + +I was quite aware of the alleged additional cause of flight which you +name, and do not doubt that it is an aid. But I regard it simply as an +aid. If you will move an outstretched wing backwards and forwards with +equal velocity, I think you will find that the difference of resistance +is nothing like commensurate with the difference in size between the +muscles that raise the wings and the muscles that depress them. It seems +to me quite out of the question that the principles of flight are +fundamentally different in a bat and a bird, which they must be if the +Duke of Argyll's interpretation is correct. I write, however, not so +much to reply to your argument as to correct a misapprehension which my +expressions seem to have given you. The objections are not made by +Tyndall or Huxley; but they are objections made by me, which I stated to +them, and in which they agreed--Tyndall expressing the opinion that I +ought to make them public. I name this because you may otherwise some +day startle Tyndall or Huxley by speaking to them of _their_ objections, +and giving me as the authority for so affiliating them.--Very truly +yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street, London, W. November, 1867._ + +Dear Wallace,--You probably remember an article by Agassiz in an +American periodical, the _Christian Observer_, on the diversity of human +races, etc., to prove that each distinct race was originally created for +each zoological and botanical province. But while he makes out a good +case for the circumscription of the principal races to distinct +provinces, he evades in a singular manner the community of the Red +Indian race to North and South America. He takes pains to show that the +same American race pervades North and South America, or at least all +America south of the Arctic region. This was Dr. Morton's opinion, and +is, I suppose, not to be gainsaid. In other words, while the Papuan, +Indo-Malayan, Negro and other races are strictly limited each of them to +a particular region of mammalia, the Red Indian type is common to +Sclater's Neo-arctic and Neo-tropical regions. Have you ever considered +the explanation of this fact on Darwinian principles? If there were not +barbarous tribes like the Fuegians, one might imagine America to have +been peopled when mankind was somewhat more advanced and more capable of +diffusing itself over an entire continent. But I cannot well understand +why isolation such as accompanies a very low state of social progress +did not cause the Neo-tropical and Neo-arctic regions to produce by +varieties and Natural Selection two very different human races. May it +be owing to the smaller lapse of time, which time, nevertheless, was +sufficient to allow of the spread of the representatives of one and the +same type from Canada to Cape Horn? Have you ever touched on this +subject, or can you refer me to anyone who has?--Believe me ever most +truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR C. LYELL + + +1867. + +Dear Sir Charles,--Why the colour of man is sometimes constant over +large areas while in other cases it varies, we cannot certainly tell; +but we may well suppose it to be due to its being more or less +correlated with constitutional characters favourable to life. By far the +most common colour of man is a warm brown, not very different from that +of the American Indian. White and black are alike deviations from this, +and are probably correlated with mental and physical peculiarities which +have been favourable to the increase and maintenance of the particular +race. I shall infer, therefore, that the brown or red was the original +colour of man, and that it maintains itself throughout all climates in +America because accidental deviations from it have not been accompanied +by any useful constitutional peculiarities. It is Bates's opinion that +the Indians are recent immigrants into the tropical plains of South +America, and are not yet fully acclimatised.--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_73 Harley Street. March 13, 1869._ + +Dear Wallace,-- ...I am reading your new book,[10] of which you kindly +sent me a copy, with very great pleasure. Nothing equal to it has come +out since Darwin's "Voyage of the _Beagle_." ... The history of the Mias +is very well done. I am not yet through the first volume, but my wife is +deep in the second and much taken with it. It is so rare to be able to +depend on the scientific knowledge and accuracy of those who have so +much of the wonderful to relate....--Believe me ever most truly yours, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +CANON KINGSLEY TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Eversley Rectory, Winchfield. May 5, 1869._ + +My dear Sir,--I am reading--or rather have all but read--your new +book,[10] with a delight which I cannot find words to express save those +which are commonplace superlatives. Let me felicitate you on having, at +last, added to the knowledge of our planet a chapter which has not its +equal (as far as I can recollect) since our friend Darwin's "Voyage of +the _Beagle_." Let me, too, compliment you on the modesty and generosity +which you have shown, in dedicating your book to Darwin, and speaking of +him and his work as you have done. Would that a like unselfish chivalry +were more common--I do not say amongst scientific men, for they have it +in great abundance, but--in the rest of the community. + +May I ask--as a very great favour--to be allowed to call on you some day +in London, and to see your insects? I and my daughter are soon, I hope, +going to the West Indies, for plants and insects, among other things; +and the young lady might learn much of typical forms from one glance at +your treasures. + +I send this letter by our friend Bates--being ignorant of your +address.--Believe me, my dear Sir, ever yours faithfully, + +C. KINGSLEY. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS A. BUCKLEY[11] + + +_Holly House, Barking, E. February 2, 1871._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,--I have read Darwin's first volume,[12] and like it +very much. It is overwhelming as proving the origin of man from some +lower form, but that, I rather think, hardly anyone doubts now. + +He is very weak, as yet, on my objection about the "hair," but promises +a better solution in the second volume. + +Have you seen Mivart's book, "Genesis of Species"? It is exceedingly +clever, and well worth reading. The arguments against Natural Selection +as the exclusive mode of development are some of them exceedingly +strong, and very well put, and it is altogether a most readable and +interesting book. + +Though he uses some weak and bad arguments, and underrates the power of +Natural Selection, yet I think I agree with his conclusion in the main, +and am inclined to think it is more philosophical than my own. It is a +book that I think will please Sir Charles Lyell.--Believe me, yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS A. BUCKLEY + + +_Holly House, Barking, E. March 3, 1871._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,--Thanks for your note. I am hard at work criticising +Darwin. I admire his Moral Sense chapter as much as anything in the +book. It is both original and the most satisfactory of all the +theories, if not quite satisfactory....--Believe me yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--Darwin's book on the whole is wonderful! There are plenty of +points open to criticism, but it is a marvellous contribution to the +history of the development of the forms of life. + + * * * * * + +SIR C. LYELL TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_February 15, 1876._ + +Dear Wallace,--I have read the Preface,[13] and like and approve of it +much. I do not believe there is a word which Darwin would wish altered. +It is high time this modest assertion of your claims as an independent +originator of Natural Selection should be published.--Ever most truly, + +CHA. LYELL. + + * * * * * + +SIR J. HOOKER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Royal Gardens, Kew. August 2, 1880._ + +My dear Wallace,--I think you have made an immense advance to our +knowledge of the ways and means of distribution, and bridged many great +gaps.[14] Your reasoning seems to me to be sound throughout, though I am +not prepared to receive it in all its details. + +I am disposed to regard the Western Australian flora as the latest in +point of origin, and I hope to prove it by development, and by the +absence of various types. If Western Australia ever had an old flora, I +am inclined to suppose that it has been destroyed by the invasion of +Eastern types after the union with East Australia. My idea is that these +types worked round by the south, and altered rapidly as they proceeded +westward, increasing in species. Nor can I conceive the Western Island, +when surrounded by sea, harbouring a flora like its present one. + +I have been disposed to regard New Caledonia and the New Hebrides as the +parent country of many New Zealand and Australian forms of vegetation, +but we do not know enough of the vegetation of the former to warrant the +conclusion; and after all it would be but a slight modification of your +views. + +I very much like your whole working of the problem of the isolation and +connection of New Zealand and Australia _inter se_ and with the +countries north of them, and the whole treatment of that respecting +north and south migration over the globe is admirable....--Ever most +truly yours, + +J.D. HOOKER. + + * * * * * + +SIR J. HOOKER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Royal Gardens, Kew. November 10, 1880._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I have been waiting to thank you for "Island Life" +till I should have read it through as carefully as I am digesting the +chapters I have finished; but I can delay no longer, if only to say that +I heartily enjoy it, and believe that you have brushed away more cobwebs +that have obscured the subject than any other, besides giving a vast +deal that is new, and admirably setting forth what is old, so as to +throw new light on the whole subject. It is, in short, a first-rate +book. I am making notes for you, but hitherto have seen no defect of +importance except in the matter of the Bahamas, whose flora is Floridan, +not Cuban, in so far as we know it....--Very truly yours, + +JOS. D. HOOKER. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR W. THISELTON-DYER + + +_Pen-y-bryn, St. Peter's Road, Croydon. January 7, 1881._ + +Dear Mr. Thiselton-Dyer,--If I had had your lecture before me when +writing the last chapters of my book I should certainly have quoted you +in support of the view of the northern origin of the Southern flora by +migration along existing continents. On reading it again I am surprised +to find how often you refer to this; but when I read it on its first +appearance I did not pay special attention to this point except to note +that your views agreed more closely with those I had advanced, derived +from the distribution of animals, than those of any previous writer on +botanical distribution. When, at a much later period, on coming to the +end of my work, I determined to give a chapter to the New Zealand flora +in order to see how far the geological and physical relations between +New Zealand and Australia would throw light on its origin, I went for my +facts to the works of Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr. Bentham, and also to +your article in the "Encyclopædia Britannica," and worked out my +conclusions solely from these, and from the few facts referring to the +migration of plants which I had collected. Had I referred again to your +lecture I should certainly have quoted the cases you give (in a note, p. +431) of plants extending along the Andes from California to Peru and +Chile, and vice versa. Whatever identity there is in our views was +therefore arrived at independently, and it was an oversight on my part +not referring to your views, partly due to your not having made them a +more prominent feature of your very interesting and instructive lecture. +Working as I do at home, I am obliged to get my facts from the few books +I can get together; and I only attempted to deal with these great +botanical questions because the facts seemed sufficiently broad and +definite not to be much affected by errors of detail or recent additions +to our knowledge, and because the view which I took of the past changes +in Australia and New Zealand seemed calculated to throw so much light +upon them. Without such splendid summaries of the relations of the +Southern floras as are given in Sir J. Hooker's Introductions, I should +not have touched the subject at all; and I venture to hope that you or +some of your colleagues will give us other such summaries, brought down +to the present date, of other important floras--as, for example, those +of South Africa and South Temperate America. + +Many thanks for additional peculiar British plants. When I hear what Mr. +Mitten has to say about the mosses, etc., I should like to send a +corrected list to _Nature_, which I shall ask you to be so good as to +give a final look over.--Believe me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--Mr. Darwin strongly objects to my view of the migration of plants +along mountain-ranges, rather than along lowlands during cold periods. +This latter view seems to me as difficult and inadequate as mine does to +him.--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +Wallace was in frequent correspondence with Professor Raphael Meldola, +the eminent chemist, a friend both of Darwin and of Wallace, a student +of Evolution, and a stout defender of Darwinism. I received from him +much help and advice in connection with this work, and had he lived +until its completion--he died, suddenly, in 1914--my indebtedness to him +would have been even greater. + +The following letter to Meldola refers to a suggestion that the white +colour of the undersides of animals might have been developed by +selection through the _physical_ advantage gained from the protection of +the vital parts by a _lighter_ colour and therefore by a surface of less +radiative activity. The idea was that there would be less loss of animal +heat through such a white coating. We were at that time unaware of +Thayer's demonstration of the value of such colouring for the purposes +of concealment among environment. Wallace accepted Thayer's view at once +when it was subsequently put forward; as do most naturalists at the +present time. + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. April 8, 1885._ + +My dear Meldola,--Your letter in _Nature_ last week "riz my dander," as +the Yankees say, and, for once in a way, we find ourselves deadly +enemies prepared for mortal combat, armed with steel (pens) and prepared +to shed any amount of our own--ink. Consequently I rushed into the fray +with a letter to _Nature_ intended to show that you are as wrong (as +wicked) as are the Russians in Afghanistan. Having, however, the most +perfect confidence that the battle will soon be over,... --Yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The following letter refers to the theory of physiological selection +which had recently been propounded by Romanes, and which Prof. Meldola +had criticised in _Nature_, xxxix. 384. + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. August 28, 1886._ + +My dear Meldola,--I have just read your reply to Romanes in _Nature_, +and so far as your view goes I agree, but it does not go far enough. +Professor Newton has called my attention to a passage in Belt's +"Nicaragua," pp. 207-8, in which he puts forth very clearly exactly your +view. I find I had noted the explanation as insufficient, and I hear +that in Darwin's copy there is "No! No!" against it. It seems, however, +to me to summarise _all_ that is of the slightest value in Romanes' +wordy paper. I have asked Newton (to whom I had lent it) to forward to +you at Birmingham a proof of my paper in the _Fortnightly_, and I shall +be much obliged if you will read it carefully, and, if you can, "hold a +brief" for me at the British Association in this matter. You will see +that a considerable part of my paper is devoted to a demonstration of +the fallacy of that part of "Romanes" which declares species to be +distinguished generally by useless characters, and also that +"simultaneous variations" do not usually occur. + +On the question of sterility, which, as you well observe, is the core of +the question, I think I show that it could not work in the way Romanes +puts it. The objection to Belt's and your view is, also, that it would +not work unless the "sterility variation" was correlated with the +"useful variation." You assume, I think, this correlation, when you +speak of two of your varieties, B. and K., being _less fertile with the +parent form_. Without correlation they could not be so, only some few of +them. Romanes always speaks of his physiological variations as being +independent, "primary," in which case, as I show, they could hardly ever +survive. At the end of my paper I show a correlation which is probably +general and sufficient. + +In criticising Romanes, however, at the British Association, I want to +call your special attention to a point I have hardly made clear enough +in my paper. Romanes always speaks of the "physiological variety" as if +it were like any other _simple_ variety, and could as easily (he says +more easily) be increased. Whereas it is really complex, requiring a +remarkable correlation between different sets of individuals which he +never recognises. To illustrate what I mean, let me suppose a case. Let +there occur in a species three individual physiological varieties--A, B +and C--each being infertile with the bulk of the species, but quite +fertile with some small part of it. Let A, for example, be fertile with +X, Y and Z. Now I maintain it to be in the highest degree improbable +that B, a quite distinct individual, with distinct parents originating +in a distinct locality, and perhaps with a very different constitution, +merely because it also is sterile with the bulk of the species, should +be fertile with the very same individuals, X, Y, Z, that A is fertile +with. It seems to me to be at least 100 to 1 that it will be fertile +with some other quite distinct set of individuals. And so with C, and +any other similar variety. I express this by saying that each has its +"sexual complements," and that the complements of the one are almost +sure not to be the complements of the other. Hence it follows that A, B, +C, though differing in the same character of general infertility with +the bulk of the species, will really be three distinct varieties +physiologically, and can in no way unite to form a single physiological +variety. This enormous difficulty Romanes apparently never sees, but +argues as if all individuals that are infertile with the bulk of the +species must be or usually are fertile with the same set of individuals +or with each other. This I call a monstrous assumption, for which not a +particle of evidence exists. Take this in conjunction with my argument +from the severity of the struggle for existence and the extreme +improbability of the respective "sexual complements" coming together at +the right time, and I think Romanes' ponderous paper is disposed of. + +I wrote my paper, however, quite as much to expose the great presumption +and ignorance of Romanes in declaring that Natural Selection is _not_ a +theory of the origin of species--as it is calculated to do much harm. +See, for instance, the way the Duke of Argyll jumped at it like a trout +at a fly!--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The earlier part of the next letter refers to "The Experimental Proof of +the Protective Value of Colour and Markings in Insects in reference to +their Vertebrate Enemies," in the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society +of London_, 1887, p. 191. + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. October 20, 1887._ + +My dear Poulton,--It is very interesting to me to see how very generally +the facts are in accordance with theory, and I am only surprised that +the exceptions and irregularities are not more numerous than they are +found to be. The only difficult case, that of _D. euphorbiæ_, is due +probably to incomplete knowledge. Are lizards and sea-birds the only, or +even the chief, possible enemies of the species? They evidently do not +prevent its coming to maturity in considerable abundance, and it is +therefore no doubt preserved from its chief enemies during its various +stages of growth. + +The only point on which I differ from you--as you know--is your +acceptance, as proved, of the theory of sexual colour selection, and +your speaking of insects as having a sense of "the beautiful" in colour, +as if that were a known fact. But that is a wide question, requiring +full discussion.--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR FRANCIS DARWIN + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. November 20, 1887._ + +Dear Mr. Darwin,--Many thanks for the copy of your father's "Life and +Letters," which I shall read with very great interest (as will all the +world). I was not aware before that your father had been so +distressed--or rather disturbed--by my sending him my essay from +Ternate, and I am very glad to feel that his exaggerated sense of honour +was quite needless so far as I was concerned, and that the incident did +not in any way disturb our friendly relations. I always felt, and feel +still, that people generally give me far too much credit for my mere +sketch of the theory--so very small an affair as compared with the vast +foundation of fact and experiment on which your father worked.--Believe +me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER (_née_ BUCKLEY) + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. February 16, 1888._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--I know nothing of the physiology of ferns and +mosses, but as a matter of fact I think they will be found to increase +and diminish together all over the world. Both like moist, equable +climates and shade, and are therefore both so abundant in oceanic +islands, and in the high regions of the tropics. + +I am inclined to think that the reason ferns have persisted so long in +competition with flowering plants is the fact that they thrive best in +shade, flowers best in the light. In our woods and ravines the flowers +are mostly spring flowers, which die away just as the foliage of the +trees is coming out and the shade deepens; while ferns are often dormant +at that time, but grow as the shade increases. + +Why tree-ferns should not grow in cold countries I know not, except that +it may be the winds are too violent and would tear all the fronds off +before the spores were ripe. Everywhere they grow in ravines, or in +forests where they are sheltered, even in the tropics. And they are not +generally abundant, but grow in particular zones only. In all the Amazon +valley I don't remember ever having seen a tree-fern.... + +I too am struggling with my "Popular Sketch of Darwinism," and am just +now doing a chapter on the great "hybridity" question. I really think I +shall be able to arrange the whole subject more intelligibly than Darwin +did, and simplify it immensely by leaving out the endless discussion of +collateral details and difficulties which in the "Origin of Species" +confuse the main issue.... + +The most remarkable steps yet made in advance are, I think, the theory +of Weismann of the continuity of the germ plasm, and its corollary that +acquired modifications are never inherited! and Patrick Geddes's +explanation of the laws of growth in plants on the theory of the +antagonism of vegetative and reproductive growth....--Yours very +sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. March 20, 1888._ + +My dear Meldola,--I have been working away at my hybridity chapters,[15] +and am almost disposed to cry "Eureka!" for I have got light on the +problem. When almost in despair of making it clear that Natural +Selection could act one way or the other, I luckily routed out an old +paper that I wrote twenty years ago, giving a demonstration of the +action of Natural Selection. It did not convince Darwin then, but it has +convinced me now, and I think it can be proved that in some cases (and +those I think most probable) Natural Selection will accumulate +variations in infertility between incipient species. Many other causes +of infertility co-operate, and I really think I have overcome the +fundamental difficulties of the question and made it a good deal clearer +than Darwin left it.... I think also it completely smashes up +Romanes.--Yours faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next letter relates to a question which Prof. Meldola raised as to +whether, in view of the extreme importance of "divergence" (in the +Darwinian sense) for the separation and maintenance of specific types, +it might not be possible that sterility, when of advantage as a check to +crossing, had in itself, as a physiological character, been brought +about by Natural Selection, just as extreme fecundity had been brought +about (by Natural Selection) in cases where such fecundity was of +advantage. + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. April 12, 1888._ + +My dear Meldola,--Many thanks for your criticism. It is a perfectly +sound one as against my view being a _complete explanation_ of the +phenomena, but that I do not claim. And I do not see any chance of the +required facts being forthcoming for many years to come. Experiments in +the hybridisation of animals are so difficult and tedious that even +Darwin never undertook any, and the only people who could and ought to +have done it--the Zoological Society--will not. There is one point, +however, I think you have overlooked. You urge the improbability of the +required infertility being correlated with the particular variations +which characterised each incipient species. But the whole point of my +argument is, that the physiological adjustments producing fertility are +so delicate that they are disturbed by almost any variation or change of +conditions--except in the case of domestic animals, which have been +domesticated because they are not subject to this disturbance. The whole +first half of the chapter is to bring out this fact, which Darwin has +dwelt upon, and it certainly does afford a foundation for the assumption +that usually, and in some considerable number of individuals, variation +in nature, accompanied by somewhat changed conditions of life, is +accompanied by, and probably correlated with, some amount of +infertility. No doubt this assumption wants proving, but in the meantime +I am glad you think that, granting the assumption, I have shown that +Natural Selection is able to accumulate sterility variations. + +That is certainly a step in advance, and we cannot expect to do more +than take very short theoretical steps till we get more facts to rest +upon. If you should happen to come across any facts which seem to bear +upon it, pray let me know. I can find none but those I have referred to. + +I have just finished a chapter on male ornament and display, which I +trust will help to clear up that point--Believe me yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. W.B. HEMSLEY + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. August 26, 1888._ + +Dear Mr. Hemsley,--You are aware that Patrick Geddes proposes to exclude +Natural Selection in the origination of thorns and spines, which he +imputes to "diminishing vegetativeness" or "ebbing vitality of the +species." It has occurred to me that insular floras should afford a test +of the correctness of this view, since in the absence of mammalia the +protection of spines would be less needed. + +Your study of these floras will no doubt enable you to answer a few +questions on this point. Spines and thorns are, I believe, usually +abundant in arid regions of continents, especially in South Africa, +where large herbivorous mammals abound. Now, if the long-continued +presence of these mammals is a factor in the production of spines by +Natural Selection, they should be wholly or comparatively absent in +regions equally arid where there are no mammals. The Galapagos seem to +be such a case--also perhaps some of the Sandwich Islands, and generally +the extra-tropical volcanic islands. Also Australia comparatively, and +the highlands of Madagascar. + +Of course, the endemic species must be chiefly considered, as they have +had time to be modified by the conditions. If you can give me the facts, +or your general impression from your study of these floras, I shall be +much obliged. I see, of course, many other objections to Geddes's +theory, but this seems to offer a crucial test.--Believe me yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. W.B. HEMSLEY + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. September 13, 1888._ + +Dear Mr. Hemsley,--Many thanks for your interesting letter. The facts +you state seem quite to support the usual view, that thorns and spines +have been developed as a protection against other animals. The few spiny +plants in New Zealand may be for protection against land molluscs, of +which there are several species as large as any in the tropics. Of +course in Australia we should expect only a comparative scarcity of +spines, as there are many herbivorous marsupials in the +country.--Believe me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next and several of the succeeding letters refer to the translations +of Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems" +(Oxford, 1889), and to "Darwinism" (London, 1889). + + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. November 4, 1888._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--I returned you the two first of Weismann's essays, +with a few notes and corrections in pencil on that on "Duration of +Life." Looking over some old papers, I have just come across a short +sketch on two pages, on "The Action of Natural Selection in producing +Old Age, Decay and Death," written over twenty years ago.[16] I had the +same general idea as Weismann, but not that beautiful suggestion of the +duration of life, in each case, being the _minimum_ necessary for the +preservation of the species. _That_ I think masterly. The paper on +"Heredity" is intensely interesting, and I am waiting anxiously for the +concluding part. I will refer to these papers in notes in my book, +though perhaps yours will be out first....--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. November 8, 1888._ + +Dear Mr. Poulton,--I return herewith (but separately) the "proofs" I +have of Weismann's Essays. The last critical one is rather heavy, and +adds nothing of importance to the earlier one on Duration of Life. I +enclose my "Note" on the subject, which was written, I think, about +1867, certainly before 1870. You will see it was only a few ideas jotted +down for further elaboration and then forgotten. I see however it _does_ +contain the germ of Weismann's argument as to duration of life being +determined by the time of securing continuance of the species.--Yours +faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Frith Hall, Godalming. January 20, 1889._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--My attention has been called by Mr. Herdman, in +his Inaugural Address to the Liverpool Biological Society, to Galton's +paper on "Heredity," which I read years ago but had forgotten. I have +just read it again (in the _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, +Vol. V., p. 329, Jan., 1876), and I find a remarkable anticipation of +Weismann's theories which I think should be noticed in a preface to the +translation of his book.[17] He argues that it is the undeveloped germs +or gemmules of the fertilised ovum that form the sexual elements of the +offspring, and thus heredity and atavism are explained. He also argues +that, as a corollary, "acquired modifications are barely if at all +inherited in the correct sense of the word." He shows the imperfection +of the evidence on this point, and admits, just as Weismann does, the +heredity of changes in the parent like alcoholism, which, by permeating +the whole tissues, may _directly_ affect the reproductive elements. In +fact, all the main features of Weismann's views seem to be here +anticipated, and I think he ought to have the credit of it. + +Being no physiologist, his language is not technical, and for this +reason, and the place of publication perhaps, his remarkable paper +appears to have been overlooked by physiologists. + +I think you will find the paper very suggestive, even supplying some +points overlooked by Weismann.--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Hamilton House, The Croft, Hastings. February 19, 1889._ + +Dear Mr. Poulton,--Do you happen to have, or can you easily refer to, +Grant Allen's small books of collected papers under such titles as +"Vignettes from Nature," "The Evolutionist at Large," "Colin Clout's +Calendar," and another I can't remember? In one of them is a paper on +the Origin of Wheat, in which he puts forth the theory that the grasses, +etc., are degraded forms which were once insect-fertilised, summing up +his views in the phrase, "Wheat is a degraded lily," or something like +that. Now Henslow, in his "Floral Structures,"[18] adopts the same +theory for all the wind-fertilised or self-fertilised flowers, and he +tells me that he is _alone_ in the view. I believe the view is a true +one, and I want to give G. Allen the credit of first starting it, and +want to see how far he went. If you have or can get this work of his +with that paper, can you lend it me for a few days? I know not who to +write to for it, as botanists of course ignore it, and G. Allen himself +is, I believe, in Algeria....--Yours faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_38 Queen's Gardens, Lancaster Gate, W. May 18, 1889._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--A few days ago there reached me a copy of your new +book, "Darwinism," for which, along with this acknowledgment, I send my +thanks. In my present state of health I dare not read, and fear I shall +be unable to profit by the accumulation of evidence you have brought +together. I see sundry points on which I might raise discussions, but +beyond the fact that I am at present unable to enter into them, I doubt +whether they would be of any use. I regret that you have used the title +"Darwinism," for notwithstanding your qualification of its meaning you +will, by using it, tend greatly to confirm the erroneous conception +almost universally current.--Truly yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. November 28, 1889._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--I have much pleasure in sending you Cope's +book[19] (with the review of "Darwinism"), which I hope you will keep as +long as you like, till you have mastered all its obscurities of style +and eccentricities of argument. I think you will find a good deal in it +to criticise, and it will be well for you to know what the leader of the +Neo-Lamarckians regards as the foundation-stones of his theory. I +greatly enjoyed my visit to Oxford, and only regretted that I could not +leave more time for personal talk with yourself, for I am so deplorably +ignorant of modern physiology that I am delighted to get intelligible +explanations of its bearings on the subjects that most interest me in +science. I quite see all its importance in investigations of the +mechanism of colours, but there is so much still unknown that it will be +very hard to convince me that there is no other possible explanation of +the peacock's feather than the "continued preference by the females" for +the most beautiful males, in _this one point_, "during a long line of +descent"--as Darwin says! I expect, however, great light from your new +book....--Believe me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR FRANCIS GALTON TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_42 Rutland Gate, S.W. May 24, 1890._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I send the paper with pleasure, and am glad that you +will read it, and I hope then see more clearly than the abstract could +show the grounds of my argument. + +These finger-marks are most remarkable things. Of course I have made out +much more about them since writing that memoir. Indeed I have another +paper on them next Thursday at the Royal Society, but that only refers +to ways of cataloguing them, either for criminal administration, or what +I am more interested in, viz. racial and hereditary inquiry. + +What I have done in this way is not ready for publication, but I may +mention (privately, please) that these persistent marks, which seem +fully developed in the sixth month of foetal life, and appear under the +reservations and in the evidence published in the memoir to be +practically _quite_ unchanged during life, are _not_ correlated with +any ordinary characteristic that I can discover. They are the same in +the lowest idiots as in ordinary persons. (I took the impressions of +some 80 of these, so idiotic that they mostly could not speak, or even +stand, at the great Darenth Asylum, Dartford.) They are the same in +clod-hoppers as in the upper classes, and _yet_ they are as hereditary +as other qualities, I think. Their tendency to symmetrical distribution +on the two hands is _marked_, and symmetry _is_ a form of kinship. My +argument is that sexual selection can have had nothing to do with the +patterns, neither can any other form of selection due to vigour, wits, +and so forth, because they are not correlated with them. They just go +their own gait, uninfluenced by anything that we can find or reasonably +believe in, of a _naturally selective influence_, in the plain meaning +of the phrase.--Very sincerely yours, + +FRANCIS GALTON. + + * * * * * + +TO THEO. D.A. COCKERELL + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 10, 1891._ + +Dear Mr. Cockerell,-- ... Your theory to account for the influence of a +first male on progeny by a second seems very probable--and in fact if, +as I suppose, spermatozoa often enter ova without producing complete +fertilisation, it must be so. _That_ would be easily experimented on, +with fowls, dogs, etc., but I do not remember the fact having been +observed except with horses. It ought to be common, when females have +young by successive males.--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next letter relates to a controversy with Romanes concerning Herbert +Spencer's argument about Co-adaptation which Romanes had urged in +support of Neo-Lamarckism as opposed to Natural Selection. Prof. Meldola +endeavoured to show that the difficulties raised by Spencer and +supported by Romanes had no real weight because the possibility of +so-called "co-adaptations" being developed _successively_ in the order +of evolution had not been reckoned with. There was no real divergence +between Wallace and Prof. Meldola on this matter when they subsequently +discussed it. The correspondence is in _Nature_, xliii. 557, and +subsequently. _See also_ "Darwin and After Darwin," by Romanes, 1895, +ii. 68. + + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstone, Dorset, April 25, 1891._ + +My dear Meldola,--You have now put your foot in it! Romanes _agrees_ +with you! Henceforth he will claim you as a disciple, converted by his +arguments! + +There was one admission in your letter I was very sorry to see, because +it cannot be strictly true, and is besides open to much +misrepresentation. I mean the admission that Romanes pounces upon in his +second paragraph. Of course, the number of individuals in a species +being finite, the chance of four coincident variations occurring in any +one individual--each such variation being separately very common--cannot +be anything like "infinity to one." Why, then, do you concede it most +fully?--the result being that Romanes takes you to concede that it is +infinity to one against the coincident variations occurring in "_any +individuals_." Surely, with the facts of coincident independent +variation we now possess, the occurrence of three, four, or five, +coincident variations cannot be otherwise than frequent. As a fact, more +than half the whole population of most species seems to vary to a +perceptible and measurable, and therefore sufficient, amount in scores +of ways. Take a species with a million pairs of individuals--half of +these vary sufficiently, either + or -, in the four acquired characters +A, B, C, D: what will be the proportion of individuals that vary + in +these four characters according to the law of averages? Will it not be +about 1 in 64? If so it is ample--in many cases--for Natural Selection +to work on, because in many cases less than 1/64 of offspring survives. + +On Romanes' view of the impossibility of Natural Selection doing +anything alone, because the required coincident variations do not occur, +the occurrence of a "strong man" or a racehorse that beats all others +easily must be impossible, since in each of these cases there must be +scores of coincident favourable variations. + +Given sufficient variation, I believe divergent modification of a +species in two lines could easily occur, even if free intercrossing +occurred, because, the numbers varying being a large proportion of the +whole, the numbers which bred like with like would he sufficient to +carry on the two lines of divergence, those that intercrossed and +produced less perfectly adapted offspring being eliminated. Of course +some amount of segregate breeding does always occur, as Darwin always +maintained, but, as he also maintained, it is not absolutely essential +to evolution. Romanes argues as if "free intercrossing" meant that none +would pair like with like! I hope you will have another slap at him, and +withdraw or explain that unlucky "infinity to one," which is Romanes' +sheet-anchor.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. June 16, 1892._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--Many thanks for sending me Weismann's additional +Essays,[20] which I look forward to reading with much pleasure. I have, +however, read the first, and am much disappointed with it. It seems to +me the _weakest and most inconclusive_ thing he has yet written. At p. +17 he states his theory as to degeneration of eyes, and again, on p. 18, +of anthers and filaments; but in both cases he fails to _prove_ it, and +apparently does not see that his panmixia, or "cessation of selection," +cannot possibly produce _continuous_ degeneration culminating in the +total or almost total disappearance of an organ. Romanes and others have +pointed out this weakness in his theory, but he does not notice it, and +goes on calmly throughout the essay to _assume_ that mere panmixia must +cause progressive degeneration to an unlimited extent; whereas all it +can do is to effect a reduction to the average of the total population +on which selection has been previously worked. He says "individuals with +weak eyes would not be eliminated," but omits to notice that individuals +with strong eyes would also "not be eliminated," and as there is no +reason alleged why variations in _all directions_ should not occur as +before, the free intercrossing would tend to keep up a mean condition +only a little below that which was kept up by selection. It is clear +that some form of selection must always co-operate in degeneration, such +as economy of growth, which he hardly notices except as a possible but +not a necessary factor, or actual injuriousness. It appears to me that +what is wanted is to take a number of typical cases, and in each of them +show how Natural Selection comes in to carry on the degeneration begun +by panmixia. Weismann's treatment of the subject is merely begging the +question.--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. August 29, 1892._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--As to panmixia you have quite misunderstood my +position. By the "mean condition," I do not mean the "mean" during the +whole course of development of the organ, as you seem to take it. That +would indeed be absurd. I do mean the "mean" of the whole series of +individual variations now occurring, during a period sufficient to +contain all or almost all the variations to which the species is _now_ +subject. Take, for instance, such a case as the wings of the swallow, on +the full development of which the life of the bird depends. Many +individuals no doubt perish for lack of wing-power, due to deficiency in +size or form of wing, or in the muscles which move it. The extreme +limits of variation would be seen probably if we examined every swallow +that had reached maturity during the last century. The average of all +those would perhaps be 5 or 10 per cent. below the average of those that +survive to become the parents of the next generation in any year; and +what I maintain is, that panmixia alone could not reduce a swallow's +wings below this first average. Any further reduction must be due either +to some form of selection or to "economy of growth"--which is also, +fundamentally, a form of selection. So with the eyes of cave animals, +panmixia could only cause an imperfection of vision equal to the average +of those variations which occurred, say, during a century before the +animal entered the cave. It could only produce more effect than this if +the effects of disuse are hereditary--which is a non-Weismannian +doctrine. I think this is also the position that Romanes took.--Yours +faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. J.W. MARSHALL + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. September 23, 1892._ + +My dear Marshall,--I am glad you enjoyed Mr. Hudson's book. His +observations are inimitable--and his theories and suggestions, if not +always the best, at least show thought on what he has observed. + +I was most pleased with his demonstration as to the supposed instincts +of young birds and lambs, showing clearly that the former at all events +are not due to inherited experience, as Darwin thought. The whole book, +too, is pervaded by such a true love of nature and such a perception of +its marvels and mysteries as to be unique in my experience. The modern +scientific morphologists seem so wholly occupied in tracing out the +mechanism of organisms that they hardly seem to appreciate the +overwhelming marvel of the powers of life, which result in such +infinitely varied structures and such strange habits and so-called +instincts. The older I grow the more marvellous seem to me the mere +variety of form and habit in plants and animals, and the unerring +certitude with which from a minute germ the whole complex organism is +built up, true to the type of its kind in all the infinitude of details! +It is this which gives such a charm to the watching of plants +growing, and of kittens so rapidly developing their senses and +habitudes!...--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 1, 1893._ + +My dear Poulton,--Thanks for the separate copy of your great paper on +colours of larva, pupa, etc.[21] I have read your conclusions and looked +over some of the experiments, and think you have now pretty well settled +that question. + +I am reading through the new volume of the Life of Darwin, and am struck +with the curious example his own case affords of non-heredity of +acquired variations. He expresses his constant dread--one of the +troubles of his life--that his children would inherit his bad health. +It seems pretty clear, from what F. Darwin says in the new edition, that +Darwin's constant nervous stomach irritation was caused by his five +years sea-sickness. It was thoroughly established before, and in the +early years of, his marriage, and, on his own theory his children ought +all to have inherited it. Have they? You know perhaps better than I do, +whether any of the family show any symptoms of that particular form of +illness--and if not it is a fine case!--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +Wallace was formally admitted to the Royal Society in June, 1893. The +postscript of the following letter refers to his cordial reception by +the Fellows. + + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. June 10, 1893._ + +My dear Meldola,--As we had no time to "discourse" on Thursday, I will +say a few words on the individual adaptability question. We have to deal +with facts, and facts certainly show that, in many groups, there is a +great amount of adaptable change produced in the individual by external +conditions, and that that change is not inherited. I do not see that +this places Natural Selection in any subordinate position, because this +individual adaptability is evidently advantageous to many species, and +may itself have been produced or increased by Natural Selection. When a +species is subject to great changes of conditions, either locally or at +uncertain times, it may be a decided advantage to it to become +individually adapted to that change while retaining the power to revert +instantly to its original form when the normal conditions return. But +whenever the changed conditions are permanent, or are such that +individual adaptation cannot meet the requirements, then Natural +Selection rapidly brings about a permanent adaptation which is +inherited. In plants these two forms of adaptation are well marked and +easily tested, and we shall soon have a large body of evidence upon it. +In the higher animals I imagine that individual adaptation is small in +amount, as indicated by the fact that even slight varieties often breed +true. + +In Lepidoptera we have the two forms of colour-adaptability clearly +shown. Many species are, in all their stages, permanently adapted to +their environment. Others have a certain power of individual adaptation, +as of the pupæ to their surroundings. If this last adaptation were +strictly inherited it would be positively injurious, since the progeny +would thereby lose the power of individual adaptability, and thus we +should have light pupæ on dark surroundings, and vice versa. Each kind +of adaptation has its own sphere, and it is essential that the one +should be non-inheritable, the other heritable. The whole thing seems to +me quite harmonious and "as it should be." + +Thiselton-Dyer tells me that H. Spencer is dreadfully disturbed on the +question. He fears that acquired characters may not be inherited, in +which case the foundation of his whole philosophy is undermined!--Yours +very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--I am afraid you are partly responsible for that kindly meant but +too personal manifestation which disturbed the solemnity of the Royal +Society meeting on Thursday!... + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. September 25, 1893._ + +My dear Poulton,--I suppose you were not at Nottingham and did not get +the letter, paper, and photographs I sent you there, but to be opened +by the Secretary of Section D in case you were not there. It was about a +wonderful and perfectly authenticated case of a woman who dressed the +arm of a gamekeeper after amputation, and six or seven months afterwards +had a child born without the forearm on the right side, exactly +corresponding in _form_ and _length_ of stump to that of the man. +Photographs of the man, and of the boy seven or eight years old, were +taken _by the physician of the hospital_ where the man's arm was cut +off, and they show a most striking correspondence. These, with my short +paper, appear to have produced an effect, for a committee of Section D +has been appointed to collect evidence on this and other +matters....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. November 17, 1893._ + +My dear Poulton,--The letter I wrote to you at Nottingham was returned +to me here (after a month), so I did not think it worth while to send it +to you again, though it did contain my congratulations on your +appointment,[22] which I now repeat. As you have not seen the paper I +sent to the British Association, I will just say that I should not have +noticed the subject publicly but, after a friend had given me the +photographs (sent with my paper), I came across the following statement +in the new edition of Chambers' Encyclopædia, art. Deformities (by Prof. +A. Hare): "In an increasing proportion of cases which are carefully +investigated, it appears that maternal impressions, the result of shock +or unpleasant experiences, may have a considerable influence in +producing deformities in the offspring." In consequence of this I sent +the case which had been furnished me, and which is certainly about as +well attested and conclusive as anything can be. The facts are these: + +A gamekeeper had his right forearm amputated at the North Devon +Infirmary. He left before it was healed, thinking his wife could dress +it, but as she was too nervous, a neighbour, a young recently married +woman, a farmer's wife, still living, came and dressed it every day till +it healed. About six months after she had a child born _without right +hand and forearm_, the stump exactly corresponding in length to that of +the gamekeeper. Dr. Richard Budd, M.D., F.R.C.P.,[23] of Barnstaple, the +physician to the infirmary, when the boy was five or six years old, +himself took a photograph of the boy and the gamekeeper side by side, +showing the wonderful correspondence of the two arms. I have these facts +_direct from Dr. Budd_, who was personally cognisant of the whole +circumstances. A few years after, in November, 1876, Dr. Budd gave an +account of the case and exhibited the photographs to a large meeting at +the College of Physicians, and I have no doubt it is _one_ of the cases +referred to in the article I have quoted, though Dr. Budd thinks it has +never been published. It will be at once admitted that this is not a +chance coincidence, and that all theoretical difficulties must give way +to such facts as this, ... Of course it by no means follows that similar +causes should in all cases produce similar effects, since the +idiosyncrasy of the mother is no doubt an important factor; but where +the combined coincidences are so numerous as in this case--_place, time, +person_ and exact correspondence of _resulting deformity_--some causal +relation must exist.--Believe me yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + + + +PART III (_Concluded_) + + + + +III.--Correspondence on Biology, Geographical Distribution, etc. + +[1894--1913] + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Queen's Hotel, Cliftonville, Margate. August 10, 1894._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--Though we differ on some points we agree on many, and +one of the points on which we doubtless agree is the absurdity of Lord +Salisbury's representation of the process of Natural Selection based +upon the improbability of two varying individuals meeting. His +nonsensical representation of the theory ought to be exposed, for it +will mislead very many people. I see it is adopted by the _Pall Mall_. I +have been myself strongly prompted to take the matter up, but it is +evidently your business to do that. Pray write a letter to the _Times_ +explaining that selection or survival of the fittest does not +necessarily take place in the way he describes. You might set out by +remarking that whereas he begins by comparing himself to a volunteer +colonel reviewing a regiment of regulars, he very quickly changes his +attitude and becomes a colonel of regulars reviewing volunteers and +making fun of their bunglings. He deserves a-severe castigation. There +are other points on which his views should be rectified, but this is the +essential point. + +It behoves you of all men to take up the gauntlet he has thrown +down.--Very truly yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Queen's Hotel, Cliftonville, Margate, Aug. 19, 1894._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I cannot at all agree with you respecting the +relative importance of the work you are doing and that which I wanted +you to do. Various articles in the papers show that Lord Salisbury's +argument is received with triumph, and, unless it is disposed of, it +will lead to a public reaction against the doctrine of evolution at +large, a far more serious evil than any error which you propose to +rectify among biologists. Everybody will look to you for a reply, and if +you make no reply it will be understood that Lord Salisbury's objection +is valid. As to the non-publication of your letter in the _Times_, that +is absurd, considering that your name and that of Darwin are constantly +coupled together.--Truly yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. September 8, 1894._ + +My dear Poulton,--I was glad to see your exposure of another American +Neo-Lamarckian in _Nature_.[24] It is astonishing how utterly illogical +they all are! I was much pleased with your point of the adaptations +supposed to be produced by the inorganic environment when they are +related to the organic. It is I think new and very forcible. For nearly +a month I have been wading through Bateson's book,[25] and writing a +criticism of it, and of Galton, who backs him up with his idea of +"organic stability." ... Neither he nor Galton appears to have any +adequate conception of what Natural Selection is, or how impossible it +is to escape from it. They seem to think that, given a stable +variation, Natural Selection must hide its diminished head! + +Bateson's preface, concluding reflections, etc., are often quite +amusing.... He is so cocksure he has made a great discovery--which is +the most palpable of mare's nests.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--I allude of course to his grand argument--"environment +_continuous_--species _discontinuous_--therefore _variations_ which +produce species must be also _discontinuous_"! (Bateson--Q.E.D.). + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 19, 1895._ + +My dear Poulton,--I have read your paper on "Theories of Evolution"[26] +with great pleasure. It is very clear and very forcible, and I should +think must have opened the eyes of some of your hearers. Your cases +against Lamarckism were very strong, and I think quite conclusive. There +is one, however, which seems to me weak--that about the claws of +lobsters and the tails of lizards moving and acting when detached from +the body. It may be argued, fairly, that this is only an incidental +result of the extreme muscular irritability and contractibility of the +organs, which might have been caused on Lamarckian as well as on the +Darwinian hypothesis. The running of a fowl after its head is chopped +off is an example of the same kind of thing, and this is certainly not +useful. The detachment itself of claw and tail is no doubt useful and +adaptive. + +When discussing the objection as to failures not being found fossil, +there are two additional arguments to those you adduce: (1) Every +failure has been, first, a success, or it could not have come into +existence (as a species); and (2) the hosts of huge and very +specialised animals everywhere recently extinct are clearly failures. +They were successes as long as the struggle was with animal competitors +only, physical conditions being highly favourable. But, when physical +conditions became adverse, as by drought, cold, etc., they failed and +became extinct. The entrance of new enemies from another area might +equally render them failures. As to your question about myself and +Darwin, I had met him once only for a few minutes at the British Museum +before I went to the East.... --Yours very faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. CLEMENT REID + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. November 18, 1894._ + +My dear Clement Reid,-- ... The great, the grand, and long-expected, the +prophesied discovery has at last been made--Miocene or Old Pliocene Man +in India!!! Good worked flints found _in situ_ by the palæontologist to +the Geological Survey of India! It is in a ferruginous conglomerate +lying beneath 4,000 feet of Pliocene strata and containing hippotherium, +etc. But perhaps you have seen the article in _Natural Science_ +describing it, by Rupert Jones, who, very properly, accepts it! Of +course we want the bones, but we have got the flints, and they may +follow. Hurrah for the missing link! Excuse more.--Yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next letter relates to the rising school of biologists who, in +opposition to Darwin's views, held that species might arise by what was +at the time termed "discontinuous variation." + + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_February 4, 1895._ + +My dear Professor Meldola,--I hope to have copies of my "Evolution" +article in a few days, and will send you a couple. The article was in +print last September, but, being long, was crowded out month after +month, and only now got in by being cut in two. I think I have +demolished "discontinuous variation" as having any but the most +subordinate part in evolution of species. + +Congratulations on Presidency of the Entomological Society. + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 15, 1895._ + +My dear Poulton,--I have now nearly finished reading Romanes, but do not +find it very convincing. There is a large amount of special pleading. On +two points only I feel myself hit. My doubt that Darwin really meant +that _all_ the individuals of a species could be similarly modified +without selection is evidently wrong, as he adduces other quotations +which I had overlooked. The other point is, that my suggested +explanation of sexual ornaments gives away my case as to the utility of +all specific characters. It certainly does as it stands, but I now +believe, and should have added, that all these ornaments, where they +differ from species to species, are also recognition characters, and as +such were rendered stable by Natural Selection from their first +appearance. + +I rather doubt the view you state, and which Gulick and Romanes make +much of, that a portion of a species, separated from the main body, will +have a different average of characters, unless they are a local race +which has already been somewhat selected. The large amount of variation, +and the regularity of the curve of variation, whenever about 50 or 100 +individuals are measured in the same locality, shows that the bulk of a +species are similar in amount of variation everywhere. But when a +portion of a species begins to be modified in adaptation to new +conditions, distinction of some kind is essential, and therefore any +slight difference would be increased by selection. I see no reason to +believe that species (usually) have been isolated first and modified +afterwards, but rather that new species usually arise from species which +have a wide range, and in different areas need somewhat different +characters and habits. Then _distinctness_ arises both by adaptation and +by development of recognition marks to minimise intercrossing. + +I wonder Darwin did not see that if the unknown "constant causes" he +supposes can modify all the individuals of a species, either +indifferently, usefully, or hurtfully, and that these characters so +produced are, as Romanes says, very, very numerous in all species, and +are sometimes the only specific characters, then the Neo-Lamarckians are +quite right in putting Natural Selection as a very secondary and +subordinate influence, since all it has to do is to weed out the hurtful +variations. + +Of course, if a species with warning colours were, in part, completely +isolated, and its colours or markings were accidentally different from +the parent form, whatever set of markings and colours it had would be, I +consider, rendered stable for recognition, and also for protection, +since if it varied too much the young birds and other enemies would take +a heavier toll in learning it was uneatable. It might then be said that +the character by which this species differs from the parent species is a +useless character. But surely this is not what is usually meant by a +"useless character." This is highly useful in itself, though the +difference from the other species is not useful. If they were in contact +it would be useful, as a distinction preventing intercrossing, and so +long as they are not brought together we cannot really tell if it is a +species at all, since it might breed freely with the parent form and +thus return back to one type. The "useless characters" I have always had +in mind when arguing this question are those which are or are supposed +to be absolutely useless, not merely relatively as regards the +difference from an allied species. I think this is an important +distinction.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_64 Avenue Road, Regent's Park, London, N.W. September 28, 1895_ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--As I cannot get you to deal with Lord Salisbury I +have decided to do it myself, having been finally exasperated into doing +it by this honour paid to his address in France--the presentation of a +translation to the French Academy. The impression produced upon some +millions of people in England cannot be allowed to be thus further +confirmed without protest. + +One of the points which I propose to take up is the absurd conception +Lord Salisbury sets forth of the process of Natural Selection. When you +wrote you said you had dealt with it yourself in your volume on +Darwinism. I have no doubt that it is also in some measure dealt with by +Darwin himself, by implication or incidentally. You of course know +Darwin by heart, and perhaps you would be kind enough to save me the +trouble of searching by indicating the relevant passages both in his +books and in your own. My reading power is very small, and it tries me +to find the parts I want by much reading.--Truly yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +To the following letter from Mr. Gladstone, Wallace attached this pencil +note: "In 1881 I put forth the first idea of mouth-gesture as a factor +in the origin of language, in a review of E.B. Tylor's 'Anthropology,' +and in 1895 I extended it into an article in the _Fortnightly Review_, +and reprinted it with a few further corrections in my 'Studies,' under +the title 'The Expressiveness of Speech or Mouth-Gesture as a Factor in +the Origin of Language.' In it I have developed a completely new +principle in the theory of the origin of language by showing that every +motion of the jaws, lips and tongue, together with inward or outward +breathing, and especially the mute or liquid consonants ending words +which serve to indicate abrupt or continuous motion, have corresponding +meanings in so many cases as to show a fundamental connection. I thus +enormously extended the principle of onomatopoeia in the origin of vocal +language. As I have been unable to find any reference to this important +factor in the origin of language, and as no competent writer has pointed +out any fallacy in it, I think I am justified in supposing it to be new +and important. Mr. Gladstone informed me that there were many thousands +of illustrations of my ideas in Homer."--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +W.E. GLADSTONE TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Hawarden Castle, Chester. October 18, 1895._ + +Dear Sir,--Your kindness in sending me your most interesting article +draws on you the inconvenience of an acknowledgment. + +My pursuits in connection with Homer, especially, have made me a +confident advocate of the doctrine that there is, within limits, a +connection in language between sound and sense. + +I would consent to take the issue simply on English words beginning with +_st_. You go upon a kindred class in _sn_. I do not remember a perfectly +_innocent_ word, a word habitually used _in bonam partem_, and beginning +with _sn_, except the word "snow," and "snow," as I gather from +_Schnee_, is one of the worn-down words. + +May I beg to illustrate you once more on the ending in _p_. I take our +old schoolboy combinations: hop, skip and jump. Each motion an ending +motion; and to each word closed with _p_ compare the words _run, rennen, +courir, currere._ + +But I have now a new title to speak. It is deafness; and I know from +deafness that I run a worse chance with a man whose mouth is covered +with beard and moustache. + +A young relation of mine, slightly deaf, was sorely put to it in an +University examination because one of his examiners was _secretal_ in +this way. + +I will not trouble you further except to express, with misgiving, a +doubt on a single point, the final _f_. + +In driving with Lord Granville, who was deaf but not very deaf, I had +occasion to mention to him the Duke of _Fife_, I used every effort, but +in no way could I contrive to make him hear the word. + +I break my word to add one other particular. Out of 27,000 odd lines in +Homer, every one of them expressed, in a sense, heavy weight or force; +the blows of heavy-armed men on the breastplates of foes ... [illegible] +and the like.--With many thanks, I remain yours very faithfully, + +W.E. GLADSTONE. + +P.S.--I should say that the efficacy of lip-expression, undeniably, is +most subtle, and defies definite description. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. ARCHDALL REID + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. April 19, 1896._ + +Dear Sir,--I am sorry I had not space to refer more fully to your +interesting work.[27] The most important point on which I think your +views require emendation is on _instinct_. I see you quote Spalding's +experiments, but these have been quite superseded and shown to be +seriously incorrect by Prof. Lloyd Morgan. A paper by him in the +_Fortnightly Review_ of August, 1893, gives an account of his +experiments, and he read a paper on the same subject at the British +Association last year. He is now preparing a volume on the subject +which will contain the most valuable series of observations yet made on +this question. Another point of some importance where I cannot agree +with you is your treating dipsomania as a disease, only to be eliminated +by drunkenness and its effects. It appears to me to be only a vicious +habit or indulgence which would cease to exist in a state of society in +which the habit were almost universally reprobated, and the means for +its indulgence almost absent. But this is a matter of comparatively +small importance.--Believe me yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. ARCHDALL REID + + +_Parkstone. April 28, 1896._ + +Dear Sir,--"We can but reason from the facts we know." We know a good +deal of the senses of the higher animals, very little of those of +insects. If we find--as I think we do--that all cases of supposed +"instinctive knowledge" in the former turn out to be merely intuitive +reactions to various kinds of stimulus, combined with very rapidly +acquired experience, we shall be justified in thinking that the actions +of the latter will some day be similarly explained. When Lloyd Morgan's +book is published we shall have much information on this question. +(_See_ "Natural Selection and Tropical Nature," pp. 91-7.)--Yours truly, +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 12, 1896._ + +My dear Meldola,--I got Weismann's "Germinal Selection" two or three +months back and read it very carefully, and on the whole I admire it +very much, and think it does complete the work of ordinary variation and +selection. Of course it is a pure hypothesis, and can never perhaps be +directly proved, but it seems to me a reasonable one, and it enables us +to understand two groups of facts which I have never been able to work +out satisfactorily by the old method. These two facts are: (1) the +total, or almost total, disappearance of many useless organs, and (2) +the continuous development of secondary sexual characters beyond any +conceivable utility, and, apparently, till checked by inutility. It +explains both these. Disuse alone, as I and many others have always +argued, cannot do the first, but can only cause _regression to the +mean_, with perhaps some further regression from economy of material. + +As to the second, I have always felt the difficulty of accounting for +the enormous development of the peacock's train, the bird of paradise +plumes, the long wattle of the bell bird, the enormous tail-feathers of +the Guatemalan trogon, of some humming-birds, etc. etc. etc. The +beginnings of all these I can explain as recognition marks, and this +explains also their distinctive character in allied species, but it does +not explain their growing on and on far beyond what is needful for +recognition, and apparently till limited by absolute hurtfulness. It is +a relief to me to have "germinal selection" to explain this. + +I do not, however, think it at all necessary to explain adaptations, +however complex. Variation is so general and so large, in dominant +species, and selection is so tremendously powerful, that I believe all +needful adaptation may be produced without it. But, if it exists, it +would undoubtedly hasten the process of such adaptation and would +therefore enable new places in the economy of nature to be more rapidly +filled up. + +I was thinking of writing a popular exposition of the new theory for +_Nature_, but have not yet found time or inclination for it. I began +reading "Germinal Selection" with a prejudice against it. That prejudice +continued through the first half, but when I came to the idea itself, +and after some trouble grasped the meaning and bearing of it, I saw the +work it would do and was a convert at once. It really has no relation to +Lamarckism, and leaves the non-heredity of acquired characters exactly +where it was.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next letter relates to the great controversy then being carried on +with respect to Weismann's doctrine of the non-inheritance of "acquired" +characters, which doctrine implied complete rejection of the last trace +of Lamarckism from Darwinian evolution. Wallace ultimately accepted the +Weismannian teaching. Darwin had no opportunity during his lifetime of +considering this question, which was raised later in an acute form by +Weismann. + + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstane, Dorset. January 6, 1897._ + +My dear Meldola,--The passage to which you refer in the "Origin" (top of +p. 6) shows Darwin's firm belief in the "heredity of acquired +variations," and also in the importance of definite variations, that is, +"sports," though elsewhere he almost gives these up in favour of +indefinite variations; and this last is now the view of all Darwinians, +and even of many Lamarckians. I therefore always now assume this as +admitted. Weismann's view as to "possible variations" and "impossible +variations" on p. 1 of "Germinal Selection" is misleading, because it +can only refer to "sports" or to "cumulative results," not to +"individual variations" such as are the material Natural Selection acts +on. Variation, as I understand it, can only be a slight modification in +the offspring of that which exists in the parent. The question whether +pigs could possibly develop wings is absurd, and altogether beside the +question, which is, solely, so far as direct evidence goes, as to the +means by which the change from one species to another closely allied +species has been brought about. Those who want to begin by discussing +the causes of change from a dog to a seal, or from a cow to a whale, are +not worth arguing with, as they evidently do not comprehend the A, B, C +of the theory. + +Darwin's ineradicable acceptance of the theory of heredity of the +effects of climate, use and disuse, food, etc., on the individual led to +much obscurity and fallacy in his arguments, here and there.--Yours very +sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON _Parkstone, Dorset. February 14, 1897._ + +My dear Poulton,--Thanks for copy of your British Association +Address,[28] which I did not read in _Nature_, being very busy just +then. I have now read it with much pleasure, and think it a very useful +and excellent discussion that was much needed. There is, however, one +important error, I think, which vitiates a vital part of the argument, +and which renders it possible so to reduce the time indicated by geology +as to render the accordance of Geology and Physics more easy to effect. +The error I allude to was made by Sir A. Geikie in his Presidential +Address[29] which you quote. Immediately it appeared I wrote to him +pointing it out, but he merely acknowledged my letter, saying he would +consider it. To me it seems a most palpable and extraordinary blunder. +The error consists in taking the rate of deposition as the same as the +rate of denudation, whereas it is about twenty times as great, perhaps +much more--because the area of deposition is at least twenty times less +than that of denudation. In order to equal the area of denudation, it +would require that _every_ bed of _every_ formation should have once +extended over the _whole area_ of all the land of the globe! The +deposition in narrow belts along coasts of all the matter brought down +by rivers, as proved by the _Challenger_, leads to the same result. In +my "Island Life," 2nd Edit., pp. 221-225, I have discussed this whole +matter, and on reading it again I can find no fallacy in it. I have, +however, I believe, overestimated the time required for deposition, +which I believe would be more nearly one-fortieth than one-twentieth +that of mean denudation; because there is, I believe, also a great +overestimate of the maximum of deposition, because it is partly made up +of beds which may have been deposited simultaneously. Also the maximum +thickness is probably double the mean thickness. + +The mean rate of denudation, both for European rivers and for all the +rivers that have been measured, is a foot in three million years, which +is the figure that should be taken in calculations.--Believe me yours +very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. April 27, 1897._ + +My dear Meldola,-- ... I thought Romanes' article in reply to Spencer +was very well written and wonderfully clear for him, and I agree with +most of it, except his high estimate of Spencer's co-adaptation +argument. It is quite true that Spencer's biology rests entirely on +Lamarckism, so far as heredity of acquired characters goes. I have been +reading Weismann's last book, "The Germ Plasm." It is a wonderful +attempt to solve the most complex of all problems, and is almost +unreadable without some practical acquaintance with germs and their +development.--Believe me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. June 13, 1897._ + +My dear Poulton,-- ... The rate of deposition might be modified in an +archipelago, but would not necessarily be less than now, on the +_average_. On the ocean side it might be slow, but wherever there were +comparatively narrow straits between the islands it might be even faster +than now, because the area of deposition would be strictly limited. In +the seas between Java and Borneo and between Borneo and Celebes the +deposition _may be_ above the average. Again, during the development of +continents there were evidently extensive mountain ridges and masses +with landlocked seas, or inland lakes, and in all these deposition would +be rapid. Anyhow, the fact remains that there is no necessary equality +between rates of denudation and deposition (in thickness) as Geikie has +_assumed_. + +I was delighted with your account of Prichard's wonderful anticipation +of Galton and Weismann! It is so perfect and complete.... It is most +remarkable that such a complete statement of the theory and such a +thorough appreciation of its effects and bearing should have been so +long overlooked. I read Prichard when I was very young, and have never +seen the book since. His facts and arguments are really useful ones, and +I should think Weismann must be delighted to have such a supporter come +from the grave. His view as to the supposed transmission of disease is +quite that of Archdall Reid's recent book. He was equally clear as to +Selection, and had he been a _zoologist_ and _traveller_ he might have +anticipated the work of both Darwin and Weismann! + +To bring out such a book as his "Researches" when only twenty-seven, and +a practising physician, shows what a remarkable man he was.--Believe me +yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. July 8, 1897._ + +My dear Meldola,-- ... I am now reading a wonderfully interesting +book--O. Fisher's "Physics of the Earth's Crust." It is really a grand +book, and, though full of unintelligible mathematics, is so clearly +explained and so full of good reasoning on all the aspects of this most +difficult question that it is a pleasure to read it. It was especially a +pleasure to me because I had just been writing an article on the +Permanence of the Oceanic Basins, at the request of the Editor of +_Natural Science_, who told me I was not orthodox on the point. But I +find that Fisher supports the same view with very great force, and it +strikes me that if weight of argument and number of capable supporters +create orthodoxy in science, it is the other side who are not orthodox. +I have some fresh arguments, and I was delighted to be able to quote +Fisher. It seems almost demonstrated now that Sir W. Thomson was wrong, +and that the earth _has_ a molten interior and a very thin crust, and in +no other way can the phenomena of geology be explained....--Yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR OLIVER LODGE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 8, 1898._ + +My dear Sir,--My own opinion has long been--and I have many times given +reasons for it--that there is always an ample amount of variation in all +directions to allow any useful modification to be produced, very +rapidly, as compared with the rate of those secular changes (climate and +geography) which necessitate adaptation; hence no guidance of variation +in certain lines is necessary. For proof of this I would ask you to look +at the diagrams in Chapter III. of my "Darwinism," reading the +explanation in the text. The proof of such constant indefinite +variability has been much increased of late years, and if you consider +that instead of tens or hundreds of individuals, Nature has as many +thousands or millions to be selected from, every year or two, it will be +clear that the materials for adaptation are ample. + +Again, I believe that the time, even as limited by Lord Kelvin's +calculations, is ample, for reasons given in Chapter X., "On the Earth's +Age," in my "Island Life," and summed up on p. 236. I therefore consider +the difficulty set forth on p. 2 of the leaflet you send is not a real +one. To my mind, the development of plants and animals from low forms of +each is fully explained by the variability proved to exist, with the +actual rapid multiplication and Natural Selection. For this no other +intellectual agency is required. The problem is to account for the +infinitely complex constitution of the material world and its forces +which rendered living organisms possible; then, the introduction of +consciousness or sensation, which alone rendered the animal world +possible; lastly, the presence in man of capacities and moral ideas and +aspirations which could not conceivably be produced by variation and +Natural Selection. This is stated at p. 473-8 of my "Darwinism," and is +also referred to in the article I enclose (at p. 443) and which you need +not return. + +The subject is so large and complex that it is not to be wondered so +many people still maintain the insufficiency of Natural Selection, +without having really mastered the facts. I could not, therefore, answer +your question without going into some detail and giving references.... +--Believe me yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. H.N. RIDLEY + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 3, 1898._ + +My dear Mr. Ridley,-- ... We are much interested now about De Rougemont, +and I dare say you have seen his story in the _Wide World Magazine_, +while in the _Daily Chronicle_ there have been letters, interviews and +discussions without end. A few people, who think they know everything, +treat him as an impostor; but unfortunately they themselves contradict +each other, and so far are proved to be wrong more often than De +Rougemont. I firmly believe that his story is substantially true--making +allowance for his being a foreigner who learnt one system of measures, +then lived thirty years among savages, and afterwards had to reproduce +all his knowledge in English and Australian idioms. As an intelligent +writer in the _Saturday Review_ says, putting aside the sensational +illustrations there is absolutely nothing in his story but what is quite +_possible_ and even _probable_. He must have reached Singapore the year +after I returned home, and I dare say there are people there who +remember Jensen, the owner of the schooner _Veilland_, with whom he +sailed on his disastrous pearl-fishing expedition. Jensen is said now to +be in British New Guinea, and has often spoken of his lost cargo of +pearls. ---- and ----, of the Royal Geographical Society, state that +they are convinced of the substantial truth of the main outlines of his +story, and after three interviews and innumerable questions are +satisfied of his _bona fides_--and so am I.--With best wishes, believe +me to be yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +MR. SAMUEL WADDINGTON TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_7 Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W. February 19, 1901._ + +Dear Sir,--I trust you will forgive a stranger troubling you with a +letter, but a friend has asked me whether, as a matter of fact, Darwin +held that _all_ living creatures descended from one and the same +ancestor, and that the pedigree of a humming-bird and that of a +hippopotamus would meet if traced far enough back. Can you tell me +whether Darwin did teach this? + +I should have thought that as life was developed once, it probably could +and would be developed many times in different places, as month after +month, and year after year went by; and that, from the very first, it +probably took many different forms and characters, in the same way as +crystals take different forms and shapes, even when composed of the same +substance. From these many developments of "life" would descend as many +separate lines of evolution, one ending in the humming-bird, another in +the hippopotamus, a third in the kangaroo, etc., and their pedigrees +(however far back they might be traced) would not join until they +reached some primitive form of protoplasm,--Yours faithfully, + +SAMUEL WADDINGTON. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. SAMUEL WADDINGTON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 23, 1901._ + +Dear Sir,--Darwin believed that all living things originated from "a few +forms or from one"--as stated in the last sentence of his "Origin of +Species." But privately I am sure he believed in the _one_ origin. Of +course there is a possibility that there were several distinct origins +from inorganic matter, but that is very improbable, because in that case +we should expect to find some difference in the earliest forms of the +germs of life. But there is no such difference, the primitive germ-cells +of man, fish or oyster being almost indistinguishable, formed of +identical matter and going through identical primitive changes. + +As to the humming-bird and hippopotamus, there is no doubt whatever of a +common origin--if evolution is accepted at all; since both are +vertebrates--a very high type of organism whose ancestral forms can be +traced back to a simple type much earlier than the common origin of +mammals, birds and reptiles.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR FRANCIS DARWIN + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. July 3, 1901._ + +Dear Mr. Darwin,--Thanks for the letter returned. I _do_ hold the +opinion expressed in the last sentence of the article you refer to, and +have reprinted it in my volume of Studies, etc. But the stress must be +laid on the word _proof_. I intended it to enforce the somewhat similar +opinion of your father, in the "Origin" (p. 424, 6th Edit.), where he +says, "Analogy may be a deceitful guide." But I really do not go so far +as he did. For he maintained that there was not any proof that the +several great classes or kingdoms were descended from common ancestors. + +I maintain, on the contrary, that all without exception are now proved +to have originated by "descent with modification," but that there is no +proof, and no necessity, that the very same causes which have been +sufficient to produce all the species of a genus or Order were those +which initiated and developed the greater differences. At the same time +I do _not_ say they were not sufficient. I merely urge that there is a +difference between proof and probability.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. August 5, 1904._ + +My dear Poulton,-- ... What a miserable abortion of a theory is +"Mutation," which the Americans now seem to be taking up in place of +Lamarckism, "superseded." Anything rather than Darwinism! I am glad Dr. +F.A. Dixey shows it up so well in this week's _Nature_,[30] but too +mildly!--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. April 3, 1905._ + +My dear Poulton,--Many thanks for copy of your Address,[31] which I have +read with great pleasure and will forward to Birch next mail. You have, +I think, produced a splendid and unanswerable set of facts proving the +non-heredity of acquired characters. I was particularly pleased with the +portion on "instincts," in which the argument is especially clear and +strong. I am afraid, however, the whole subject is above and beyond the +average "entomologist" or insect collector, but it will be of great +value to all students of evolution. It is curious how few even of the +more acute minds take the trouble to reason out carefully the teaching +of certain facts--as in the case of Romanes and the "variable +protection," and as I showed also in the case of Mivart (and also +Romanes and Gulick) declaring that isolation alone, without Natural +Selection, could produce perfect and well-defined species (see _Nature_, +Jan. 12, 1899).... --Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR FRANCIS DARWIN + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. October 29, 1905._ + +Dear Mr. Darwin,--I return you the two articles on "Mutation" with many +thanks. As they are both supporters of de Vries, I suppose they put his +case as strongly as possible. Professor Hubrecht's paper is by far the +clearest and the best written, and he says distinctly that de Vries +claims that all new species have been produced by mutations, and none by +"fluctuating variations." Professor Hubrecht supports this and says that +de Vries has proved it! And all this founded upon a few "sports" from +one species of plant, itself of doubtful origin (variety or hybrid), and +offering phenomena in no way different from scores of other cultivated +plants. Never, I should think, has such a vast hypothetical structure +been erected on so flimsy a basis! + +The boldness of his statements is amazing, as when he declares (as if it +were a fact of observation) that fluctuating variability, though he +admits it as the origin of all domestic animals and plants, yet "never +leads to the formation of species"! (Hubrecht, p. 216.) There is one +point where he so grossly misinterprets your father that I think you or +some other botanist should point it out. De Vries is said to quote from +"Life and Letters," II., p. 83, where Darwin refers to "chance +variations"--explained three lines on as "the slight differences +selected by which a race or species is at length formed." Yet de Vries +and Hubrecht claim that by "chance variations" Darwin meant "sports" or +"mutations," and therefore agrees with de Vries, while both omit to +refer to the many passages in which, later, he gave less and less weight +to what he termed "single large variations"--the same as de Vries' +"mutations"!--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR JOSEPH HOOKER + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. November 10, 1905._ + +My dear Sir Joseph,--I am writing to apologise for a great oversight. +When I sent my publishers a list of persons who had contributed to "My +Life" in various ways, your name, which should have been _first_, was +strangely omitted, and the omission was only recalled to me yesterday by +reading your letters to Bates in Clodd's edition of his Amazon book, +which I have just purchased. I now send you a copy by parcel-post, in +the hope that you will excuse the omission to send it sooner. + +Now for a more interesting subject, I was extremely pleased and even +greatly surprised, in reading your letters to Bates, to find that at +that early period (1862) you were already strongly convinced of three +facts which are absolutely essential to a comprehension of the method of +organic evolution, but which many writers, even now, almost wholly +ignore. They are (1) the universality and large amount of normal +variability, (2) the extreme rigour of Natural Selection, and (3) that +there is no adequate evidence for, and very much against, the +inheritance of acquired characters. + +It was only some years later, when I began to write on the subject and +had to think out the exact mode of action of Natural Selection, that I +myself arrived at (1) and (2), and have ever since dwelt upon them--in +season and out of season, as many will think--as being absolutely +essential to a comprehension of organic evolution. The third I did not +realise till I read Weismann, I have never seen the sufficiency of +normal variability for the modification of species more strongly or +better put than in your letters to Bates. Darwin himself never realised +it, and consequently played into the hands of the "discontinuous +variation" and "mutation" men, by so continually saying "_if_ they +vary"--"without variation Natural Selection can do nothing," etc. + +Your argument that variations are not caused by change of environment is +equally forcible and convincing. Has anybody answered de Vries yet? + +F. Darwin lent me Prof. Hubrecht's review from the _Popular Science +Monthly_, in which he claims that de Vries has proved that new species +have always been produced from "mutations," never through normal +variability, and that Darwin latterly agreed with him! This is to me +amazing! The Americans too accept de Vries as a second Darwin!--Yours +very sincerely, + +ALFRED E. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR J. HOOKER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_The Camp, Sunningdale. November 12, 1905._ + +My dear Wallace,--My return from a short holiday at Sidmouth last +Thursday was greeted by your kind and welcome letter and copy of your +"Life." The latter was, I assure you, never expected, knowing as I do +the demand for free copies that such a work inflicts on the writer. In +fact I had put it down as one of the annual Christmas gifts of books +that I receive from my own family. Coming, as it thus did, quite +unexpectedly, it is doubly welcome, and I do heartily thank you for this +proof of your greatly valued friendship. It will prove to be one of four +works of greatest interest to me of any published since Darwin's +"Origin," the others being Waddell's "Lhasa," Scott's "Antarctic +Voyage," and Mill's "Siege of the South Pole." + +I have not seen Clodd's edition of Bates's "Amazon," which I have put +down as to be got, and I had no idea that I should have appeared in it. +Your citation of my letters and their contents are like dreams to me; +but to tell you the truth, I am getting dull of memory as well as of +hearing, and what is worse, in reading: what goes in at one eye goes out +at the other. So I am getting to realise Darwin's consolation of old +age, that it absolves me from being expected to know, remember, or +reason upon new facts and discoveries. And this must apply to your query +as to anyone having as yet answered de Vries. I cannot remember having +seen any answer; only criticisms of a discontinuous sort. I cannot for a +moment entertain the idea that Darwin ever assented to the proposition +that new species have always been produced from mutation and never +through normal variability. Possibly there is some quibble on the +definition of mutation or of variation. The Americans are prone to +believe any new things, witness their swallowing the thornless cactus +produced by that man in California--I forget his name--which Kew exposed +by asking for specimens to exhibit in the Cactus House....--I am, my +dear Wallace, sincerely yours, + +JOS. D. HOOKER. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. E. SMEDLEY + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. January 31, 1906._ + +Dear Mr. Smedley,--I have read Oliver Lodge's book in answer to Haeckel, +but I do not think it very well done or at all clearly written or well +argued. A book[32] has been sent me, however, which is a masterpiece of +clearness and sound reasoning on such difficult questions, and is a far +more crushing reply to Haeckel than O. Lodge's. I therefore send you a +copy, and feel sure you will enjoy it. It is a stiff piece of reasoning, +and wants close attention and careful thought, but I think you will be +able to appreciate it. In my opinion it comes as near to an intelligible +solution of these great problems of the Universe as we are likely to +get while on earth. It is a book to read and think over, and read again. +It is a masterpiece....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. July 27, 1907._ + +My dear Poulton,--Thanks for your very interesting letter. I am glad to +hear you have a new book on "Evolution"[33] nearly ready and that in it +you will do something to expose the fallacies of the Mutationists and +Mendelians, who pose before the world as having got _all_ wisdom, before +which we poor Darwinians must hide our diminished heads! + +Wishing to know the best that could be said for these latter-day +anti-Darwinians, I have just been reading Lock's book on "Variation, +Heredity, and Evolution." In the early part of his book he gives a +tolerably fair account of Natural Selection, etc. But he gradually turns +to Mendelism as the "one thing needful"--stating that there can be "no +sort of doubt" that Mendel's paper is the "most important" contribution +of its size ever made to biological science! + +"Mutation," as a theory, is absolutely nothing new--only the assertion +that new species originate _always_ in sports, for which the evidence +adduced is the most meagre and inconclusive of any ever set forth with +such pretentious claims! I hope you will thoroughly expose this absurd +claim. + +Mendelism is something new, and within its very limited range, +important, as leading to conceptions as to the causes and laws of +heredity, but only misleading when adduced as the true origin of species +in nature, as to which it seems to me to have no part.--Yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. November 26, 1907._ + +My dear Poulton,--Many thanks for letting me see the proofs.[34] ... The +whole reads very clearly, and I am delighted with the way you expose the +Mendelian and Mutational absurd claims. That ought to really open the +eyes of the newspaper men to the fact that Natural Selection and +Darwinism are not only holding their ground but are becoming more firmly +established than ever by every fresh research into the ways and workings +of living nature. I shall look forward to great pleasure in reading the +whole book. I was greatly pleased with Archdall Reid's view of Mendelism +in _Nature_.[35] He is a very clear and original thinker. + +I see in Essay X. you use in the title the term "defensive coloration." +Why this instead of the usual "protective"? Surely the whole function of +such colours and markings is to protect from attack--not to defend when +attacked. The latter is the function of stings, spines and hard coats. I +only mention this because using different terms may lead to some +misconception. + +Your illustration of mutation by throwing colours on a screen, and the +argument founded on it, I liked much. That reminds me that H. Spencer's +argument for inheritance of acquired variations--that co-ordination of +many parts at once, required for adaptations, would be impossible by +chance variations of those parts--applies with a hundredfold force to +mutations, which are admittedly so much less frequent both in their +numbers and the repetitions of them.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. December 18, 1907._ + +My dear Poulton,--The importance of Mendelism to Evolution seems to me +to be something of the same kind, but very much less in degree and +importance, as Galton's fine discovery of the law of the average share +each parent has in the characters of the child--one quarter, the four +grandparents each one-sixteenth, and so on. That illuminates the whole +problem of heredity, combined with individual diversity, in a way +nothing else does. I almost wish you could introduce that!--Yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. ARCHDALL REID + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. January 19, 1908._ + +Dear Sir,-- ... I was much pleased the other day to read, in a review of +Mr. T. Rice Holmes's fine work on "Ancient Britain and the Invasions of +Julius Cæsar," that the author has arrived by purely historical study at +the conclusion that we have not risen morally above our primitive +ancestors. It is a curious and important coincidence. + +I myself got the germ of the idea many years ago, from a very acute +thinker, Mr. Albert Mott, who gave some very original and thoughtful +addresses as President of the Liverpool Philosophical Society, one of +which dealt with the question of savages being often, perhaps always, +the descendants of more civilised races, and therefore affording no +proof of progression. At that time (about 1860-70) I could not accept +the view, but I have now come to think he was right.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. November 2, 1908._ + +My dear Poulton,-- ... You may perhaps have heard that I have been +invited by the Royal Institution (through Sir W. Crookes) to give them a +lecture on the jubilee of the "Origin of Species" in January, After some +consideration I accepted, because I _think_ I can give a broad and +general view of Darwinism, that will finally squash up the Mutationists +and Mendelians, and be both generally intelligible and interesting. So +far as I know this has never yet been done, and the Royal Institution +audience is just the intelligent and non-specialist one I shall be glad +to give it to if I can. + +I have been very poorly the last three weeks, but am now recovering my +health and strength slowly. It will take me all my time the next two +months to get this ready, and now I must write a letter in reply to the +absurd and gross misrepresentation of Prof. Hubrecht, as to +imaginary differences between Darwin and myself, in the last +_Contemporary_!--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The next letter relates to Wallace's Friday evening Discourse at the +Royal Institution. His friends were afraid whether his voice could be +sustained throughout the hour--fears which were abundantly dispelled by +the actual performance. This was his last public lecture. + + +TO PROF. MELDOLA + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 20, 1908._ + +My dear Meldola,--Thanks for your kind offer to read for me if +necessary. But when Sir Wm. Crookes first wrote to me about it, he +offered to read all, or any parts of the lecture, if my voice did not +hold out. I am very much afraid I cannot stand the strain of speaking +beyond my natural tone for an hour, or even for half that time--but I +may be able to do the opening and conclusion.... + +I am glad that you see, as I do, the utter futility of the claims of the +Mutationists. I may just mention them in the lecture, but I hope I have +put the subject in such a way that even "the meanest capacity" will +suffice to see the absurdity of their claims.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. January 26, 1909._ + +My dear Poulton,--I had a delightful two hours at the Museum on Saturday +morning, as Mr. Rothschild brought from Tring several of his +glass-bottomed drawers with his finest new New Guinea butterflies. They +_were_ a treat! I never saw anything more lovely and interesting!... + +As to your very kind and pressing invitation,[36] I am sorry to be +obliged to decline it. I cannot remain more than one day or night away +from home, without considerable discomfort, and all the attractions of +your celebration are, to me, repulsions.... + +My lecture, even as it will be published in the _Fortnightly_, will be +far too short for exposition of all the points I wish to discuss, and I +hope to occupy myself during this year in saying all I want to say in a +book (of a wider scope) which is already arranged for. One of the great +points, which I just touched on in the lecture, is to show that all that +is usually considered the waste of Nature--the enormous number produced +in proportion to the few that survive--was absolutely essential in order +to secure the variety and continuity of life through all the ages, and +especially of that one line of descent which culminated in man. That, I +think, is a subject no one has yet dealt with.--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. March 1, 1909._ + +Dear Poulton,-- ... I am glad that Lankester has replied to the almost +disgraceful Centenary article in the _Times_. But it is an illustration +of the widespread mischief the Mutationists, etc., are doing. I have no +doubt, however, it will all come right in the end, though the end may be +far off, and in the meantime we must simply go on, and show, at every +opportunity, that Darwinism actually does explain the whole fields of +phenomena that they do not even attempt to deal with, or even +approach....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. March 6, 1909._ + +Dear Mrs. Fisher,-- ... Another point I am becoming more and more +impressed with is, a teleology of fundamental laws and forces rendering +development of the infinity of life-forms possible (and certain) in +place of the old teleology applied to the production of each species. +Such are the case of feathers reproduced annually, which I gave at end +of lecture, and the still more marvellous fact of the caterpillar, often +in two or three weeks of chrysalis life, having its whole internal, +muscular, nervous, locomotive and alimentary organs decomposed and +recomposed into a totally different being--an absolute miracle if ever +there is one, quite as wonderful as would be the production of a complex +marine organism out of a mass of protoplasm. Yet, because there has +been continuity, the difficulty is slurred over or thought to be +explained!--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. June 22, 1909._ + +Dear Sir William,--On Saturday, to my great pleasure, I received a copy +of the Darwin Commemoration volume. I at once began reading your most +excellent paper on the Geographical Distribution of Plants. It is +intensely interesting to me, both because it so clearly brings out +Darwin's views and so judiciously expounds his arguments--even when you +intimate a difference of opinion--but especially because you bring out +so clearly and strongly his views on the general permanence of +continents and oceans, which to-day, as much as ever, wants insisting +upon. I may just mention here that none of the people who still insist +on former continents where now are deep oceans have ever dealt with the +almost physical impossibility of such a change having occurred without +breaking the continuity of terrestrial life, owing to the mean depth of +the ocean being at least six times the mean height of the land, and its +area nearly three times, so that the whole mass of the land of the +existing continents would be required to build up even _one small_ +continent in the depths of the Atlantic or Pacific! I have demonstrated +this, with a diagram, in my "Darwinism" (Chap, XII.), and it has never +been either refuted or noticed, but passed by as if it did not exist! +Your whole discussion of Dispersal and Distribution is also admirable, +and I was much interested with your quotations from Guppy, whose book I +have not seen, but must read. + +Most valuable to me also are your numerous references to Darwin's +letters, so that the article serves as a compendious index to the five +volumes, as regards this subject. + +Especially admirable is the way in which you have always kept Darwin +before us as the centre of the whole discussion, while at the same time +fairly stating the sometimes adverse views of those who differ from him +on certain points....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_The Ferns, Witcombe, Gloucester. June 25, 1909._ + +Dear Dr. Wallace,--It is difficult for me to tell you how gratified I am +by your extraordinarily kind letter.... The truth is that success was +easy. It has been my immense good fortune to know most of those who +played in the drama. The story simply wanted a straightforward +amanuensis to tell itself. But it is a real pleasure to me to know that +I have met with some measure of success. + +There are many essays in the book that you will not like any more than I +do. The secret of this lies in the fact, which you pointed out in your +memorable speech at the Linnean Celebration, that no one but a +naturalist can really understand Darwin. + +I did not go to Cambridge--I had my hands full here. I was not sorry for +the excuse. There seemed to me a note of insincerity about the whole +business. I am short-tempered. I cannot stand being told that the origin +of species has still to be discovered, and that specific differences +have no "reality" (Bateson's Essay, p. 89). People are of course at +liberty to hold such opinions, but decency might have presented another +occasion for ventilating them.--Yours sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_The Ferns, Witcombe, Gloucester. July 11, 1909._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,-- ... I have just got F. Darwin's "Foundations." He +tries to make out that his father could have dispensed with Malthus. But +the selection death-rate in a slightly varying large population is _the_ +pith of the whole business. The Darwin-Wallace theory is, as you say, +"the continuous adjustment of the organic to the inorganic world." It is +what mathematicians call "a moving equilibrium." In fact, I have always +maintained that it is a mathematical conception. + +It seemed to me there was a touch of insincerity about the whole +celebration,[37] as the younger Cambridge School as a whole do not even +begin to understand the theory.... I take it that the reason is, as you +pointed out, that none of them are naturalists.--Yours sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. ARCHDALL REID + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. December 28, 1909._ + +Dear Dr. Archdall Reid,--Many thanks for your very interesting and +complimentary letter. I am very glad to hear of your new book, which I +doubt not will be very interesting and instructive. The subjects you +treat are, however, so very complex, and require so much accurate +knowledge of the facts, and so much sound reasoning upon them, that I +cannot possibly undertake the labour and thought required before I +should feel justified in expressing an opinion upon your treatment of +them.... + +I rejoice to hear that you have exposed the fallacy of the claims of the +Mendelians. I have also tried to do so, but I find it quite impossible +for me to follow their detailed studies and arguments. It wants a +mathematical mind, which I have not. + +But on the general relation of Mendelism to Evolution I have come to a +very definite conclusion. This is, that it has no relation whatever to +the evolution of species or higher groups, but is really antagonistic to +such evolution! The essential basis of evolution, involving as it does +the most minute and all-pervading adaptation to the whole environment, +is extreme and ever-present plasticity, as a condition of survival and +adaptation. But the essence of Mendelian characters is their rigidity. +They are transmitted without variation, and therefore, except by the +rarest of accidents, can never become adapted to ever-varying +conditions. Moreover, when crossed they reproduce the same pair of types +in the same proportions as at first, and therefore without selection; +they are antagonistic to evolution by continually reproducing injurious +or useless characters--which is the reason they are so rarely found in +nature, but are mostly artificial breeds or sports. My view is, +therefore, that Mendelian characters are of the nature of abnormalities +or monstrosities, and that the "Mendelian laws" serve the purpose of +eliminating them when, as usually, they are not useful, and thus +preventing them from interfering with the normal process of natural +selection and adaptation of the more plastic races. I am also glad to +hear of your new argument for non-inheritance of acquired +characters.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne, February 8, 1911._ + +Dear Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer,--I thank you very much for taking so much +trouble as you have done in writing your views of my new book.[38] I am +glad to find that you agree with much of what I have said in the more +evolutionary part of it, and that you differ only on some of my +suggested interpretations of the facts. I have always felt the +disadvantage I have been under--more especially during the last twenty +years--in having not a single good biologist anywhere near me, with whom +I could discuss matters of theory or obtain information as to matters of +fact. I am therefore the more pleased that you do not seem to have come +across any serious misstatements in the botanical portions, as to which +I have had to trust entirely to second-hand information, often obtained +through a long and varied correspondence. + +As to your disagreement from me in the conclusions arrived at and +strenuously advocated in the latter portions of my work, I am not +surprised. I am afraid, now, that I have not expressed myself +sufficiently clearly as to the fundamental phenomena which seem to me +absolutely to necessitate a guiding mind and organising power. Hardly +one of my critics (I think absolutely not one) has noticed the +distinction I have tried and intended to draw between Evolution on the +one hand, and the fundamental powers and properties of Life--growth, +assimilation, reproduction, heredity, etc.--on the other. In Evolution I +recognise the action of Natural Selection as universal and capable of +explaining all the facts of the continuous development of species from +species, "from amoeba to man." But this, as Darwin, Weismann, Kerner, +Lloyd-Morgan, and even Huxley have seen, has nothing whatever to do with +the basic mysteries of life--growth, etc. etc. The chemists think they +have done wonders when they have produced in their laboratories certain +organic substances--always by the use of other organic products--which +life builds up within each organism, and from the few simple elements +available in air, earth, and water, innumerable structures--bone, horn, +hair, skin, blood, muscle, etc. etc.; and these are not amorphous--mere +lumps of dead matter--but organised to serve certain definite purposes +in each living organism. I have dwelt on this in my chapter on "The +Mystery of the Cell." Now I have been unable to find any attempt by any +biologist or physiologist to grapple with this problem. One and all, +they shirk it, or simply state it to be insoluble. It is here that I +state guidance and organising power are essential. My little +physiological parable or allegory (p. 296) I think sets forth the +difficulty fairly, though by no means adequately, yet not one of about +fifty reviews I have read even mentions it. + +If you know of any writer of sufficient knowledge and mental power, who +has fully recognised and fairly grappled with this fundamental problem, +I should be very glad to be referred to him. I have been able to find no +approach to it. Yet I am at once howled at, or sneered at, for pointing +out the facts that such problems exist, that they are not in any way +touched by Evolution, but are far before it, and the forces, laws and +agencies involved are those of existences possessed of powers, mental +and physical, far beyond those mere mechanical, physical, or chemical +forces we see at work in nature....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_The Ferns, Witcombe, Gloucester. February 12, 1911._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,-- ... You must let me correct you on one technical +point in your letter. It is no longer possible to say that chemists +effect the synthesis of organic products "by the use of other organic +substances." From what has been already effected, it cannot be doubted +that eventually every organic substance will be built up from "the few +simple elements available in air, earth and water." I think you may take +it from me that this does not admit of dispute.... + +At any rate we are in agreement as to Natural Selection being capable of +explaining evolution "from amoeba to man." + +It is generally admitted that that is a mechanical or scientific +explanation. That is to say, it invokes nothing but intelligible actions +and causes. + +De Vries, however, asserts that the Darwinian theory is _not_ scientific +at all, and that is of course a position he has a right to take up. + +But if we admit that it is scientific, then we are precluded from +admitting a "directive power." + +This was von Baer's position, also that of Kant and of Weismann. + +But von Baer remarks that the naturalist is not precluded from asking +"whether the _totality_ of details leads him to a general and final +basis of intentional design." I have no objection to this, and offer it +as an olive-branch which you can throw to your howling and sneering +critics. + +As to "structures organised to serve certain definite purposes," surely +they offer no more difficulty as regards "scientific" explanation than +the apparatus by which an orchid is fertilised. + +We can work back to the amoeba to find ourselves face to face with a +scarcely organised mass of protoplasm. And then we find ourselves face +to face with a problem which will, perhaps, for ever remain insoluble +scientifically. But as for that, so is the primeval material of which it +(protoplasm) is composed. "Matter" itself is evaporating, for it is +being resolved by physical research into something which is intangible. + +We cannot form the slightest idea how protoplasm came into existence. +It is impossible to regard it as a mere substance. It is a mechanism. +Although the chemist may hope to make eventually all the substances +which protoplasm fabricates, and will probably do so, he can only build +them up by the most complicated processes. Protoplasm appears to be able +to manufacture them straight off in a way of which the chemist cannot +form the slightest conception. This is one aspect of the mystery of +_life_. Herbert Spencer's definition tells one nothing. + +Science can only explain nature as it reveals itself to the senses in +terms of consciousness. The explanation may be all wrong in the eyes of +omniscience. All one can say is that it is a practical working basis, +and is good enough for mundane purposes. But if I am asked if I can +solve the riddle of the Universe I can only answer, No. Brunetière then +retorts that science is bankrupt. But this is equivocal. It only means +that it cannot meet demands beyond its power to satisfy. + +I entirely sympathise with anyone who seeks an answer from some other +non-scientific source. But I keep scientific explanations and spiritual +craving wholly distinct. + +The whole point of evolution, as formulated by Lyell and Darwin, is to +explain phenomena by known causes. Now, directive power is not a known +cause. Determinism compels me to believe that every event is inevitable. +If we admit a directive power, the order of nature becomes capricious +and unintelligible. Excuse my saying all this. But that is the dilemma +as it presents itself to _my_ mind. If it does not trouble other people, +I can only say, so much the better for them. Briefly, I am afraid I must +say that it is ultra-scientific. I think that would have been pretty +much Darwin's view. + +I do not think that it is quite fair to say that biologists shirk the +problem. In my opinion they are not called upon to face it. Bastian, I +suppose, believed that he had bridged the gulf between lifeless and +living matter. And here is a man, of whom I know nothing, who has +apparently got the whole thing cut and dried.--Yours sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. May 28, 1912._ + +My dear Poulton,--Thanks for your paper on Darwin and Bergson.[39] I +have read nothing of Bergson's, and although he evidently has much in +common with my own views, yet all vague ideas--like "an internal +development force"--seem to me of no real value as an explanation of +Nature. + +I claim to have shown the necessity of an ever-present Mind as the +primal cause both of all physical and biological evolution. This Mind +works by and through the primal forces of nature--by means of Natural +Selection in the world of life; and I do not think I could read a book +which rejects this method in favour of a vague "law of sympathy." He +might as well reject gravitation, electrical repulsion, etc. etc., as +explaining the motions of cosmical bodies....--Yours very truly, ALFRED +R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. BEN R. MILLER + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset, January 18, 1913._ + +Dear Sir,--Thanks for your kind congratulations, and for the small +pamphlet[40] you have sent me. I have read it with much interest, as the +writer was evidently a man of thought and talent. The first lecture +certainly gives an approach to Darwin's theory, perhaps nearer than any +other, as he almost implies the "survival of the fittest" as the cause +of progressive modification. But his language is imaginative and +obscure. He uses "education" apparently in the sense of what we should +term "effect of the environment." + +The second lecture is even a more exact anticipation of the modern views +as to microbes, including their transmission by flies and other insects +and the probability that the blood of healthy persons contains a +sufficiency of destroyers of the pathogenic germs--such as the white +blood-corpuscles--to preserve us in health. + +But he is so anti-clerical and anti-Biblical that it is no wonder he +could not get a hearing in Boston in 1847.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. April 2, 1913._ + +My dear Poulton,--About two months ago an American ... sent me the +enclosed booklet,[41] which he had been told was very rare, and +contained an anticipation of Darwinism. + +This it certainly does, but the writer was highly imaginative, and, like +all the other anticipators of Darwin, did not perceive the whole scope +of his idea, being, as he himself says, not sufficiently acquainted with +the facts of nature. + +His anticipations, however, of diverging lines of descent from a common +ancestor, and of the transmission of disease germs by means of insects, +are perfectly clear and very striking. + +As you yourself made known one of the anticipators of Darwin, whom he +himself had overlooked, you are the right person to make this known in +any way you think proper. As you have so recently been in America, you +might perhaps ascertain from the librarian of the public library in +Boston, or from some of your biological friends there, what is known of +the writer and of his subsequent history. + +If the house at Down is ever dedicated to Darwin's memory it would seem +best to preserve this little book there; if not you can dispose of it as +you think best.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--Two of my books have been translated into Japanese: will you +ascertain whether the Bodleian would like to have them? + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. POULTON[42] + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset, June 3, 1913._ + +My dear Poulton,--I am very glad you have changed your view about the +"Sleeper" lectures being a "fake." The writer was too earnest, and too +clear a thinker, to descend to any such trick. And for what? "Agnostic" +is not in Shakespeare, but it may well have been used by someone before +Huxley. The parts of your Address of which you send me slips are +excellent, and I am sure will be of great interest to your audience. I +quite agree with your proposal that the "Lectures" shall be given to the +Linnean Society.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. E. SMEDLEY + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. August 26, 1913._ + +Dear Mr. Smedley,--I am glad to see you looking so jolly. I return the +photo to give to some other friend. Mr. Marchant, the lecturer you +heard, is a great friend of mine, but is now less dogmatic. The +Piltdown skull does not prove much, if anything! + +The papers are wrong about me. I am not writing anything now; perhaps +shall write no more. Too many letters and home business. Too much +bothered with many slight ailments, which altogether keep me busy +attending to them. I am like Job, who said "the grasshopper was a +burthen" to him! I suppose its creaking song.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.J. FARMER + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. 1913._ + +Dear Sir,-- ... I presume your question "Why?" as to the varying colour +of individual hairs and feathers, and the regular varying of adjacent +hairs, etc., to form the surface pattern, applies to the ultimate cause +which enables those patterns to be hereditary, and, in the case of +birds, to be reproduced after moulting yearly. + +The purpose, or end they serve, I have, I think, sufficiently dealt with +in my "Darwinism"; the method by which such useful tints and markings +are produced, because useful, is, I think, clearly explained by the law +of Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest, acting through the +universal facts of heredity and variation. + +But the "why"--which goes further back, to the directing agency which +not only brings each special cell of the highly complex structure of a +feather into its exactly right position, but, further, carries pigments +or produces surface striæ (in the case of the metallic or interference +colours) also to their exactly right place, and nowhere else--is the +mystery, which, if we knew, we should (as Tennyson said of the flower in +the wall) "know what God and Man is." + +The idea that "cells" are all conscious beings and go to their right +places has been put forward by Butler in his wonderful book "Life and +Habit," and now even Haeckel seems to adopt it. All theories of +heredity, including Darwin's pangenesis, do not touch it, and it seems +to me as fundamental as life and consciousness, and to be absolutely +inconceivable by us till we know what life is, what spirit is, and what +matter is; and it is probable that we must develop in the spirit world +some few thousand million years before we get to this knowledge--if +then! + +My book, "Man's Place in the Universe," shows, I think, indications of +the vast importance of that Universe as the producer of Man which so +many scientific men to-day try to belittle, because of what may be, in +the infinite!--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + + + +PART IV + +Home Life + +(By W.G. WALLACE and VIOLET WALLACE) + + +In our father's youth and prime he was 6 ft. 1 in. in height, with +square though not very broad shoulders. At the time to which our first +clear recollections go back he had already acquired a slight stoop due +to long hours spent at his desk, and this became more pronounced with +advancing age; but he was always tall, spare and very active, and walked +with a long easy swinging stride which he retained to the end of his +life. + +As a boy he does not appear to have been very athletic or muscularly +strong, and his shortsightedness probably prevented him from taking part +in many of the pastimes of his schoolfellows. He was never a good +swimmer, and he used to say that his long legs pulled him down. He was, +however, always a good walker and, until quite late in life, capable of +taking long country walks, of which he was very fond. + +He was very quick and active in his movements at times, and even when 90 +years of age would get up on a chair or sofa to reach a book from a high +shelf, and move about his study with rapid strides to find some paper to +which he wished to refer. + +When out of doors he usually carried an umbrella, and in the garden a +stick, upon which he leaned rather heavily in his later years. His hair +became white rather early in life, but it remained thick and fine to the +last, a fact which he attributed to always wearing soft hats. He had +full beard and whiskers, which were also white. His eyes were blue and +his complexion rather pale. He habitually wore spectacles, and to us he +never looked quite natural without them. Towards the end of his life his +eyes were subject to inflammation, and the glasses were blue. His hands, +though large, were not clumsy, and were capable of very delicate +manipulation, as is shown by his skill in handling and preserving +insects and bird-skins, and also in sketching, where delicacy of touch +was essential. His handwriting is another example of this; it remained +clear and even to the end, in spite of the fact that he wrote all his +books, articles, and letters with his own hand until the last few years, +when he occasionally had assistance with his correspondence; but his +last two books, "Social Environment" and "The Revolt of Democracy," +written when he was 90 years of age, were penned by himself, and the +MSS. are perfectly legible and regular. + +He was very domestic, and loved his home. His interest extended to the +culinary art, and he was fond of telling us how certain things should be +cooked. This became quite a joke among us. He was very independent, and +it never seemed to occur to him to ask to have anything done for him if +he could do it himself--and he could do many things, such as sewing on +buttons and tapes and packing up parcels, with great neatness. When +unpacking parcels he never cut the string if it could be untied, and he +would fold it up before removing the paper, which in its turn was also +neatly folded. + +His clothes were always loose and easy-fitting, and generally of some +quiet-coloured cloth or tweed. Out of doors he wore a soft black felt +hat rather taller than the clerical pattern, and a black overcoat unless +the weather was very warm. He wore no ornaments of any kind, and even +the silver watch-chain was worn so as to be invisible. He wore low +collars with turned-down points and a narrow black tie, which was, +however, concealed by his beard. He was not very particular about his +personal appearance, except that he always kept his hair and beard well +brushed and trimmed. + +[Illustration: MRS. A.R. WALLACE (about 1895)] + +In our early days at Grays we children were allowed to run in and out of +his study; but if he was busy writing at the moment we would look at a +book until he could give us his attention. His brother in California +sent him a live specimen of the lizard called the "horned toad," and +this creature was kept in the study, where it was allowed to roam about, +its favourite place being on the hearth. + +About this time he read "Alice through the Looking-glass," which pleased +him greatly; he was never tired of quoting from it and using some of +Lewis Carroll's quaint words till it became one of our classics. + +Some of our earliest recollections are of the long and interesting walks +we took with our father and mother. He never failed to point out +anything of interest and tell us what he knew about it, and would answer +our numerous questions if possible, or put us off with some joking +reference to Boojums or Jabberwocks. We looked upon him as an infallible +source of information, not only in our childhood, but to a large extent +all his life. When exploring the country he scorned "trespass boards." +He read them "Trespassers will be persecuted," and then ignored them, +much to our childish trepidation. If he was met by indignant gamekeepers +or owners, they were often too much awed by his dignified and commanding +appearance to offer any objection to his going where he wished. He was +fond of calling our attention to insects and to other objects of natural +history, and giving us interesting lessons about them. He delighted in +natural scenery, especially distant views, and our walks and excursions +were generally taken with some object, such as finding a bee-orchis or +a rare plant, or exploring a new part of the country, or finding a +waterfall. + +In 1876 we went to live at Dorking, but stayed there only a year or two. +An instance of his love of mystifying us children may be given. It must +have been shortly after our arrival at Dorking that one day, having been +out to explore the neighbourhood, he returned about tea-time and said, +"Where do you think I have been? To Glory!" Of course we were very +properly excited, and plied him with questions, but we got nothing more +out of him then. Later on we were taken to see the wonderful place +called "Glory Wood"; and it had surely gained in glory by such +preparation. + +Sometimes it would happen that a scene or object would recall an +incident in his tropical wanderings and he would tell us of the sights +he had seen. At the time he was greatly interested in botany, in which +he was encouraged by our mother, who was an ardent lover of flowers; and +to the end of his life he exhibited almost boyish delight when he +discovered a rare plant. Many walks and excursions were taken for the +purpose of seeing some uncommon plant growing in its natural habitat. +When he had found the object of his search we were all called to see it. +During his walks and holidays he made constant use of the one-inch +Ordnance Maps, which he obtained for each district he visited, planning +out our excursions on the map before starting. He had a gift for finding +the most beautiful walks by means of it. + +In 1878 we moved to Croydon, where we lived about four years. It was at +this time that he hoped to get the post of Superintendent of Epping +Forest. We still remember all the delights we children were promised if +we went to live there. We had a day's excursion to see the Forest, he +with his map finding out the roads and stopping every now and then to +admire a fresh view or to explain what he would do if the opportunity +were given him. It was a very hot day, and we became so thirsty that +when we reached a stream, to our great joy and delight he took out of +his pocket, not the old leather drinking-cup he usually carried, but a +long piece of black indiarubber tubing. We can see him now, quite as +pleased as we were with this brilliant idea, letting it down into the +stream and then offering us a drink! No water ever tasted so nice! Our +mother used to be a little anxious as to the quality of the water, but +he always put aside such objections by saying _running_ water was quite +safe, and somehow we never came to any harm through it. The same happy +luck attended our cuts and scratches; he always put "stamp-paper" on +them, calling it plaster, and we knew of no other till years later. He +used the same thing for his own cuts, etc., to the end of his life, with +no ill effects. + +In 1881 we moved again, this time to Godalming, where he had built a +small house which be called "Nutwood Cottage." After Croydon this was a +very welcome change and we all enjoyed the lovely country round. The +garden as usual was the chief hobby, and Mr. J.W. Sharpe, our old friend +and neighbour in those days, has written his reminiscences of this time +which give a very good picture of our father. They are as follows: + + * * * * * + +About thirty-five years ago Dr. Wallace built a house upon a plot of +ground adjoining that upon which our house stood. I was at that time an +assistant master at Charterhouse School; and Dr. Wallace became +acquainted with a few of the masters besides myself. With two or three +of them he had regular weekly games of chess; for he was then and for +long afterwards very fond of that game; and, I understand, possessed +considerable skill at it. A considerable portion of his spare time was +spent in his garden, in the management of which Mrs. Wallace, who had +much knowledge and experience of gardening, very cordially assisted him. +Here his characteristic energy and restlessness were conspicuously +displayed. He was always designing some new feature, some alteration in +a flower-bed, some special environment for a new plant; and always he +was confident that the new schemes would be found to have all the +perfections which the old ones lacked. From all parts of the world +botanists and collectors sent him, from time to time, rare or newly +discovered plants, bulbs, roots or seeds, which he, with the help of +Mrs. Wallace's practical skill, would try to acclimatise, and to +persuade to grow somewhere or other in his garden or conservatory. +Nothing disturbed his cheerful confidence in the future, and nothing +made him happier than some plan for reforming the house, the garden, the +kitchen-boiler, or the universe. And, truth to say, he displayed great +ingenuity in all these enterprises of reformation. Although they were +never in effect what they were expected to be by their ingenious author, +they were often sufficiently successful; but, successful or not, he was +always confident that the next would turn out to be all that he expected +of it. With the same confidence he made up his mind upon many a +disputable subject; but, be it said, never without a laborious +examination of the necessary data, and the acquisition of much +knowledge. In argument, of which intellectual exercise he was very fond, +he was a formidable antagonist. His power of handling masses of details +and facts, of showing their inner meanings and the principles underlying +them, and of making them intelligible, was very great; and very few men +of his time had it in equal measure. + +But the most striking feature in his conversation was his masterly +application of general principles: these he handled with extraordinary +skill. In any subject with which he was familiar, he would solve, or +suggest a plausible solution of, difficulty after difficulty by +immediate reference to fundamental principles. This would give to his +conclusions an appearance of inevitableness which usually overbore his +adversary, and, even if it did not convince him, left him without any +effective reply. This, too, had a good deal to do, I am disposed to +conjecture, with another very noticeable characteristic of his which +often came out in conversation, and that was his apparently unfailing +confidence in the goodness of human nature. No man nor woman but he took +to be in the main honest and truthful, and no amount of +disappointment--not even losses of money and property incurred through +this faith in others' virtues--had the effect of altering this mental +habit of his. + +His intellectual interests were very widely extended, and he once +confessed to me that they were agreeably stimulated by novelty and +opposition. An uphill fight in an unpopular cause, for preference a +thoroughly unpopular one, or any argument in favour of a generally +despised thesis, had charms for him that he could not resist. In his +later years, especially, the prospect of writing a new book, great or +small, upon any one of his favourite subjects always acted upon him like +a tonic, as much so as did the project of building a new house and +laying out a new garden. And in all this his sunny optimism and his +unfailing confidence in his own powers went far towards securing him +success.--J.W.S. + + * * * * * + +"Land Nationalisation" (1882), "Bad Times" (1885), and "Darwinism" +(1889) were written at Godalming, also the series of lectures which he +gave in America in 1886-7 and at various towns in the British Isles. He +also continued to have examination papers[43] to correct each year--and +a very strenuous time that was. Our mother used to assist him in this +work, and also with the indexes of his books. + +We now began to make nature collections, in which he took the keenest +interest, many holidays and excursions being arranged to further these +engrossing pursuits. One or two incidents occurred at "Nutwood" which +have left clear impressions upon our minds. One day one of us brought +home a beetle, to the great horror of the servant. Passing at the +moment, he picked it up, saying, "Why, it is quite a harmless little +creature!" and to demonstrate its inoffensiveness he placed it on the +tip of his nose, whereupon it immediately bit him and even drew blood, +much to our amusment and his own astonishment. On another occasion he +was sitting with a book on the lawn under the oak tree when suddenly a +large creature alighted upon his shoulder. Looking round, he saw a fine +specimen of the ring-tailed lemur, of whose existence in the +neighbourhood he had no knowledge, though it belonged to some neighbours +about a quarter of a mile away. It seemed appropriate that the animal +should have selected for its attentions the one person in the district +who would not be alarmed at the sudden appearance of a strange animal +upon his shoulder. Needless to say, it was quite friendly. + +A year or so before we left Godalming he enlarged the house and altered +the garden. But his health not having been very good, causing him a good +deal of trouble with his eyes, and having more or less exhausted the +possibilities of the garden, he decided to leave Godalming and find a +new house in a milder climate. So in 1889 he finally fixed upon a small +house at Parkstone in Dorset. + +Planning and constructing houses, gardens, walls, paths, rockeries, +etc., were great hobbies of his, and he often spent hours making scale +drawings of some new house or of alterations to an existing one, and +scheming out the details of construction. At other times he would devise +schemes for new rockeries or waterworks, and he would always talk them +over with us and tell us of some splendid new idea he had hit upon. As +Mr. Sharpe has noted, he was always very optimistic, and if a scheme did +not come up to his expectations he was not discouraged but always +declared he could do it much better next time and overcome the defects. +He was generally in better health and happier when some constructional +work was in hand. He built three houses, "The Dell" at Grays, "Nutwood +Cottage" at Godalming, and the "Old Orchard" at Broadstone. The last he +actually built himself, employing the men and buying all the materials, +with the assistance of a young clerk of works; but though the enterprise +was a source of great pleasure, it was a constant worry. He also +designed and built a concrete garden wall, with which he was very +pleased, though it cost considerably more than he anticipated. He had +not been at Parkstone long before he set about the planning of +"alterations" with his usual enthusiasm. We were both away from home at +this time, and consequently had many letters from him, of which one is +given as a specimen. His various interests are nearly always referred to +in these letters, and in not a few of them his high spirits show +themselves in bursts of exuberance which were very characteristic +whenever a new scheme was afoot. The springs of eternal youth were for +ever bubbling up afresh, so that to us he never grew old. One of us +remembers how, when he must have been about 80, someone said, "What a +wonderful old man your father is!" This was quite a shock, for to us he +was not old. The letter referred to above is the following: + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset, February 1, 1891._ + +My dear Will,--Another week has passed away into eternity, another month +has opened its eyes on the world, and still the illustrious Charles +[bricklayer] potters about, still the carpenter plies the creaking saw +and the stunning hammer, still the plumber plumbs and the bellhanger +rattles, still the cisterns overflow and the unfinished drains send +forth odorous fumes, still the rains descend and all around the house +is a muddle of muck and mire, and still there is so much to do that we +look forward to some far distant futurity, when all that we are now +suffering will be over, and we may look back upon it as upon some +strange yet not altogether uninteresting nightmare! + +Briefly to report progress. The new pipe-man has finished the bathroom +and nearly done the bells, and we have had gas alight the last three +days. The balcony is finished, the bath and lavatory are closed up and +waiting for the varnishers. Charles has finished the roof, and the +scaffolding is removed. But though two plumbers have tried all their +skill, the ball-cock in the cistern won't work, and when the water has +been turned on an hour it overflows. The gutters and pipes to roof are +not up, and the night before last a heavy flood of rain washed a +quantity of muddy water into the back entrance, which flowed right +across the kitchen into the back passage and larder, leaving a deposit +of alluvial mud that would have charmed a geologist. However, we have +stopped that for the future by a drain under the doorstep. The new +breakfast-room is being papered and will look tidy soon. A man has been +to measure for the stairs. The front porch door is promised for +to-morrow, and the stairs, I suppose, in another week. A lot of fresh +pointing is to be done, and all the rain-water pipes and the rain-water +cistern with its overflow pipes, and then the greenhouse, and then all +the outside painting--after which we shall rest for a month and then do +the inside papering; but whether that can be done before Easter seems +very doubtful.... + +Our alterations still go on. The stairs just up--Friday night we had to +go outside to get to bed, and Saturday and Sunday we _could_ get up, but +over a chasm, and with alarming creaks. Now it is all firm, but no +handrail yet. Painters still at work, and whitewashers. Porch +door up, with two birds in stained glass--looks fine--proposed +new name, "Dicky-bird Lodge." Bath fixed, but waiting to be +varnished--luxurious!... + + * * * * * + +Dr. Wallace had already received four medals from various scientific +societies, and at our suggestion he had a case made to hold them all, +which is referred to in the following letter. The two new medals +mentioned were those of the Royal Geographical and Linnean Societies. He +attached very little importance to honours conferred upon himself, +except in so far as they showed acceptance of "the truth," as he called +it. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE + +_Parkstone, Dorset. April 3, 1892._ + +My dear Violet,-- ... I have got J.G. Wood's book on the horse. It is +very good; I think the best book he has written, as his heart was +evidently in it.... + +A dreadful thing has happened! Just as I have had my medal-case made, +"regardless of expense," they are going to give me another medal! Hadn't +I better decline it, with thanks? "No room for more medals"!!--Your +affectionate papa, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--A poor man came here last night (Saturday) with a basket of +primrose roots--had carried them eight miles, couldn't sell one in Poole +or Parkstone--was 64 years old--couldn't get any work to do--had no +home, etc. So, though I do not approve of digging up primrose roots as a +trade, I gave him 1s. 6d. for them, pitying him as one of the countless +victims of landlordism.--A.R.W. + +A poor man was sentenced to fourteen days' hard labour last week for +picking snowdrops in Charborough Park. Shame!--A.R.W., Pres. L.N. +Society. + + * * * * * + +TO Miss VIOLET WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. May 5, 1892._ + +My dear Violet,--I have finished reading "Freeland." It is very good--as +good a story as "Looking Backward," but not quite so pleasantly +written--rather heavy and Germanic in places. The results are much the +same as in "Looking Backward" but brought about in a different and very +ingenious manner. It may be called "Individualistic Socialism." I shall +be up in London soon, I expect, to the first Meetings of the Examiners +in the great science of "omnium gatherum."[44]--Your affec. papa, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +While he lived at Parkstone our father built a small orchid house in +which he cultivated a number of orchids for a few years, but the +constant attention which they demanded, together with the heated +atmosphere, were too much for him, and he was obliged to give them up. +He was never tired of admiring their varied forms and colours, or +explaining to friends the wonderful apparatus by which many of them were +fertilised. The following letter shows his enthusiasm for orchids: + + +TO Miss VIOLET WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. November_ 25, 1894. + +My dear Violet,-- ... I have found a doctor at Poole (Mr. Turner) who +has two nice orchid houses which he attends to entirely himself, and as +I can thus get advice and sympathy from a fellow maniac (though he _is_ +a public vaccinator!) my love of orchids is again aroused to fever-heat, +and I have made some alterations in the greenhouse which will better +adapt it for orchid growing, and have bought a few handsome kinds very +cheap, and these give me a lot of extra work and amusement.... + + * * * * * + + +TO HIS WIFE + + +_Hôtel du Glacier du Rhône. Wednesday evening, [July, 1895]._ + +My dear Annie,--I send you now a box of plants I got on both sides of +the Furka Pass yesterday, and about here to-day. The Furka Pass on both +sides is a perfect flower-garden, and the two sides have mostly +different species. The violets and anemones were lovely, and I have got +two species of glorious gentians.... All the flowers in the box are very +choice species, and have been carefully dug up, and having seen how they +grow, I have been thinking of a plan of making a little bed for them on +the top of the new rockery where there is now nothing particular. Will +you please plant them out carefully in the zinc tray of peat and +sphagnum that stands outside near the little greenhouse door? Just lift +up the sphagnum and see if the earth beneath is moist, if not give it a +soaking. Then put them all in, the short-rooted ones in the sphagnum +only, the others through into the peat. Then give them a good syringing +and put the tray under the shelf outside the greenhouse, and cover with +newspaper for a day or two. After that I think they will do, keeping +them moist if the weather is dry. I am getting hosts of curiosities. +To-day we found four or five species of willows from 1/4 in. to 2 in. +high, and other rarities.... In haste for post and dinner.--Your ever +affectionate + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 22, 1897._ + +My dear Violet,--In your previous letter you asked me the conundrum, Why +does a wagtail wag its tail? That's quite easy, on Darwinian principles. +Many birds wag their tails. Some Eastern flycatchers--also black and +white--wag their long tails up and down when they alight on the ground +or on a branch. Other birds with long tails jerk them up in the air when +they alight on a branch. Now these varied motions, like the motions of +many butterflies, caterpillars, and many other animals, must have a use +to the animal, and the most common, or rather the most probable, use is, +either to frighten or to distract an enemy. If a hawk was very hungry +and darted down on a wagtail from up in the air, the wagging tail would +be seen most distinctly and be aimed at, and thus the bird would be +missed or at most a feather torn out of the tail. The bird hunts for +food in the open, on the edges of ponds and streams, and would be +especially easy to capture, hence the wagging tail has been developed to +baffle the enemy.... + + * * * * * + +TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 8, 1899._ + +My dear Violet,-- ... I have now finished reading the "Maha Bharata," +which is on the whole very fine--finer, I think, than the "Iliad." I +have read a good deal of it twice, and it will bear reading many times. +It corresponds pretty nearly in date with the "Iliad," the scenes it +describes being supposed to be about B.C. 1500. Many of the ideas and +moral teachings are beautiful; equal to the best teaching and superior +to the general practice of to-day. I have made a lot of emendations and +suggestions, which I am going to send to the translator, as the proofs +have evidently not been carefully read by any English literary man. + +About the year 1899 Dr. Wallace began to think of leaving Parkstone, +partly for reasons of health and partly to get a larger garden, if +possible. He spent three years in looking for a suitable spot in many of +the southern counties, and we were all pressed to join in the search. +Finally he found just the spot he wanted at Broadstone; only three miles +away. The following letters describe his final success--all written +with his usual optimism and high spirits: + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 26, 1901._ + +My dear Will,--At length the long quest has come to an end, and I have +agreed to buy three acres of land at Broadstone. Ma and I have just been +over again this morning to consider its capabilities, and the exact +boundaries that will be the most advantageous, as I have here the great +advantage of choosing exactly what I will have. I only wish I could +afford five acres instead of three, or even ten; but the three will +contain the very eye of the whole. I enclose you a bit of the 6-inch +ordnance on which I have marked the piece I have finally fixed upon in +red chalk. The attractive bit is the small enclosure of one acre, left +rather paler, which is an old orchard in a little valley sloping +downward to the S.S.E. There are, perhaps, a score of trees in +it--apples, pears, plums and cherries, I believe, and under them a +beautiful green short turf like a lawn--kept so, I believe, by rabbits. +From the top of this orchard is a fine view over moor and heather, then +over the great northern bay of Poole Harbour, and beyond to the Purbeck +Hills and out to the sea and the Old Harry headland. It is not very +high--about 140 feet, I think, but being on the edge of one of the +plateaus the view is very effective. On the top to the left of the road +track is a slightly undulating grass field, of which I have a little +less than an acre. To the right of the fence, and coming down to the +wood, is very rough ground densely covered with heather and dwarf gorse, +a great contrast to the field. The wood on the right is mixed but +chiefly oak, I think, with some large firs, one quite grand; while the +wood on the left is quite different, having some very tall Spanish +chestnuts loaded with fruit, some beeches, some firs--but I have not +had time yet to investigate thoroughly. Thus this little bit of three +acres has five subdivisions, each with a quite distinct character of its +own, and I never remember seeing such variety in such a small area. The +red wavy line is about where I shall have to make my road, for the place +has now no road, and I think I am very lucky in discovering it and in +getting it. Another advantage is in the land, which is varied to suit +all crops. I fancy ... I shall find places to grow most of my choice +shrubs, etc., better than here. I expect bulbs of all kinds will grow +well, and I mean to plant a thousand or so of snowdrops, crocuses, +squills, daffodils, etc., in the orchard, where they will look lovely. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. November 6, 1901._ + +My dear Will,-- ... I have taken advantage of a foggy cold day to trace +you a copy of the ground plan of the proposed house.... Of course the +house will be much larger than we want, but I look to future value, and +rather than build it smaller, to be enlarged afterwards, I would prefer +to leave the drawing-room and bedroom adjoining with bare walls inside +till they can be properly finished. The house-keeper's room would be a +nice dining-room, and the hall a parlour and drawing-room combined. But +the outside must be finished, on account of the garden, creepers, etc. +The S.E. side (really about S.S.E.) has the fine views. If you can +arrange to come at Christmas we will have a picnic on the ground the +first sunny day. I was all last week surveying--a very difficult job, to +mark out exactly three acres so as to take in exactly as much of each +kind of ground as I wanted, and with no uninterrupted view over any one +of the boundary lines! I found the sextant, and it was very useful +setting out the two right angles of the northern boundary. I have not +got possession yet, but hope to do so by next week. The house, we +reckon, can be built for £1,000 at the outside.... + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 4, 1902._ + +Dear Mrs. Fisher,-- ... You will be surprised to hear that I have been +so rash as to buy land and to (propose to) build a house! Every other +effort to get a pleasant country cottage with a little land having +failed, we discovered, accidentally, a charming spot only four miles +from this house and half a mile from Broadstone Station, and have +succeeded in buying three acres, _chosen by myself_, from Lord Wimborne +at what is really a reasonable price. In its contour, views, wood, and +general aspect of wild nature it is almost perfection; and Annie, +Violet, and Will are all pleased and satisfied with it. It is on the +slope of the Broadstone middle plateau, looking south over Poole Harbour +with the Purbeck Hills beyond, and a little eastward out to the sea.... +The ground is good loam in the orchard, with some sand and clay in the +field, but this is so open to the sun and air that we are not afraid of +it, as the _house-site_ will be entirely concreted over, and I have +arranged for a heating stove in a cellar, which will warm and dry the +whole basement. In a week or two we hope to begin building, so you may +fancy how busy I am, especially as we are building it without a +contractor, with the help of a friend.... I go over two or three times a +week, as I have two gardeners at work. In the summer (should I be still +in the land of the living) I hope you will be able to come and see our +little estate, which is to be called by the descriptive name of "Old +Orchard." I have got a good architect to make the working drawings and +he has designed a very picturesque yet unpretentious house.--Yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 2, 1902._ + +My dear Will,--This week's progress has been fairly good although the +wet after the frost has caused two falls in the cellar excavations, and +we have had to put drain pipes to carry water out, though not much +accumulated.... During the week some horses in the field have not only +eaten off the tops of the privet hedge, but have torn up some dozens of +the plants by the roots, by putting their heads over the 4-foot wire +fence. I am therefore obliged in self-defence to raise the post a foot +higher and put barbed wire along the top of it. Some cows also got in +our ground one day and ate off the tops of the newly planted laurels, +which I am told they are very fond of, so I have got a chain and padlock +for our gate.... + + * * * * * + +We moved into the new house at Broadstone at the end of November, 1902, +before it was quite finished, and here Dr. Wallace lived till the end of +his life. The garden was an endless source of interest and occupation, +being much larger than any he had had since leaving Grays. + +When writing he was not easily disturbed and never showed any impatience +or annoyance at any interruption. If interrupted by a question he would +pause, pen in hand, and reply or discuss the matter and then resume his +unfinished sentence. + +[Illustration: THE STUDY AT "OLD ORCHARD"] + +He seemed to have the substance of his writing in his mind before he +commenced, and did not often refer to books or to notes, though he +usually had one or two books or papers on the table at hand, and +sometimes he would jump up to get a book from the shelves to verify some +fact or figure. When preparing for a new book or article he read a great +many works and papers bearing on the subject. These were marked with +notes and references on the flyleaves; and often by pencil marks to +indicate important passages, but he did not often make separate notes. +He had a wonderful memory, and stored in his mind the facts and +arguments he wished to use, or the places where they were to be found. +He borrowed many books from libraries, and from these he sometimes made +a few notes. He was not a sound sleeper, and frequently lay awake during +the night, and then it was that he thought out and planned his work. He +often told us with keen delight of some new idea or fresh argument which +had occurred to him during these waking hours. + +After spending months, or sometimes years, in reading and digesting all +the literary matter he could obtain on a subject,--and forming a plan +for the treatment of it, he would commence writing, and keep on steadily +for five or six hours a day if his health permitted. He also wrote to +people all over the world to obtain the latest facts bearing on the +subject. + +In 1903 he began writing "Man's Place in the Universe." + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard. July 8, 1903._ + +My dear Will,--I have just finished going over your notes and +corrections of the last four chapters. I can't think how I was so stupid +to make the mistake in figures which you corrected. In almost all cases +I have made some modification in accordance with your suggestions, and +the book will be much improved thereby. I have put in a new paragraph +about the stars in other parts than the Milky Way and Solar Cluster, but +there is really nothing known about them. I have also cut out the first +reference to Jupiter altogether. Of course a great deal is speculative, +but any reply to it is equally speculative. The question is, which +speculation is most in accordance with the known facts, and not with +prepossessions only? + +Considering that the book has all been read up and written in less than +three months, it cannot be expected to be as complete and careful as if +three years had been expended on it, but then it is fresher perhaps. The +bit about the pure air came to me while writing, and I let myself go. +Why should I not try and do a little good and make people think a little +on such matters, when I have the chance of perhaps more readers than all +my other books? + +As to my making too much of Man, of course that is the whole subject of +the book! And I look at it differently from you, because I know _facts_ +about him you neither know nor believe _yet_. If you are once convinced +of the facts and teachings of Spiritualism, you will think more as I do. + + * * * * * + +The following letter refers to his little book on Mars. + + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. September 26, 1907._ + +My dear Will,-- ... After elaborate revision and correction I have sent +my MS. of the little "Mars" book to Macmillans yesterday.... Will you +read the whole proofs carefully, in the character of the "intelligent +reader"? Your fresh eye will detect little slips, bad logic, too +positive statements, etc., which I may have overlooked. It will only be +about 100 or 150 pages large type--and I want it to be really good, and +free from blunders that any fool can see.... + + * * * * * + +For some years now he had suffered from repeated attacks of asthma and +bronchitis. He had tried the usual remedies for these complaints without +any good results, and, though still able to write, had then no thought +of beginning any large work; in fact, he considered he had but a few +more years to live. When Mr. Bruce-Joy came to see him in order to model +the portrait medallion, he mentioned in the course of conversation that +he had tried the Salisbury treatment with wonderful results. Our father +was at first incredulous, but decided to try it in a modified form. He +gave up all starchy foods and ate beef only, cooked in a special manner +to render it more digestible. He found such relief from this change of +diet that from this time onwards he followed a very strict daily +routine, which he continued to the end of his life with slight +variations. + +He made himself a cup of tea on a gas stove in his bedroom at 6 a.m. +(the exact quantity of tea and water having been measured the previous +evening), and boiled it in a small double saucepan for a definite time +by the watch. He always said this cup of tea tasted better than at any +other time of the day. He then returned to bed and slept till 8 a.m. +During his last two or three years he suffered from rheumatism in his +shoulder and it took him a long time to dress, and he called in the aid +of his gardener in the last year, who acted as his valet. While dressing +he prepared a cup of cocoa on the gas stove, which he carried into the +study (next door) at 9 a.m. This was all he had for breakfast, and he +took it while reading the paper or his letters. + +Dinner at one o'clock was taken with his family, and he usually related +any interesting or striking news he had read in the paper, or in his +correspondence, and commented upon it, or perhaps he would tell us of +some new flower in the garden. + +He drank hot water with a little Canary sack and a dash of soda-water, +to which he added a spoonful of plum jam. He was very fond of sweet +things, such as puddings, but he had to partake sparingly of them, and +it was a great temptation when some dish of which he was particularly +fond was placed upon the table. + +After dinner he usually took a nap in the study before resuming work or +going into the garden. + +Tea was at four o'clock, and consisted only of a cup of tea, which he +made himself in the study, unless there were visitors whom he wished to +see, when he would sometimes take it into the drawing-room and make it +there. + +After tea he again wrote, or took a turn in the garden if the weather +and season permitted. Latterly he spent a good part of the afternoon and +evening reading and dozing on the sofa, and only worked at short +intervals when he felt equal to it. + +Supper, at seven, was a repetition of dinner, and he took it with us in +the dining-room. After supper he generally read a novel before the fire +except in the very hottest weather, and he frequently dozed on and off +till he retired at eleven. He made himself a cup of cocoa while +preparing for bed, and drank it just before lying down. + +For the last year or two it was a constant difficulty with him to secure +enough nourishment without aggravating his ailments by indigestion. +During this time he suffered continuous discomfort, though he seldom +gave utterance to complaint or allowed it to affect the uniform +equability of his temper. + + * * * * * + +In 1903 his daughter came to live with her parents, who generously +allowed her to take three or four children as pupils. At first we feared +they might bother our father, but he really enjoyed seeing them about +and talking to them. He was always interested in any new child, and if +for a short time none were forthcoming, always lamented the fact. At +dinner the children would ask him all sorts of questions, very amusing +ones sometimes. They were also intensely interested in what he ate, and +watched with speechless wonder when they saw him eating orange, banana, +and sugar with his meat. + +One of these early pupils, Reginald B. Rathbone, has sent reminiscences +which are so characteristic that we give them as they stand: + + * * * * * + +"I have stayed at Dr. Wallace's house on three occasions; the first two +were when I was only about eight or nine years old, and my recollections +of him at that time are therefore necessarily somewhat dim. Certain +things, however, have stuck in my memory. I went there quite prepared to +see a very venerable and imposing-looking old gentleman, and filled in +advance with much awe and respect for him. As regards his personal +appearance I was by no mean disappointed, as his tall, slightly-stooping +figure, long white hair and beard, and his spectacles fulfilled my +highest expectations, I remember being struck with the kindly look of +his eyes, and indeed they did not belie his nature, for he always +treated me with great kindness, patience and indulgence, which is +somewhat remarkable considering my age, and how exasperating I must have +been sometimes. I soon began to regard him as a never-failing fount of +wisdom, and as one who could answer any question one liked to put to +him. Of this latter fact I was not slow to take advantage. I plied him +with every kind of question my imaginative young brain could conceive, +usually beginning with 'why.' + +"He nearly always gave me an answer, and what is more, a satisfactory +one, and well within the scope of my limited understanding. These +definite, satisfactory answers of his used to afford me great pleasure, +it being quite a new experience for me to have all my questions answered +for me in this way. These answers, as I have said, were nearly always +forthcoming, though indeed, on one or two occasions, in answer to an +especially ridiculous query of mine he would answer, 'That is a very +foolish question, Reggie.' But this was very rare. + +"I remember taking a great interest in what Dr. Wallace ate. He had a +hearty appetite, and was no believer in vegetarianism, for at lunch his +diet consisted chiefly of cold beef, liberally seasoned with various +sauces and relishes, also vinegar. I used to gaze at these bottles with +great admiration. Whenever there were peas he used to take large +quantities of sugar with them. This greatly aroused my curiosity, and I +questioned him about it. 'Why,' said he, 'peas themselves contain sugar; +it is, therefore, much more sensible to take sugar with them than salt.' +And he recounted an anecdote of how an eminent personage he had once +dined with had been waited on with great respect and attention by all +present, but salt was offered to him with the peas. 'If you want to make +me quite happy,' said the great man, 'you will give me some sugar with +my peas.' His favourite drink, I remember, was Canary sack. + +"He had a strongly humorous side, and always enjoyed a good laugh. As +an instance of this, I will recount the following incident: When I had +returned home after my first visit to 'The Old Orchard,' my sister, +three years older than myself, and I had a heated argument on the +subject of the number of stomachs in a cow. I insisted it was three; +she, on the other hand, held that it was seven. After a long and fierce +dispute, I exclaimed: 'Well, let us write to Dr. Wallace, and he will +settle it for us and tell us the real number.' This we did, the brazen +audacity of the proceeding not striking us at the time. By return of +post we received a letter which, alas! I have unfortunately not +preserved, but the substance of which I well remember. 'Dear Irene and +Reggie,' it ran, 'Your dispute as to the number of stomachs which a cow +possesses can be settled and rectified by a simple mathematical process +usually called subtraction, thus: + + Irene's Cow 7 stomachs + Reggie's Cow 3 stomachs + ---------- + The Farmer's cow 4 stomachs. + +"Dr. Wallace then went on to explain the names and uses of the four +stomachs. + +"Two instances of his fun come to my mind as I write. 'Why,' I asked, +'do you sometimes take off your spectacles to read the paper?' 'Because +I can see better without 'em,' he said. 'Then why,' I asked again, 'do +you ever wear them?' 'Because I can see better with 'em,' was the reply. +The other instance relates to chloroform. He was describing the agonies +suffered by those who had to undergo amputation before the discovery of +anæsthetics, whereas nowadays, he said, 'you are put under chloroform, +then wake up and find your arm cut off, having felt nothing. Or you wake +up and find your leg cut off. Or you wake up and find your head cut +off!' He then laughed heartily at his own joke. + +"These are just a few miscellaneous reminiscences, many of them no doubt +trivial, but they may perhaps be not entirely devoid of interest, when +it is remembered that they are the impressions and recollections of one +who was then a boy of eight years old."--B.B.K. + + * * * * * + +The year 1908 was very auspicious to Dr. Wallace. To begin with, it was +the fiftieth anniversary of the reading of the Darwin and Wallace joint +papers on the Origin of Species before the Linnean Society, an event +which was commemorated in the way described elsewhere. + +In the autumn, and just as he was beginning to recover from a spell of +bad health, he was invited to give a lecture at the Royal Institution, +the prospect of which seemed to have upon him a most stimulating effect; +he at once began to think about a suitable subject. + +Following closely on this came the news that the Order of Merit was to +be conferred upon him. His letters to his son give the details of this +eventful period:[45] + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. October_ 28, 1908. + +My dear Will,-- ... I have a rather surprising bit of news for you. When +I was almost at my worst, feeling very bad, I had a letter inviting me +to give an evening lecture at the Royal Institution, for their Jubilee +of the "Origin of Species"! Of course I decided at once to decline as +impossible, etc., having nothing new to say, etc. But a few hours +afterwards an idea suddenly came to me for a very fine lecture, if I can +work it out as I hope--and the more I thought over it the better it +seemed. So, two days back, I wrote to Sir W. Crookes--the Honorary +Secretary, who had written to me--accepting provisionally!... Here is +another "crowning honour"--the most unexpected of all!... + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 2, 1908._ + +My dear Will,-- ... This morning the Copley Medals came, gold and +silver, smaller than any of the others, but very beautifully designed; +the face has the Royal Society's arms, with Copley's name, and +"Dignissimo," and my name below. The reverse is the Royal Arms. By the +same post came a letter from the Lord Chancellor's Office informing me, +to my great relief, that the King had been graciously pleased to +dispense with my personal attendance at the investiture of the Order of +Merit, ... + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 17, 1908._ + +My dear Will,--The ceremony is over, very comfortably. I am duly +"invested," and have got two engrossed documents, both signed by the +King, one appointing me a member of the "Order of Merit" with all sorts +of official and legal phrases, the other a dispensation from being +personally "invested" by the King--as Col. Legge explained, to safeguard +me as having a right to the Order in case anybody says I was not +"invested." ... Colonel Legge was a very pleasant, jolly kind of man, +and he told us he was in attendance on the German Emperor when he was +staying near Christchurch last summer, and went for many drives with the +Emperor only, all about the country.... Col. Legge got here at 2.40, and +had to leave at 3.20 (at station), so we got a carriage from Wimborne to +meet the train and take him back, and Ma gave him some tea, and he said +he had got a nice little place at Stoke Poges but with no view like +ours, and he showed me how to wear the Order and was very pleasant: and +we were all pleased.... + +The next letter refers to the discovery of a rare moth and some beetles +in the root of an orchid. It was certainly a strange yet pleasant +coincidence that these creatures should find themselves in Dr. Wallace's +greenhouse, where alone they would be noticed and appreciated as +something uncommon. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. February 23, 1909._ + +My dear Will,-- ... In my last letter I did not say anything about my +morning at the Nat. Hist. Museum.... What I enjoyed most was seeing some +splendid New Guinea butterflies which Mr. Rothschild[46] and his +curator, Mr. Jordan, brought up from Tring on purpose to show me. I +could hardly have imagined anything so splendid as some of these. I also +saw some of the new paradise birds in the British Museum. But Mr. +Rothschild says they have five times as many at Tring, and much finer +specimens, and he invited me to spend a week-end at Tring and see the +Museum. So I may go, perhaps--in the summer. + +But I have a curious thing to tell you about insect collecting at "Old +Orchard." About five months back I was examining one of the clumps of an +orchid in the glass case--which had been sent me from Buenos Ayres by +Mr. John Hall--when three pretty little beetles dropped out of it, on +the edge of the tank, and I only managed to catch two of them. They were +pretty little Longicornes, about an inch long, but very slender and +graceful, though only of a yellowish-brown colour. I sent them up to the +British Museum asking the name, and telling them they could keep them if +of any use. They told me they were a species of the large South American +genus Ibidion, but they had not got it in the collection! + +On the Sunday before Christmas Day I was taking my evening inspection +of the orchids, etc., in the glass case when a largish insect flew by my +face, and when it settled it looked like a handsome moth or butterfly. +It was brilliant orange on the lower wings, the upper being shaded +orange brown, very moth-like, but the antennæ were clubbed like a +butterfly's. At first I thought it was a butterfly that mimicked a moth, +but I had never seen anything like it before. + +Next morning I got a glass jar half filled with bruised laurel leaves, +and Ma got it in, and after a day or two I set it, clumsily, and meant +to take it to London, but had no small box to put it in. I told Mr. +Rothschild about it, and he said it sounded like a Castnia--curious +South American moths very near to butterflies. So he got out the drawer +with them, but mine was not there; then he got another drawer +half-empty, and there it was--only a coloured drawing, but exactly like. +It had been described, but neither the Museum nor Mr. Rothschild had got +it! I had had the orchids nearly a year and a half, so it must have +been, in the chrysalis all that time and longer, which Mr. Rothschild +said was the case with the Castnias. On going home I searched, and found +the brown chrysalis-case it had come out of among the roots of the same +orchid the little Longicornes had dropped from. It is, I am pretty sure, +a Brazilian species, and I have written to ask Mr. Hall if he knows +where it came from. I have sent the moth and chrysalis to Prof. Poulton +(I had promised it to him at the lecture) for the Oxford collection, and +he is greatly pleased with it; and especially with its history--one +quite small bit of an orchid, after more than a year in a greenhouse, +producing a rare or new beetle and an equally rare moth!... + +I am glad to say I feel really better than any time the last ten +years.--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +The Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge has kindly written his reminiscence of +another very curious coincidence connected with a natural history +object. + +"Some years ago, on looking over some insect drawers in my collection, +Mr. A.R. Wallace exclaimed, 'Why, there is my old Sarawak spider!' +'Well! that is curious,' I replied, 'because that spider has caused me +much trouble and thought as to who might have caught it, and where; I +had only lately decided to describe and figure it, even though I could +give the name of neither locality nor finder, being, as it seemed to me, +of a genus and species not as yet recorded; also I had, as you see, +provisionally conferred your name upon it, although I had not the +remotest idea that it had anything else to do with you.' 'Well,' said +Mr. Wallace, 'if it is my old spider it ought to have my own private +ticket on the pin underneath.' 'It has a ticket,' I replied, 'but it is +unintelligible to me; the spider came to me among some other items by +purchase at the sale of Mr. Wilson Saunders' collections.' 'If it is +mine,' said Wallace (examining it), 'the ticket should be so-and-so. And +it is! I caught this spider at Sarawak, and specially noted its +remarkable form. I remember it as if it were yesterday, and now I find +it here, and you about to publish it as a new genus and species to +which, in total ignorance of whence it came or who caught it, you have +given my name!' Thus it stands, and '_Friula Wallacii_, Camb. (family +Gasteracanthidæ), taken by Alfred Russel Wallace at Sarawak,' is the +(unique as I believe) type specimen, in my collection."--O.P.C. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Wallace was very fond of reading good novels, and usually spent an +hour or two, before retiring to bed, with what he called a "good +domestic story." One of his favourite authors was Marion Crawford. +Poetry appealed to him very strongly, and he had a good memory for his +favourite verses, especially for those he had learned in his youth. +Amongst his books were over fifty volumes of poetry. + +He liked to see friends or interesting visitors, but he was rather +nervous with strangers until he became interested in what they had to +say. He enjoyed witty conversation, and especially a good story well +told. No one laughed more heartily than he when he was much amused, and +he would slap his hands upon his knees with delight. + +He was very accessible to anyone who might have something to say worth +hearing, and he had a great many visitors, especially during the last +ten years of his life. Many people distinguished in science, literature, +or politics called upon him, and he always enjoyed these visits, and the +excitement of them seemed to have no bad effect upon him, even in the +last year, when we sometimes feared he might be fatigued by them. In +consequence of his sympathy with many heterodox ideas he frequently had +visits from "cranks" who wished to secure his support for some new +theory or "discovery." He would listen patiently, perhaps ask a few +questions, and then endeavour to point out their fallacies. He would +amuse us afterwards by describing their "preposterous ideas," and if +much bored, he would speak of them as "muffs." He was loath to hurt +their feelings, but he generally ended by expressing his opinion quite +clearly, occasionally to their discomfiture. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Littledale has contributed some reminiscences which may be +introduced here. + +"When I first met Dr. Wallace the conversation turned on the types of +visitors that came to see him, and he gave us an amusing account of two +young women who called on him to read through a most ponderous treatise +relating to the Universe (I think it was). At all events the treatise +proved, amongst other things, that Kepler's laws were all wrong. Dr. +Wallace was very busy at the time, and politely declined to undertake +the task. I remember him well describing with his hands the size of this +enormous manuscript and laughing heartily as he detailed how the writer +of the manuscript, the elder of the two sisters, persistently tried to +persuade him that her theories were all absolutely proved in the work, +while the younger sister acted as a sort of echo to her sister. The +climax came in a fit of weeping, and, as Dr. Wallace described it, the +whole fabric of the universe was washed away in a flood of tears. + +"On one occasion, when I was asked by Mrs. Wallace to see Dr. Wallace +professionally, he was lying on the sofa in his study by the fire +wrapped up in rugs, having just got over a bad shivering attack or +rigor. His temperature was 104° Fahr., and all the other usual signs of +acute fever were present, but nothing to enable one to form a positive +opinion as to the cause. It must have been forty years since he had been +in the tropics, but I think he felt that it was an attack of malarial +fever. Knowing my patient, my treatment consisted in asking what he was +going to do for himself. 'Well,' he said, 'I am going to have a hot bath +and then go to bed, and to-morrow I shall get up and go into the garden +as usual.' And he was out in the garden next day when I went to see him. +This was an instance, doubtless one of many, of the 'will to live,' +which carried him through a long life. + +"Once, when he was talking about the gaps in the evolution of life, viz. +between the inorganic and organic, between vegetable and animal, and +between animal and man, I asked, 'Why postulate a beginning at all? We +are satisfied with illimitability at one end, why not at the other?' +'For the simple reason,' he said, 'that the mind cannot comprehend +anything that has never had a beginning.' + +"What attracted me to him most, I think, was his remarkable simplicity +of language, whatever the topic of conversation might be, and this not +the simplicity of the great mind bringing itself down to the level of +the ordinary individual, but his customary mode of expression. I have +heard him say that he felt the need of the fluency of speech which +Huxley possessed, as he had to cast about for the expression that he +wanted. This may have been the case when he was lecturing, but I +certainly never noticed it in conversation."--H.E.L. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Wallace was always interested in young men and others who were going +abroad with the intention of studying Natural History, and gave them +what advice and help he could. He much enjoyed listening to the +accounts given by travellers of the scenes, animals and plants and +native life they had seen, and deplored the so-called civilising of the +natives, which, in his opinion, generally meant their exploitation by +Europeans, leading to their deterioration and extermination. + +His nervousness with strangers sometimes led them to form quite +erroneous impressions. It occasionally found expression in a nervous +laugh which had nothing to do with amusement or humour, but was often +heard when he was most serious and felt most deeply. One or two +interviewers described it as a "chuckle," an expression which suggested +feelings most opposite to those which he really experienced. + +Although he could draw and sketch well, he did not take much pleasure in +it, and only exercised his skill when there was a definite object in +view. His sketches show a very delicate touch, and denote painstaking +accuracy, while some are quite artistic. He much preferred drawing with +compasses and squares, there being a practical object in his mind for +which the plans or drawings were only the first steps. Even in his +ninety-first year he found much enjoyment in drawing plans, and spent +many hours in designing alterations to a small cottage which his +daughter had bought. + +He was interested in literary puzzles and humorous stories, and he +preserved in an old scrap-book any that appealed to him. He would +sometimes read some of them on festive occasions, or when we had +children's parties, and sometimes he laughed so heartily himself that he +could not go on reading. + +In reviewing the years during which Dr. Wallace lived at Broadstone, the +last decade, when he was between eighty and ninety years of age, this +period seems to have been one of the most eventful, and as full of work +and mental activity as any previous period. He never tired of his +garden, in which he succeeded in growing a number of rare and curious +shrubs and plants. Our mother shared his delight and interest in the +garden, and knew a great deal about flowers. She had an excellent memory +for their botanical names, and he often asked her the name of some +plant which he was pointing out to a friend and which for the moment he +had forgotten. She was very fond of roses and of primroses, and there +was a fine display of these flowers at "Old Orchard." She was successful +in "budding" and in hybridising roses, and produced several beautiful +varieties. She was proficient in raising seeds, and he sometimes placed +some which he received from abroad in her charge. + +When he first came to live at Broadstone he frequently took short walks +to the post or to the bank, and sometimes went by train to Poole on +business, but he gradually went out less and less, till in the last few +years he seldom went outside the garden, but strolled about looking at +the flowers or supervising the construction of a new bed or rockery. +During his last years his gardener wheeled him about the garden in a +bath-chair when he did not feel strong enough to walk all the time. + +In 1913, after his last two small books were written, he did no more +writing except correspondence. This he attended to himself, except on +one or two occasions when he was not very well or felt tired, when he +asked one of us to answer a few letters for him. He took great interest +in a small cottage which had recently been acquired on the Purbeck Hills +near the sea, and in September, much against our wishes, he went there +for two nights, taking the gardener to look after him. Luckily the +weather was fine, and the change and excitement seemed to do him good, +and during the next month he was very bright and cheerful, though, as +some of his letters to his old friend Dr. Richard Norris and to Dr. +Littledale show, he had been becoming increasingly weak. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS NORRIS + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. December 10, 1912._ + +My dear Miss Norris,--I am very sorry to hear that your father is so +poorly. The weather is terribly gloomy, and I have not been outside my +rooms and greenhouse for more than an hour a week perhaps, for the last +two months, and feel the better for it. Just now I feel better than I +have done for a year past, having at last, I think, hit upon a proper +diet, though I find it very difficult to avoid eating or drinking too +much of what I like best.... It is one of my fads that I hate to waste +anything, and it is that partly which makes it so difficult for me to +avoid overeating. From a boy I was taught to leave no scraps on my +plate, and from this excellent general rule of conduct I now suffer in +my old age!...--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. LITTLEDALE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. January 11, 1913._ + +Dear Dr. Littledale,--Many thanks for your kind congratulations and good +wishes.[47] I am glad to say I feel still able to jog on a few years +longer in this _very good_ world--for those who can make the best of it. + +I am now suffering most from "eczema," which has settled in my legs, so +that I cannot stand or walk for any length of time. Perhaps that is an +outlet for something worse, as I still enjoy my meals, and usually feel +as well as ever, though I have to be very careful as to _what_ I +eat.--With best wishes for your prosperity, yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. NORRIS + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 4, 1913._ + +My dear Dr. Norris,--Except for a continuous weakness I seem improving a +little in general health, and the chronic rheumatic pain in my right +shoulder has almost passed away in the last month (after about three +years), and I can impute it to nothing but about a quarter of a pint a +day of Bulmer's Cider! A most agreeable medicine! The irritability of +the skin, however, continues, though the inflammation of the legs has +somewhat diminished.... + +My increasing weakness is now my most serious trouble, as it prevents me +really from doing any more work, and causes a large want of balance, and +liability to fall down. Even moving about the room after books, etc., +dressing and undressing, make me want to lie down and rest.... + +With kind remembrances to your daughter, believe me yours very +sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +In disposition Dr. Wallace was cheerful, and very optimistic, and +remarkably even-tempered. If irritated he quickly recovered, and soon +forgot all about the annoyance, but he was always strongly indignant at +any injustice to the weak or helpless. When worried by business +difficulties or losses he very soon recovered his optimism, and seemed +quite confident that all would come right (as indeed it generally did), +and latterly he became convinced that all his past troubles were really +blessings in disguise, without which as a stimulant he would have done +no useful work. + +His life was a happy one, and even the discomforts caused by his +ailments, which were at times very acute for days together, never +prevented him from enjoying the contemplation of his flowers, nor +disturbed the serenity of his temper, nor caused him to complain. + +Although rather delicate all his life, he rarely stayed in bed; in fact, +only once in our memory, during an illness at Parkstone, did he do so, +and then only for one day. + +On Saturday, November 1st (1913), he walked round the garden, and on the +following day seemed very bright, and enjoyed his dinner and supper, but +about nine o'clock he felt faint and shivered violently. We called in +Dr. Norman, who came in about an hour, and we heard them having a long +talk and even laughing, in the study. As the doctor left he said, +"Wonderful man! he knows so much. I can do nothing for him." + +The next day he did not get up at the usual time, but we felt no anxiety +until noon, when he still showed no inclination to rise. He appeared to +be dozing, and said he wanted nothing. From that time he gradually sank +into semi-consciousness, and at half-past nine in the morning of Friday, +November 7th, quietly passed on to that other life in which he was such +a firm believer. + + + + +PART V + +Social and Political Views + + "When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are + things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches + and honour are things to be ashamed of."--CONFUCIUS. + + +In the above sentences, written long before the dawn of Christian +civilisation, we have an apt summary of the social and political views +of Alfred Russel Wallace. + +As we have stated in a previous chapter, it was during his short stay in +London as a boy, when he was led to study the writings and methods of +Robert Owen, of New Lanark, that his mind first opened to the +consideration of the inequalities of our social life. + +During the six years which he spent in land-surveying he obtained a more +practical knowledge of the laws pertaining to public and private +property as they affected the lives and habits of both squire and +peasant. + +The village inn, or public-house, was then the only place where men +could meet to discuss topics of mutual interest, and it was there that +young Wallace and his brother spent some of their own leisure hours +listening to and conversing with the village rustics. The conversation +was not ordinarily of an educational character, but occasionally +experienced farmers would discuss agricultural and land problems which +were beginning to interest Wallace. + +In reading his books and essays written more than seventy years later, +we are struck with the exceptional opportunities which he had of +comparing social conditions, and commercial and individual prosperity +during that long period, and of witnessing the introduction of many +inventions. He used to enjoy recalling many of the discussions between +intelligent mechanics which he heard of in his early days regarding the +introduction of the steam-engine. One and another declared that the grip +of the engine on the rails would not be sufficient to draw heavy trucks +or carriages; that the wheels, in fact, would whiz round instead of +going on, and that it would be necessary to sprinkle sand in front of +the wheels, or make the tyres rough like files. About this time, too, +there arose a keen debate upon the relative merits of the new railroads +and the old canals. Many thought that the former could never compete +with the latter in carrying heavy goods; but facts soon proved +otherwise, for in one district alone the traffic of the canal, within +two years of the coming of the railway, decreased by 1,000,000 tons. + +It was during these years, and when he and his brother were making a +survey for the enclosure of some common lands near Llandrindod Wells, +that Wallace finally became aware of the injustice towards the labouring +classes of the General Enclosure Act. + +In this particular locality the land to be enclosed consisted of a large +extent of moor, and mountain which, with other common rights, had for +many years enabled the occupants of the scattered cottages around to +keep a horse, cow, or a few sheep, and thus make a fairly comfortable +living. Under the Act, the whole of this open land was divided among the +adjacent landowners of the parish or manor, in proportion to the size or +value of their estates. Thus, to those who actually possessed much, much +was given; whilst to those who only nominally owned a little land, even +that was taken away in return for a small compensation which was by no +means as valuable to them as the right to graze their cattle. In spite +of the statement set forth in the General Enclosure Act--"Whereas it is +expedient to facilitate the enclosure and improvement of common and +other lands now subject to the rights of property which obstruct +cultivation and the productive employment of labour," Wallace +ascertained many years later that no single part of the land so enclosed +had been cultivated by those to whom it was given, though certain +portions had been let or sold at fabulous prices for building purposes, +to accommodate summer visitors to the neighbourhood. Thus the +unfortunate people who had formerly enjoyed home, health, and +comparative prosperity in the cottages scattered over this common land +had been obliged to migrate to the large towns, seeking for fresh +employment and means of subsistence, or had become "law-created +paupers"; whilst to crown all, the piece of common originally "reserved" +for the benefit of the inhabitants had been turned into golf-links! + +Again and again Wallace drew attention to the fundamental duties of +landownership, maintaining that the public, as a whole, had become so +blinded by custom that no effectual social reform would ever be +established unless some strenuous and unremitting effort was made to +recover the land by law from those who had made the land laws and who +had niched the common heritage of humanity for their own private +aggrandisement. + +With regard to the actual value of land, Wallace pointed out that the +last valuation was made in the year 1692, and therefore, with the +increase of value through minerals and other products since then, the +arrears of land tax due up to 1905 would amount to more than the value +of all the agricultural land of our country at the present time; +therefore existing landlords, in clamouring for their alleged rights of +property, might find out that those "rights" no longer exist. + +Yet another point on which he insisted was the right of way through +fields or woodlands, and especially beside the sea. With the advent of +the motor-car and other swift means of locomotion, the public roads are +no longer safe and pleasurable for pedestrians; besides the iniquitous +fact that hundreds are kept from enjoying the beauties of nature by the +utterly selfish and useless reservations of such by-paths by the +landowner. + +"This all-embracing system of land-robbery," again he writes, "for which +nothing is too great or too small; which has absorbed meadow and forest, +moor and mountain, which has appropriated most of our rivers and lakes +and the fish that live in them; making the agriculturist pay for his +seaweed manure and the fisherman for his bait of shell-fish; which has +desolated whole counties to replace men by sheep or cattle, and has +destroyed fields and cottages to make a wilderness for deer and grouse; +which has stolen the commons and filched the roadside wastes; which has +driven the labouring poor into the cities, and thus been the chief cause +of the misery, disease, and early death of thousands ... it is the +advocates of this inhuman system who, when a partial restitution of +their unholy gains is proposed, are the loudest in their cries of +'robbery'! + +"But all the robbery, all the spoliation, all the legal and illegal +filching, has been on _their_ side.... They made the laws to legalise +their actions, and, some day, we, the people, will make laws which will +not only legalise but justify our process of restitution. It will +justify it, because, unlike their laws, which always took from the poor +to give to the rich--to the very class which made the laws--ours will +only take from the superfluity of the rich, _not_ to give to the poor or +to any individuals, but to so administer as to enable every man to live +by honest work, to restore to the whole people their birthright in their +native soil, and to relieve all alike from a heavy burden of unnecessary +and unjust taxation. _This_ will be the true statesmanship of the +future, and it will be justified alike by equity, by ethics, and by +religion." + +These, then, are the facts and reasons upon which Dr. Wallace based his +strenuous advocacy of Land Nationalisation.[48] It was only by slow +degrees that he arrived at some of the conclusions propounded in his +later years, but once having grasped their full importance to the social +and moral well-being of the community, he held them to the last. + +The first book which tended to fasten his attention upon these matters +was "Social Statics," by Herbert Spencer, but in 1870 the publication of +his "Malay Archipelago" brought him into personal contact with John +Stuart Mill, through whose invitation he became a member of the General +Committee of the Land Tenure Reform Association. On the formation of the +Land Nationalisation Society in 1880 he retired from the Association, +and devoted himself to the larger issues which the new Society embraced. + +Soon after the latter Society was started, Henry George, the American +author of "Progress and Poverty," came to England, and Wallace had many +opportunities of hearing him speak in public and of discussing matters +of common interest in private. In spite of the ridicule poured upon +Henry George's book by many eminent social reformers, Wallace +consistently upheld its general principles. + +His second work on these various subjects was a small book entitled "Bad +Times," issued in 1885, in which he went deeply into the root causes of +the depression in trade which had lasted since 1874. The facts there +given were enlarged upon and continually brought up to date in his later +writings. Articles which had appeared in various magazines were gathered +together and included, with those on other subjects, in "Studies, +Scientific and Social." His last three books, which include his ideas on +social diseases and the best method of preventing them, were "The +Wonderful Century," "Social Environment and Moral Progress," and "The +Revolt of Democracy"; the two last being issued, as we have seen, in +1913, the year of his death. + +In "Social Environment and Moral Progress" the conclusion of his +vehement survey of our moral and social conditions was startling: "_It +is not too much to say that our whole system of Society is rotten from +top to bottom, and that the social environment as a whole in relation to +our possibilities and our claims is the worst that the world has ever +seen_." + +That terrible indictment was doubly underscored in his MS. + +What, in his mature judgment, were the causes and remedies? He set them +out in this order: + +1. The evils are due, broadly and generally, to our living under a +system of universal competition for the means of existence, the remedy +for which is equally universal co-operation. + +2. It may also be defined as a system of economic antagonism, as of +enemies, the remedy being a system of economic brotherhood, as of a +great family, or of friends. + +3. Our system is also one of monopoly by a few of all the means of +existence--the land, without access to which no life is possible; and +capital, or the results of stored-up labour, which is now in the +possession of a limited number of capitalists, and therefore is also a +monopoly. The remedy is freedom of access to land and capital for all. + +4. Also, it may be defined as social injustice, inasmuch as the few in +each generation are allowed to inherit the stored-up wealth of all +preceding generations, while the many inherit nothing. The remedy is to +adopt the principle of equality of opportunity for all, or of universal +_inheritance by the State in trust for the whole community_. + +"We have," he finally concluded, "ourselves created an immoral or +unmoral social environment. To undo its inevitable results we must +reverse our course. We must see that _all_ our economic legislation, +_all_ our social reforms, are in the very opposite direction to those +hitherto adopted, and that they tend in the direction of one or other of +the four fundamental remedies I have suggested. In this way only can we +hope to change our existing immoral environment into a moral one, and +_initiate a new era of Moral Progress._" The "Revolt of Democracy"[49] +was addressed directly to the Labour Party. And once again he drew a +vivid picture of how, during the whole of the nineteenth century, there +was a continuous advance in the application of scientific discovery to +the arts, especially to the invention and application of labour-saving +machinery; and how our wealth had increased to an equally marvellous +extent. + +He pointed out that various estimates which had been made of the +increase in our wealth-producing capacity showed that, roughly speaking, +the use of mechanical power had increased it more than a hundredfold +during the century; yet the result had been to create a limited upper +class, living in unexampled luxury, while about one-fourth of the whole +population existed in a state of fluctuating penury, often sinking below +the margin of poverty. Many thousands were annually drawn into this gulf +of destitution, and died from direct starvation and premature exhaustion +or from diseases produced by unhealthy employment. + +During this long period, however, although wealth and want had alike +increased side by side, public opinion had not been sufficiently +educated to permit of any effectual remedy being applied. The workers +themselves had failed to visualise its fundamental causes, land monopoly +and the competitive system of industry giving rise to an ever-increasing +private capitalism which, to a very large extent, had controlled the +Legislature. All through the last century this rapid accumulation of +wealth due to extensive manufacturing industries led to a still greater +increase of middlemen engaged in the distribution of the products, from +the wealthy merchant to the various grades of tradesmen and small +shop-keepers who supplied the daily wants of the community. + +To those who lived in the midst of this vast industrial system, or were +a part of it, it seemed natural and inevitable that there should be rich +and poor; and this belief was enforced on the one hand by the clergy, +and on the other by political economists, so that religion and science +agreed in upholding the competitive and capitalistic system of society +as the only rational and possible one. Hence it came to be believed that +the true sphere of governmental action did not include the abolition of +poverty. It was even declared that poverty was due to economic causes +over which governments had no power; that wages were kept down by the +"iron law" of supply and demand; and that any attempt to find a remedy +by Acts of Parliament only aggravated the disease. During the +Premiership of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman this attitude was, for the +first time, changed. On numerous occasions Sir Henry declared that he +held it to be the duty of a government to deal with problems of +unemployment and poverty. + +In 1908 three great strikes, coming in rapid succession--those of the +Railway and other Transport Unions, the Miners, and the London Dock +Labourers--brought home to the middle and upper classes, and to the +Government, how completely all are dependent on the "working classes." +This and similar experiences showed us that when the organisation of +the trade unions was more complete, and the accumulated funds of several +years were devoted to this purpose, the bulk of the inhabitants of +London, and of other great cities, could be made to suffer a degree of +famine comparable with that of Paris when besieged by the German army in +1870. + +Wallace's watchword throughout these social agitations was "Equality of +Opportunity for All," and the ideal method by which he hoped to achieve +this end was a system of industrial colonisation in our own country +whereby _all_ would have a fair, if not an absolutely equal, share in +the benefits arising from the production of their own labour, whether +physical or mental.[50] + +With regard to the education of the people, especially as a +stepping-stone to moral and intellectual reform, Wallace believed in the +training of individual natural talent, rather than the present system of +general education thrust upon every boy or girl regardless of their +varying mental capacities. He also urged that the building-up of the +mind should be alternated with physical training in one or more useful +trades, so that there might be, not only at the outset, but also in +later life, a choice of occupation in order to avoid the excess of +unemployment in any one direction. + +In his opinion, one of the injurious results of our competitive system, +having its roots, however, in the valuable "guilds" of a past epoch, was +the almost universal restriction of our workers to only one kind of +labour. The result was a dreadful monotony in almost all spheres of +work, the extreme unhealthiness of many, and a much larger amount of +unemployment than if each man or woman were regularly trained in two or +more occupations. In addition to two of what are commonly called trades, +every youth should be trained for one day a week or one week in a +month, according to the demand for labour, in some of the various +operations of farming or gardening. Not only would this improve the +general health of the workers, but it would also add much to the +interest and enjoyment of their lives. + +"There is one point," he wrote, "in connection with this problem which I +do not think has ever been much considered or discussed. It is the +undoubted benefit to all the members of a society of _the greatest +possible diversity of character_, as a means both towards the greatest +enjoyment and interest of association, and to the highest ultimate +development of the race. If we are to suppose that man might have been +created or developed with none of those extremes of character which now +often result in what we call wickedness, vice, or crime, there would +certainly have been a greater monotony in human nature, which would, +perhaps, have led to less beneficial results than the variety which +actually exists may lead to. We are more and more getting to see that +very much, perhaps all, the vice, crime, and misery that exists in the +world is the result, not of the wickedness of individuals, but of the +entire absence of sympathetic training from infancy onwards. So far as I +have heard, the only example of the effects of such a training on a +large scale was that initiated by Robert Owen at New Lanark, which, with +most unpromising materials, produced such marvellous results on the +character and conduct of the children as to seem almost incredible to +the numerous persons who came to see and often critically to examine +them. There must have been all kinds of characters in his schools, yet +_none_ were found to be incorrigible, _none_ beyond control, _none_ who +did not respond to the love and sympathetic instruction of their +teachers. It is therefore quite possible that _all_ the evil in the +world is directly due to man, not to God, and that when we once realise +this to its full extent we shall be able, not only to eliminate almost +completely what we now term evil, but shall then clearly perceive that +all those propensities and passions that under bad conditions of society +inevitably led to it, will under good conditions add to the variety and +the capacities of human nature, the enjoyment of life by all, and at the +same time greatly increase the possibilities of development of the whole +race. I myself feel confident that this is really the case, and that +such considerations, when followed out to their ultimate issues, afford +a complete solution of the great problem of the ages--the origin of +evil."[51] + +Closely allied with the welfare of the child is another "reform" with +which Wallace's name will long be associated. That is his strong +denunciation of Vaccination. For seven years he laboured to show medical +and scientific men that statistics proved beyond doubt the futility of +this measure to prevent disease. A few were converted, but public +opinion is hard to move. + +In his ideal of the future, Dr. Wallace gave a large and honoured sphere +to women. He considered that it was in the highest degree presumptuous +and irrational to attempt to deal by compulsory enactments with the most +vital and most sacred of all human relationships, regardless of the fact +that our present phase of social development is not only extremely +imperfect, but, as already shown, vicious and rotten to the core. How +could it be possible to determine by legislation those relations of the +sexes which shall be best alike for individuals and for the race in a +society in which a large proportion of our women are forced to work long +hours daily for the barest subsistence, with an almost total absence of +the rational pleasures of life, for the want of which thousands are +driven into uncongenial marriages in order to secure some amount of +personal independence or physical well-being. He believed that when men +and women are, for the first time in the course of civilisation, equally +free to follow their best impulses; when idleness and vicious and +hurtful luxury on the one hand, and oppressive labour and the dread of +starvation on the other, are alike unknown; when _all_ receive the best +and broadest education that the state of civilisation and knowledge will +admit; when the standard of public opinion is set by the wisest and the +best among us, and that standard is systematically inculcated in the +young--then we shall find that a system of truly "Natural Selection" (a +term that Wallace preferred to "Eugenics," which he utterly disliked) +will come spontaneously into action which will tend steadily to +eliminate the lower, the less developed, or in any way defective types +of men, and will thus continuously raise the physical, moral, and +intellectual standard of the race. + +He further held that "although many women now remain unmarried from +necessity rather than from choice, there are always considerable numbers +who feel no strong impulse to marriage, and accept husbands to secure +subsistence and a home of their own rather than from personal affection +or sexual emotion. In a state of society in which all women were +economically independent, where all were fully occupied with public +duties and social or intellectual pleasures, and had nothing to gain by +marriage as regards material well-being or social position, it is highly +probable that the numbers of unmarried from choice would increase. It +would probably come to be considered a degradation for any woman to +marry a man whom she could not love and esteem, and this reason would +tend at least to delay marriage till a worthy and sympathetic partner +was encountered." But this choice, he considered, would be further +strengthened by the fact that, with the ever-increasing approach to +equality of opportunity for every child born in our country, that +terrible excess of male deaths, in boyhood and early manhood especially, +due to various preventable causes, would disappear, and change the +present majority of women to a majority of men. This would lead to a +greater rivalry for wives, and give to women the power of rejecting all +the lower types of character among their suitors. + +"It will be their special duty so to mould public opinion, through home +training and social influence, as to render the women of the future the +regenerators of the entire human race." He fully hoped and believed that +they would prove equal to the high and responsible position which, in +accordance with natural laws, they will be called upon to fulfil. + + * * * * * + +Mr. D.A. Wilson, who visited him in 1912, writes: + +He surprised me by saying he was a Socialist--one does not expect a man +like him to label himself in any way. It appeared to be unconscious +modesty, like a school-boy's, which made him willing to be labelled; but +no label could describe him, and his mental sweep was unlimited. +Although in his ninetieth year, he seemed to be in his prime. There was +no sign of age but physical weakness, and you had to make an effort at +times to remember even that. His eye kindled as he spoke, and more than +once he walked about and chuckled, like a schoolboy pleased. + +An earnest expression like Carlyle's came over his countenance as he +reprobated the selfish, wild-cat competition which made life harder and +more horrible to-day for a well-doing poor man in England than among the +Malays or Burmese before they had any modern inventions. Co-operation +was the upward road for humanity. Men grew out of beasthood by it, and +by it civilisation began. Forgetting it, men retrograded, subsiding +swiftly, so that there were many individuals among us to-day who were in +body, mind, and character below the level of our barbarian ancestors or +contemporary "savages," to say nothing of civilised Burmese or Malays. +What he meant by Socialism can be seen from his books. Nothing in them +surprised me after our talk. His appreciation of Confucius, when I +quoted some things of the Chinese sage's which confirmed what he was +saying, was emphatic, and that and many other things showed that +Socialism to him implied the upward evolution of humanity. It was +because of the degradation of men involved that he objected to letting +individuals grab the public property--earth, air and water. Monopolies, +he thought, should at once revert to the public, and we had an argument +which showed that he had no objection to even artificial monopolies if +they were public property. He defended the old Dutch Government +monopolies of spices, and declared them better than to-day's free trade, +when cultivation is exploited by men who always tended to be mere +money-grabbers, selfish savages let loose. In answer I mentioned the +abuses of officialdom, as seen by me from the inside in Burma, and he +agreed that the mental and moral superiority of many kinds of Asiatics +to the Europeans who want to boss them made detailed European +administration an absurdity. We should leave these peoples to develop in +their own way. Having conquered Burma and India, he proceeded, the +English should take warning from history and restrict themselves to +keeping the peace, and protecting the countries they had taken. They +should give every province as much home rule as possible and as soon as +possible, and study to avoid becoming parasites.--D.A.W. + + * * * * * + +We may fittingly conclude this brief summary of Wallace's social views +and ideals by citing his own reply to the question: "Why am I a +Socialist?" "I am a Socialist because I believe that the highest law for +mankind is justice. I therefore take for my motto, 'Fiat Justitia, Ruat +Coelum'; and my definition of Socialism is, 'The use, by everyone, of +his faculties for the common good, and the voluntary organisation of +labour for the equal benefit of all.' That is absolute social justice; +that is ideal Socialism. It is, therefore, the guiding star for all true +social reform." + + * * * * * + +He corresponded with Miss Buckley not only on scientific but also on +public questions and social problems: + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_Rosehill, Dorking. Sunday, [? December, 1878]._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,-- ... How wonderfully the Russians have got on since +you left! A very little more and the Turkish Government might be turned +out of Europe--even now it might be with the greatest ease if our +Government would join in giving them the last kick. Whatever power they +retain in Europe will most certainly involve another war before twenty +years are over.--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_Waldron Edge, Croydon. May 2, 1879._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,-- ... My "Reciprocity" article seems to have produced +a slight effect on the _Spectator_, though it did snub me at first, but +it is perfectly sickening to read the stuff spoken and written, in +Parliament and in all the newspapers, about the subject, all treating +our present practice as something holy and immutable, whatever bad +effects it may produce, and though it is not in any way "free trade" and +would I believe have been given up both by Adam Smith and Cobden.--Yours +very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +He was always ready, even eager, to discuss his social and land +nationalisation principles with his scientific friends, with members of +his own family, and indeed with anyone who would lend a willing ear. + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_38 Queen's Gardens, Bayswater, W. April 25, 1881._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--As you may suppose, I fully sympathise with the +general aims of your proposed Land Nationalisation Society; but for +sundry reasons I hesitate to commit myself, at the present stage of the +question, to a programme so definite as that which you send me. It seems +to me that before formulating the idea in a specific shape it is needful +to generate a body of public opinion on the general issue, and that it +must be some time before there can be produced such recognition of the +general principle involved as is needful before definite plans can be +set forth to any purpose....--Truly yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +HERBERT SPENCER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_38 Queen's Gardens, Bayswater, W. July 6, 1881._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I have already seen the work you name, "Progress and +Poverty," having had a copy, or rather two copies, sent me. I gathered +from what little I glanced at that I should fundamentally disagree with +the writer, and have not read more. + +I demur entirely to the supposition, which is implied in the book, that +by any possible social arrangements whatever the distress which humanity +has to suffer in the course of civilisation could have been prevented. +The whole process, with all its horrors and tyrannies, and slaveries, +and wars, and abominations of all kinds, has been an inevitable one +accompanying the survival and spread of the strongest, and the +consolidation of small tribes into large societies; and among other +things the lapse of land into private ownership has been, like the lapse +of individuals into slavery, at one period of the process altogether +indispensable. I do not in the least believe that from the primitive +system of communistic ownership to a high and finished system of State +ownership, such as we may look for in the future, there could be any +transition without passing through such stages as we have seen and which +exist now. Argument aside, however, I should be disinclined to commit +myself to any scheme of immediate action, which, as I have indicated to +you, I believe at present premature. For myself I feel that I have to +consider not only what I may do on special questions, but also how the +action I take on special questions may affect my general influence; and +I am disinclined to give more handles against me than are needful. +Already, as you will see by the enclosed circular, I am doing in the way +of positive action more than may be altogether prudent.--Sincerely +yours, + +HERBERT SPENCER. + + * * * * * + +A.R. WALLACE TO MR. A.C. SWINTON + + +_Frith Hill, Godalming. December 23, 1885._ + +My dear Swinton,-- ... I have just received an invitation to go to +lecture in Sydney on Sundays for three months, with an intimation that +other lectures can be arranged for in Melbourne and New Zealand. It is +tempting!... If I had the prospect of clearing £1,000 by a lecturing +campaign I would go, though it would require a great effort.... I did +not think it possible even to contemplate going so far again, but the +chance of earning a lot of money which would enable me to clear off this +house and leave something for my family must be seriously +considered.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. May_ 10, 1891. + +My dear Violet,-- ... I am quite in favour of a legal eight hours' day. +Overtime need not be forbidden, but every man who works overtime should +have a legal claim to double wages for the extra hours. That would make +it cheaper for the master to employ two sets of men working each eight +hours when they had long jobs requiring them, while for the necessities +of finishing contracts, etc., they could well afford to pay double for +the extra hours. "It would make everything dearer!" Of course it would! +How else can you produce a more equal distribution of wealth than by +making the rich and idle pay more and the workers receive more? "The +workers would have to pay more, too, for everything they bought!" True +again, but what they paid more would not equal their extra earnings, +because a large portion of the extra pay to the men will be paid by the +rich, and only the remainder paid by the men themselves. The eight +hours' day and double pay for overtime would not only employ thousands +now out of work, but would actually raise wages per hour and per day. +This is clear, because wages are kept down wholly by the surplus supply +of labour in every trade. The moment the surplus is used up, or nearly +so, by more men being required on account of shorter hours, competition +among the men becomes less; among the employers, for men, more: hence +necessarily higher wages all round. As to the bogey of foreign +competition, it is a bogey only. All the political economists agree that +if wages are raised in all trades, it will not in the least affect our +power to export goods as profitably as now. Look and see! And, secondly, +the eight hours' movement is an international one, and will affect all +alike in the end. + +There are some arguments for you! Poor unreasoning infant!!... + + * * * * * + +REV. AUGUSTUS JESSOPP TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Scarning Rectory, East Dereham. August 25, 1893._ + +My dear Mr. Wallace,--I have put off writing to thank you for your kind +letter, and the book and pamphlets you were good enough to send me, +because I hoped in acknowledgment to say I had read your little volumes, +as I intend to. The fates have been against me, and I will delay no +longer thanking you for sending them to me. + +I do not believe in your theory of land nationalisation one bit! But I +like to see all that such a man as you has to say on his side. + +In return I send you my view of the matter, which is just as likely to +convert you as your book is to convert me. + +I love a man with a theory, for I learn most from such a man, and when I +have thought a thing out in my own mind and forgotten the arguments +while I have arrived at a firm conviction as to the conclusion, it is +refreshing to be reminded of points and facts that have slipped away +from me! + +It was a great pleasure and privilege to make your acquaintance the +other day, and I hope we may meet again some day.--Very truly yours, + +AUGUSTUS JESSOPP. + + * * * * * + +REV. H. PRICE HUGHES TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_8 Taviton Street, Gordon Square, W.C. September 14, 1898._ + +Dear Dr. Wallace,--I am always very glad when I hear from you. So far as +your intensely interesting volume has compelled some very prejudiced +people to read your attack on modern delusions, it is a great gain, +especially to themselves. I have read your tract on "Justice, not +Charity," with great pleasure and approval. The moment Mr. Benjamin +Kidd invented the striking term of "equality of opportunity" I adopted +it, and have often preached it in the pulpit and on the platform, just +as you preach it in the tract before me. I fully agree that justice, not +charity, is the fundamental principle of social reform. There is +something very contemptible in the spiteful way in which many newspapers +and magistrates are trying to aggravate the difficulties of +conscientious men who avail themselves of the conscience clause in the +new Vaccination Act. There is very much to be done yet before social +justice is realised, but the astonishing manifesto of the Czar of +Russia, which I have no doubt is a perfectly sincere one, is a +revelation of the extent to which social truth is leavening European +society. Since I last wrote to you I have been elected President of the +Wesleyan Methodist Conference, which will give me a great deal of +special work and special opportunities also, I am thankful to say, of +propagating Social Christianity, which in fact, and to a great extent in +form, is what you yourself are doing.--Yours very sincerely, + +H. PRICE HUGHES. + + * * * * * + +TO ALFRED RUSSELL + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. May 11, 1900._ + +Dear Sir,--I am not a vegetarian, but I believe in it as certain to be +adopted in the future, and as essential to a higher social and moral +state of society. My reasons are: + +(1) That far less land is needed to supply vegetable than to supply +animal food. + +(2) That the business of a butcher is, and would be, repulsive to all +refined natures. + +(3) That with proper arrangements for variety and good cookery, +vegetable food is better for health of body and mind.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. JOHN (LORD) MORLEY + + +_Parkstone, Dorset, October 20, 1900._ + +Dear Sir,--I look upon you as the one politician left to us, who, by his +ability and integrity, his eloquence and love of truth, his high +standing as a thinker and writer, and his openness of mind, is able to +become the leader of the English people in their struggle for freedom +against the monopolists of land, capital, and political power. I +therefore take the liberty of sending you herewith a book of mine +containing a number of miscellaneous essays, a few of which, I venture +to think, are worthy of your serious attention. + +Some time since you intimated in one of your speeches that, if the +choice for this country were between Imperialism and Socialism, you were +inclined to consider the latter the less evil of the two. You added, I +think, your conviction that the dangers of Socialism to human character +were what most influenced you against it. I trust that my impression of +what you said is substantially correct. Now I myself believe, after a +study of the subject extending over twenty years, that this danger is +non-existent, and certainly does not in any way apply to the fundamental +principles of Socialism, which is, simply, _the voluntary organisation +of labour for the good of all_....--With great esteem, I am yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +MR. JOHN (LORD) MORLEY TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_57 Elm Park Gardens, S.W. October 31, 1900._ + +My dear Sir,--For some reason, though your letter is dated the 20th, it +has only reached me, along with the two volumes, to-day. I feel myself +greatly indebted to you for both. In older days I often mused upon a +passage of yours in the "Malay Archipelago" contrasting the condition of +certain types of savage life with that of life in a modern industrial +city. And I shall gladly turn again to the subject in these pages, new +to me, where you come to close quarters with the problem. + +But my time and my mind are at present neither of them free for the +effective consideration of this mighty case. Nor can I promise myself +the requisite leisure for at least several months to come. What I can do +is to set your arguments a-simmering in my brain, and perhaps when the +time of liberation arrives I may be in a state to make something of it. +I don't suppose that I shall be a convert, but I always remember J.S. +Mill's observation, after recapitulating the evils to be apprehended +from Socialism, that he would face them in spite of all, if the only +alternative to Socialism were our present state.--With sincere thanks +and regard, believe me yours faithfully + +JOHN MORLEY. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. C.G. STUART-MENTEITH + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. June 6, 1901._ + +Dear Sir,--I have no time to discuss your letter[52] at any length. You +seem to assume that we can say definitely who are the "fit" and who the +"unfit." + +I deny this, except in the most extreme cases. + +I believe that, even now, the race is mostly recruited by the _more +fit_--that is the upper working classes and the lower middle classes. + +Both the very rich and the very poor are probably--as classes--below +these. The former increase less rapidly through immorality and late +marriage; the latter through excessive infant mortality. If that is the +case, no legislative interference is needed, and would probably do harm. + +I see nothing in your letter which is really opposed to my +contention--that under rational social conditions the healthy instincts +of men and women will solve the population problem far better than any +tinkering interference either by law or by any other means. + +And in the meantime the condition of things is not so bad as you +suppose.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. SYDNEY COCKERELL + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. January 15, 1906._ + +Dear Mr. Cockerell,--I have now finished reading Kropotkin's Life with +very great interest, especially for the light it throws on the present +condition of Russia. It also brings out clearly some very fine aspects +of the Russian character, and the horrible despotism to which they are +still subject, equivalent to that of the days of the Bastille and the +system of _Lettres de cachet_ before the great Revolution in France. It +seems to me probable that under happier conditions--perhaps in the not +distant future--Russia may become the most advanced instead of the most +backward in civilisation--a real leader among nations, not in war and +conquest but in social reform.--Yours faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. J. HYDER (Of THE LAND NATIONALISATION SOCIETY) + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. May 13, 1907._ + +Dear Mr. Hyder,--Although it is not safe to hallo before one is out of +the wood, I think I may congratulate the Society upon the prospect it +now has of obtaining the first-fruits of its persistent efforts, for a +quarter of a century, to form an enlightened public opinion in favour of +our views. If the Government adequately fulfils its promises, we shall +have, in the Bill for a fair valuation of land apart from improvements, +as a basis of taxation and for purchase, and that giving local +authorities full powers to acquire land so valued, the first real and +definite steps towards complete nationalisation.... + +ALFRED R. WALLACE, + + * * * * * + +TO MR. A. WILTSHIRE[53] + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. October 10, 1907._ + +Dear Sir,--I told Mr. Button that I do not approve of the resolution you +are going to move.[54] + +The workers of England have themselves returned a large majority of +ordinary Liberals, including hundreds of capitalists, landowners, +manufacturers, and lawyers, with only a sprinkling of Radicals and +Socialists. The Government--your own elected Government--is doing more +for the workers than any Liberal Government ever did before, yet you are +going to pass what is practically a vote of censure on it for not being +a Radical, Labour, and Socialist Government! + +If this Government attempted to do what you and I think ought to be +done, it would lose half its followers and be turned out, ignominiously, +giving the Tories another chance. That is foolish as well as +unfair.--Yours truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO LORD AVEBURY + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. June 23, 1908._ + +Dear Lord Avebury,-- ... Allow me to wish every success to your Bill for +preserving beautiful birds from destruction. To stop the import is the +only way--short of the still more drastic method of heavily fining +everyone who wears feathers in public, with imprisonment for a second +offence. But we are not yet ripe for that.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. TO MR. E. SMEDLEY + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. December 25, 1910._ + +Dear Mr. Smedley,--Thanks for your long and interesting letter.... Man +is, and has been, horribly cruel, and it is indeed difficult to explain +why. Yet that there is an explanation, and that it does lead to good in +the end, I believe. Praying is evidently useless, and should be, as it +is almost always selfish--for _our_ benefit, or our _families_, or our +_nation_.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED E. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. W.G. WALLACE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. August 20, 1911._ + +My dear Will,-- ... The railway strike surpasses the Parliament Bill in +excitement. On receipt of Friday's paper, I sat down and composed and +sent off to Lloyd George a short but big letter, on large foolscap +paper, urging him and Asquith, as the two strong men of the Government, +to take over at once the management of the railways of the entire +country, by Royal Proclamation--on the ground of mismanagement for +seventy years, and having brought the country to the verge of starvation +and civil war; to grant an amnesty to all strikers (except for acts of +violence), also grant all the men's demands for one year, and devote +that time to a deliberate and impartial inquiry and a complete scheme of +reorganisation of the railways in the interest, first of the public, +then of the men of all grades, lastly of the share and bond owners, who +will become guaranteed public creditors.... It has been admitted and +proved again and again, that the men are badly treated, that their +grievances are real--their very unanimity and standing by each other +proves it. Their demands are most moderate; and the cost in extra wages +will be saved over and over in safety, regularity, economy of working, +and public convenience. I have not had even an acknowledgment of receipt +yet, but hope to in a day or two.... + + * * * * * + +MR. H.M. HYNDMAN TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_9 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, S.W. March 14, 1912._ + +Dear Sir,--Everyone who knows anything of the record of modern science +in this country recognises how very much we all owe to you. It was, +therefore, specially gratifying to me that you should be so kind as to +write such a very encouraging letter on the occasion of my seventieth +birthday. I owe you sincere thanks for what you said, though I may +honestly feel that you overpraised what I have done. It has been an +uphill fight, but I am lucky in being allowed to see through the smoke +and dust of battle a vision of the promised land. The transformation +from capitalism to socialism is going on slowly under our eyes. + +Again thanking you and wishing you every good wish, believe me yours +sincerely, + +H.M. HYNDMAN. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. M.J. MURPHY + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. August 19, 1913._ + +Dear Sir,--I not only think but firmly believe that Lloyd George is +working for the good of the people, in all ways open to him. The wonder +is that he can persuade Asquith and the Cabinet to let him go as far as +he does. No doubt he is obliged to do things he does not think the best +absolutely, but the best that are practicable. He does not profess to be +a Socialist, and he is not infallible, but he does the best he can, +under the conditions in which he finds himself. Socialists who condemn +him for not doing more are most unfair. They must know, if they think, +that if he tried to do much more towards Socialism he would break up the +Government and let in the Tories.--Yours truly, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. A. WILTSHIRE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. September 14, 1913._ + +Dear Sir,--I wish you every success in your work for the amelioration of +the condition of the workers, through whose exertions it may be truly +said we all live and move and have our being. + +Your motto is excellent. Above all things stick together. + +Equally important is it to declare as a fixed principle that wages are +to be and must be continuously raised, never lowered. You have too much +arrears to make up--too many forces against you, to admit of their being +ever lowered. Let future generations decide when that is necessary--if +ever. + +This is a principle worth enforcing by a general strike. Nothing less +will be effective--nothing less should be accepted; and you must let the +Government know it, and insist that they adopt it. + +The rise must always be towards uniformity of payment for all useful and +productive work.--Yours sincerely, + +ALFRED E. WALLACE. + + + + +PART VI + +Some Further Problems + + + + +I.--Astronomy + + +Of the varied subjects upon which Wallace wrote, none, perhaps, came +with greater freshness to the general reader than his books written when +he was nearly eighty upon the ancient science of astronomy. + +Perhaps he would have said that the "directive Mind and Purpose" kept +these subjects back until the closing years of his life in order that he +might bring to bear upon them his wider knowledge of nature, enlightened +by that spiritual perception which led him to link the heavens and the +earth in one common bond of evolution, culminating in the development of +moral and spiritual intelligences. + +"Man's Place in the Universe" (1903) was in effect a prelude to "The +World of Life" (1910). Wallace saw afterwards that one grew out of the +other, as we find him frequently saying with regard to his other books +and essays. + +As with Spiritualism, so with Astronomy, the seed-interest practically +lay dormant in his mind for many years; with this difference, however, +that temperament and training caused a speedy unfolding of his mind when +once a scientific subject gripped him, whereas with Spiritualism he felt +the need of moving slowly and cautiously before fully accepting the +phenomena as verifiable facts. + +It was during the later period of his land-surveying, when he was +somewhere between the ages of 18 and 20, that he became distinctly +interested in the stars. Being left much alone at this period, he began +to vary his pursuits by studying a book on Nautical Astronomy, and +constructing a rude telescope.[55] This primitive appliance increased +his interest in other astronomical instruments, and especially in the +grand onward march of astronomical discovery, which he looked upon as +one of the wonders of the nineteenth century. + +It was the inclusion of astronomy in lectures he delivered at Davos +which led him to extend his original brief notes into the four chapters +which form an important part of his "Wonderful Century." He freely +confessed that in order to write these chapters he was obliged to read +widely, and to make much use of friends to whom astronomy was a more +familiar study. And it was whilst he was engaged upon these chapters +that his attention became riveted upon the unique position of our planet +in relation to the solar system. + +He had noticed that certain definite conditions appeared to be +absolutely essential to the origin and development of the higher types +of terrestrial life, and that most of these must have been certainly +dependent on a very delicate balance of the forces concerned in the +evolution of our planet. Our position in the solar system appeared to +him to be peculiar and unique because, he thought, we may be almost sure +that these conditions do not coexist on any other planet, and that we +have no good reason to believe that other planets could have maintained +over a period of millions of years the complex and equable conditions +absolutely necessary to the existence of the higher forms of terrestrial +life. Therefore it appeared to him to be proved that our earth does +really stand alone in the solar system by reason of its special +adaptation for the development of human life. + +Granting this, however, the question might still be asked, Why should +not any one of the suns in other parts of space possess planets as well +adapted as our own to develop the higher forms of organic life? These +questions cannot be answered definitely; but there are reasons, he +considered, why the central position which we occupy may alone be +suitable. It is almost certain that electricity and other mysterious +radiant forces (of which we have so recently discovered the existence) +have played an important part in the origin and development of organised +life, and it does not appear to be extravagant to assume that the +extraordinary way in which these cosmic forces have remained hidden from +us may be due to that central position which we are found to occupy in +the whole universe of matter discoverable by us. Indeed, it may well be +that these wonderful forces of the ether are more irregular--and perhaps +more violent--in their effect upon matter in what may be termed the +outer chambers of that universe, and that they are only so nicely +balanced, so uniform in their action, and so concealed from us, as to be +fit to aid in the development of organic life in that central portion of +the stellar system which our globe occupies. Should these views as to +the unique central position of our earth be supported by the results of +further research, it will certainly rank as the most extraordinary and +perhaps the most important of the many discoveries of the past century. + +While still working on this section of his "Wonderful Century," he was +asked to write a scientific article, upon any subject of his own choice, +for the _New York Independent_. And as the idea of the unique position +of the earth to be the abode of human life was fresh in his mind, he +thought it would prove interesting to the general public. However, +before his article appeared simultaneously in the American papers and in +the _Fortnightly Review_, a friend who read it was so impressed with +its originality and treatment that he persuaded Wallace to enlarge it +into book form; and it appeared in the autumn of 1903 as "Man's Place in +the Universe." + +This fascinating treatise upon the position occupied by the earth, and +man, in the universe, had the same effect as some of his former +writings, of drawing forth unstinted commendation from many religious +and secular papers; whilst the severely scientific and materialistic +reviewers doubted how far his imagination had superseded unbiased +reason. + +On one point, however, most outsiders were in agreement--that he had +invested an ancient subject with freshest interest through approaching +it by an entirely new way. The plan followed was that of bringing +together all the positive conclusions of the astronomer, the geologist, +the physicist, and the biologist, and by weighing these carefully in the +balance he arrived at what appeared to him to be the only reasonable +conclusion. He therefore set out to solve the problem whether or not the +logical inferences to be drawn from the various results of modern +science lent support to the view that our earth is the only inhabited +planet, not only in our own solar system, but in the whole stellar +universe. In the course of his close and careful exposition he takes the +reader through the whole trend of modern scientific research, concluding +with a summing-up of his deductions in the following six propositions, +in the first three of which he sets out the conclusions reached by +modern astronomers: + +(1) That the stellar universe forms one connected whole; and, though of +enormous extent, is yet finite, and its extent determinable. + +(2) That the solar system is situated in the plane of the Milky Way, and +not far removed from the centre of that plane. The earth is, therefore, +nearly in the centre of the stellar universe. + +(3) That this universe consists throughout of the same kinds of matter, +and is subjected to the same physical and chemical laws. + +The conclusions which I claim to have shown to have enormous +probabilities in their favour are: + +(4) That no other planet in the solar system than our earth is inhabited +or habitable. + +(5) That the probabilities are almost as great against any other sun +possessing inhabited planets. + +(6) That the nearly central position of our sun is probably a permanent +one, and has been specially favourable, perhaps absolutely essential, to +life-development on the earth. + +Wallace never maintained that this earth alone in the whole universe is +the abode of life. What he maintained was, first, that our solar system +appears to be in or near the centre of the visible universe, and, +secondly, that all the available evidence supports the idea of the +extreme unlikelihood of there being on any star or planet revealed by +the telescope any intelligent life either identical with or analogous to +man. To suppose that this one particular type of universe extends over +all space was, he considered, to have a low idea of the Creator and His +power. Such a scheme would mean monotony instead of infinite variety, +the keynote of things as they are known to us. There might be a million +universes, but all different. + +To his mind there was no difficulty in believing in the existence of +consciousness apart from material organism; though he could not readily +conceive of pure mind, or pure spirit, apart from some kind of +substantial envelope or substratum. Many of the views suggested in +"Man's Place in the Universe" as to man's spiritual progress hereafter, +the reason or ultimate purpose for which he was brought into existence, +were enlarged upon, later, in "The World of Life." As early, however, as +1903, Wallace did not hesitate to express his own firm conviction that +Science and Spiritualism were in many ways closely akin. + +He believed that the near future would show the strong tendency of +scientists to become more religious or spiritual. The process, he +thought, would be slow, as the general attitude has never been more +materialistic than now. A few have been bold enough to assert their +belief in some outside power, but the leading scientific men are, as a +rule, dead against them. "They seem," he once remarked, "to think, and +to like to think, that the whole phenomena of life will one day be +reduced to terms of matter and motion, and that every vegetable, animal, +and human product will be explained, and may some day be artificially +produced, by chemical action. But even if this were so, behind it all +there would still remain an unexplained mystery." + +Closely associated with "Man's Place in the Universe" is a small volume, +"Is Mars Habitable?" This was first commenced as a review of Professor +Percival Lowell's book, "Mars and its Canals," with the object of +showing that the large amount of new and interesting facts contained in +this work did not invalidate the conclusion that he (Wallace) had +reached in 1903--that Mars is not habitable. The conclusions to which +his argument led him were these: + +(1) All physicists are agreed that ... Mars would have a mean +temperature of about 35° F. owing to its distance from the sun. + +(2) But the very low temperatures on the earth under the equator at a +height where the barometer stands at about three times as high as on +Mars, proves that from scantiness of atmosphere alone Mars cannot +possibly have a temperature as high as the freezing-point of water. The +combination of these two results must bring down the temperature of Mars +to a degree wholly incompatible with the existence of animal life. + +(3) The quite independent proof that water-vapour cannot exist on Mars, +and that, therefore, the first essential of organic life--water--is +non-existent. + +The conclusion from these three independent proofs ... is therefore +irresistible--that animal life, especially in its highest forms, cannot +exist. Mars, therefore, is not only uninhabited by intelligent beings +... but is absolutely uninhabitable. + + * * * * * + +In contrast to his purely scientific interest in astronomy, Wallace was +moved by the romance of the "stars," akin to his enthusiastic love of +beautiful butterflies. Had it not been for this touch of romance and +idealism in his writings on astronomy, they would have lost much of +their charm for the general reader. His breadth of vision transforms him +from a mere student of astronomy into a seer who became ever more deeply +conscious of the mystery both "before and behind." + + "Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows; + Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows? + From the great deep to the great deep he goes." + +And whilst facing with brave and steady mind the great mysteries of +earth and sky, of life and what lies beyond it, he himself loved to +quote: + + "Fear not thou the hidden purpose + Of that Power which alone is great, + Nor the myriad world His shadow, + Nor the silent Opener of the Gate." + +Among the scientific friends to whom he appealed for help when writing +his astronomical books was Prof. (now Sir) W.F. Barrett. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 12, 1901._ + +My dear Barrett,--I shall be much obliged if you will give me your +opinion on a problem in physics that I cannot find answered in any book. +It relates to the old Nebular Hypothesis, and is this: + +It is assumed that the matter of the solar system was once wholly +gaseous, and extended as a roughly globular or lenticular mass beyond +the orbit of Neptune. Sir Robert Ball stated in a lecture here that even +when the solar nebula had shrunk to the size of the earth's orbit it +must have been (I think he said) hundreds of times rarer than the +residual gas in one of Crookes's high vacuum tubes. Yet, by hypothesis, +it was hot enough, even in its outer portions, to retain all the solid +elements in the gaseous state. + +Now, admitting this to be _possible_ at any given epoch, my difficulty +is this: how long could the outer parts of this nebula exist, exposed to +the zero temperature of surrounding space, without losing the gaseous +state and aggregating into minute solid particles--into meteoric dust, +in fact? + +Could it exist an hour? a day? a year? a century? Yet the process of +condensation from the Neptunian era to that of Saturn or Jupiter must +surely have occupied millions of centuries. What kept the almost +infinitely rare metallic gases in the gaseous state all this time? Is +such a condition of things physically possible? + +I cannot myself imagine any such condition of things as the supposed +primitive solar nebula as possibly coming into existence under any +conceivably antecedent conditions, but, granted that it did come into +existence, it seems to me that the gaseous state must almost instantly +begin changing into the solid state. Hence I adopt the meteoric theory +instead of the nebular; since all the evidence is in favour of solid +matter being abundant all through known space, while there is no +evidence of metallic gases existing in space, except as the result of +collisions of huge masses of matter. Is my difficulty a mare's +nest?--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO Mrs. Fisher + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. February 28, 1905._ + +Dear Mrs. Fisher,--Thanks for your letter. Am sorry I have not converted +you, but perhaps it will come yet! I will only make one remark as to +your conclusion. + +I have not attempted to prove a negative! That is not necessary. What I +claim to have done is, to have shown that all the evidence we have, be +it much or little, is decidedly against not only other solar planets +having inhabitants, but also, as far as probabilities are concerned, +equally against it in any supposed stellar planets--for not one has been +proved to exist. There is absolutely no evidence which shows even a +probability of there being other inhabited worlds. It is all pure +speculation, depending upon our ideas as to what the universe is for, as +to what _we_ think (some of us!) _ought_ to be! That is not evidence, +even of the flimsiest. All I maintain is that mine _is_ evidence, +founded on physical probabilities, and that, as against no evidence at +all--no proved physical probability--mine holds the field!--Yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. E. SMEDLEY + + +_Broadstone, Dorset. July 24, 1907._ + +Dear Mr. Smedley,-- ... I write chiefly to tell you that I have read Mr. +Lowell's last book, "Mars and its Canals," and am now writing an +article, or perhaps a small book, about it. I am sure his theories are +all wrong, and I am showing why, so that anyone can see his fallacies. +His observations, drawings, photographs, etc., are all quite right, and +I believe true to nature, but his interpretation of what he sees is +wrong--often even to absurdity. He began by thinking the straight lines +are works of art, and as he finds more and more of these straight lines, +he thinks that proves more completely that they are works of art, and +then he twists all other evidence to suit that. The book is not very +well written, but no doubt the newspaper men think that as he is such a +great astronomer he must know what it all means! + +I am more than ever convinced that Mars is totally +uninhabitable....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. August 10, 1907._ + +My dear Barrett,--Thanks for your letter, and your friend Prof. +Stroud's. I have come to the sad conclusion that it is hopeless to get +any mathematician to trouble himself to track out Lowell's obscurities +and fallacies.... So, being driven on to my own resources, I have worked +out a mode of estimating (within limits) the temperature of Mars, +without any mathematical formulæ--and only a little arithmetic. I want +to know if there is any fallacy in it, and therefore take the liberty of +sending it to you, as you are taking your holiday, just to read it over +and tell me if you see any flaw in it. I also send my short summary of +Lowell's _Philosophical Magazine_ paper, so that you can see if my +criticism at the end is fair, and whether his words really mean what to +me they seem to....--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. F. BIRCH + + +_Sept. 12, 1907._ + +Dear Fred,-- ... For the last two or three months I have had a hard +struggle with Mars--not the god of war, but the planet--writing a small +book, chiefly criticising Lowell's last book, called "Mars and its +Canals," published less than a year back by Macmillan, who will also +publish my reply. _I_ think it is crushing, but it has cost me a deal of +trouble, as Lowell has also printed a long and complex mathematical +article trying to prove that though Mars receives less than half the +sun-heat we do, yet it is very nearly as warm and quite habitable! But +his figures and arguments are alike so shaky and involved that I cannot +get any of my mathematical friends to tackle it or point out his errors. +However, I think I have done it myself by the rules of common +sense....--Your sincere friend, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. H. JAMYN BROOKE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 2, 1910._ + +Dear Sir,--Your "monistic" system is to me a system of mere +contradictory words. You begin with three things--then you say they are +correlated with one substance--coextensive with the universe. This you +cannot possibly know, and it is about as intelligible and as likely to +be true as the Athanasian Creed!--Yours truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROP. KNIGHT + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 1, 1913._ + +Dear Mr. Knight,--I have written hardly anything on the direct proofs of +"immortality" except in my book on "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism," +and also in "My Life," Vol. II. But my two works, "Man's Place in the +Universe" (now published at 1s.), and my later volume, "The World of +Life," form together a very elaborate, and I think conclusive, +scientific argument in favour of the view that the whole material +universe exists and is designed for the production of immortal spirits, +in the greatest possible diversity of nature, and character, +corresponding with ... the almost infinite diversity of that universe, +in all its parts and in every detail....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +P.S.--I am fairly well, but almost past work.--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR OLIVER LODGE + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 9, 1913._ + +Dear Sir Oliver Lodge,--Owing to ill-health and other causes I have only +now been able to finish the perusal of your intensely interesting and +instructive Address to the British Association. I cannot, however, +refrain from writing to you to express my admiration of it, and +especially of the first half of it, in which you discuss the almost +infinite variety and complexity of the physical problems involved in the +great principle of "continuity" in so clear a manner that outsiders like +myself are able to some extent to apprehend them. I am especially +pleased to find that you uphold the actual existence and _continuity_ of +the ether as scientifically established, and reject the doubts of some +mathematicians as to the reality and perfect continuity of space and +time as unthinkable. + +The latter part of the Address is even more important, and is especially +notable for your clear and positive statements as to the evidence in all +life-process of a "guiding" Mind. I can hardly suppose that you can have +found time to read my rather discursive and laboured volume on "The +World of Life," written mainly for the purpose of enforcing not only the +proofs of a "guiding" but also of a "foreseeing" and "designing" Mind by +evidence which will be thought by most men of science to be unduly +strained. It is, therefore, the more interesting to me to find that you +have yourself (on pp. 33-34 of your Address) used the very same form of +analogical illustration as I have done (at p. 296 of "The World of +Life") under the heading of "A Physiological Allegory," as being a very +close representation of what really occurs in nature. + +To conclude: your last paragraph rises to a height of grandeur and +eloquence to which I cannot attain, but which excites my highest +admiration. + +Should you have a separate copy to spare of your Romanes Lecture at +Oxford, I should be glad to have it to refer to.--Believe me yours very +truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The last of Wallace's letters on astronomical subjects was written to +Sir Oliver Lodge about a week before his death: + +TO SIR OLIVER LODGES + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 27, 1913._ + +Dear Sir Oliver Lodge,--Many thanks for your Romanes Lecture, which, +owing to my ignorance of modern electrical theory and experiments, is +more difficult for me than was your British Association Address. + +I have been very much interested the last month by reading a book sent +me from America by Mr. W.L. Webb, being "An Account of the Unparalleled +Discoveries of Mr. T.J.J. See." + +Several of Mr. See's own lectures are given, with references to his +"Researches on the Evolution of the Stellar Systems," in two large +volumes. + +His theory of "capture" of suns, planets, and satellites seems to me +very beautifully worked out under the influence of gravitation and a +resisting medium of cosmical dust--which explains the origin and motions +of the moon as well as that of all the planets and satellites far better +than Sir G. Darwin's expulsion theory. + +I note however that he is quite ignorant that Proctor, forty years ago, +gave full reasons for this "capture" theory in his "Expanse of Heaven," +and also that the same writer showed that the Milky Way could not have +the enormous lateral extension he gives to it, but that it cannot really +be much flattened. He does not even mention the proofs given of this +both by Proctor and, I think, by Herbert Spencer, while in Mr. Webb's +volume (opposite p. 212) is a diagram showing the "Coal Sack" as a +"vacant lane" running quite through and across the successive spiral +extensions laterally of the galaxy, without any reference or a word of +explanation that such features, of which there are many, really +demonstrate the untenability of such extension. + +An even more original and extremely interesting part of Mr. See's work +is his very satisfactory solution of the hitherto unsolved geological +problem of the origin of all the great mountain ranges of the world, in +Chapters X., XI., and XII. of Mr. Webb's volume. It seems quite complete +except for the beginnings, but I suppose it is a result of the formation +of the _earth_ by accretion and not by expulsion, by heating and not by +cooling....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + + + +II.--Spiritualism + + "The completely materialistic mind of my youth and early manhood + has been slowly moulded into the socialistic, spiritualistic, and + theistic mind I now exhibit--a mind which is, as my scientific + friends think, so weak and credulous in its declining years, as to + believe that fruit and flowers, domestic animals, glorious birds + and insects, wool, cotton, sugar and rubber, metals and gems, were + all foreseen and foreordained for the education and enjoyment of + man. The whole cumulative argument of my 'World of Life' is that + _in its every detail_ it calls for the agency of a mind ... + enormously above and beyond any human mind ... Whether this + Unknown Reality is a single Being and acts everywhere in the + universe as direct creator, organiser, and director of every + minutest motion ... or through 'infinite grades of beings,' as I + suggest, comes to much the same thing. Mine seems a more clear and + intelligible supposition ... and it is the teaching of the Bible, + of Swedenborg, and of Milton."--Letter from A.R. Wallace to JAMES + MARCHANT, written in 1913. + + +The letters on Spiritualism which Wallace wrote cast further light on +the personal attitude of mind which he maintained towards that subject. +He was an unbiased scientific investigator, commencing on the "lower +level" of spirit phenomena, such as raps and similar physical +manifestations of "force by unseen intelligences," and passing on to a +clearer understanding of the phenomena of mesmerism and telepathy; to +the materialisation of, and conversation with, the spirits of those who +had been known in the body, until the conviction of life after death, as +the inevitable crowning conclusion to the long process of evolution, was +reached in the remarkable chapter with which he concludes "The World of +Life"--an impressive prose poem. + +Like that of many other children, Wallace's early childhood was spent in +an orthodox religious atmosphere, which, whilst awakening within him +vague emotions of religious fervour, derived chiefly from the more +picturesque and impassioned of the hymns which he occasionally heard +sung at a Nonconformist chapel, left no enduring impression. Moreover, +at the age of 14 he was brought suddenly into close contact with +Socialism as expounded by Robert Owen, which dispelled whatever +glimmerings of the Christian faith there may have been latent in his +mind, leaving him for many years a confirmed materialist. + +This fact, together with his early-aroused sense of the social injustice +and privations imposed upon the poorer classes both in town and country, +which he carefully observed during his experience as a land-surveyor, +might easily have had an undesirable effect upon his general character +had not his intense love and reverence for nature provided a stimulus to +his moral and spiritual development. But the "directive Mind and +Purpose" was preparing him silently and unconsciously until his "fabric +of thought" was ready to receive spiritual impressions. For, according +to his own theory, as "the laws of nature bring about continuous +development, on the whole progressive, one of the subsidiary results of +this mode of development is that no organ, no sensation, no faculty +arises _before_ it is needed, or in greater degree than it is +needed."[56] From this point of view we may make a brief outline of the +manner in which this particular "faculty" arose and was developed in +him. + +When at Leicester, in 1844, his curiosity was greatly excited by some +lectures on mesmerism given by Mr. Spencer Hall, and he soon discovered +that he himself had considerable power in this direction, which he +exercised on some of his pupils. + +Later, when his brother Herbert joined him in South America, he found +that he also possessed this gift, and on several occasions they +mesmerised some of the natives for mere amusement. But the subject was +put aside, and Wallace paid no further attention to such phenomena until +after his return to England in 1862. + +It was not until the summer of 1865 that he witnessed any phenomena of a +spiritualistic nature; of these a full account is given in "Miracles and +Modern Spiritualism" (p. 132). "I came," he says, "to the inquiry +utterly unbiased by hopes or fears, because I knew that my belief could +not affect the reality, and with an ingrained prejudice even against +such a word as 'spirit,' which I have hardly yet overcome." + +From that time until 1895, when the second edition of that book +appeared, he did much, together with other scientists, to establish +these facts, as he believed them to be, on a rational and scientific +foundation. It will also be noticed, both before and after this period, +that in addition to the notable book which he published dealing +exclusively with these matters, the gradual trend of his convictions, +advancing steadily towards the end which he ultimately reached, had +become so thoroughly woven into his "fabric of thought" that it appears +under many phases in his writings, and occupies a considerable part of +his correspondence, of which we have only room for some specimens. + +The first definite statement of his belief in "this something" other +than material in the evolution of Man appeared in his essay on "The +Development of Human Faces under the Law of Natural Selection" (1864). +In this he suggested that, Man having reached a state of physical +perfection through the progressive law of Natural Selection, thenceforth +Mind became the dominating factor, endowing Man with an ever-increasing +power of intelligence which, whilst the physical had remained +stationary, had continued to develop according to his needs. This +"in-breathing" of a divine Spirit, or the controlling force of a supreme +directive Mind and Purpose, which was one of the points of divergence +between his theory and that held by Darwin, is too well known to need +repetition. + +This disagreement has a twofold interest from the fact that Darwin, in +his youth, studied theology with the full intention of taking holy +orders, and for some years retained his faith in the more or less +orthodox beliefs arising out of the Bible. But as time went by, an +ever-extending knowledge of the mystery of the natural laws governing +the development of man and nature led him to make the characteristically +frank avowal that he "found it more and more difficult ... to invent +evidence which would suffice to convince"; adding, "This disbelief crept +over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so +slow that I felt no distress."[57] With Wallace, however, his early +disbelief ended in a deep conviction that "as nothing in nature actually +'dies,' but renews its life in another and higher form, so Man, the +highest product of natural laws here, must by the power of mind and +intellect continue to develop hereafter." + +The varied reasons leading up to this final conviction, as related by +himself in "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism" and "My Life," are, +however, too numerous and detailed to be retold in a brief summary in +this place. + +The correspondence that follows deals entirely with investigations on +this side of the Atlantic, but a good deal of evidence which to him was +conclusive was obtained during his stay in America, where Spiritualism +has been more widely recognised, and for a much longer period than in +England. + +Some of the letters addressed to Miss Buckley (afterwards Mrs. Fisher) +reveal the extreme caution which he both practised himself and advocated +in others when following up any experimental phase of spiritual +phenomena. The same correspondence also gives a fairly clear outline of +his faith in the ascending scale from the physical evidence of +spirit-existence to the communication of some actual knowledge of life +as it exists beyond the veil. + +In spiritual matters, as in natural science, though at times his head +may have appeared to be "in the clouds," his feet were planted firmly on +the earth. This is seen, to note another curious instance, in his +correspondence with Sir Wm. Barrett, where he maintains a delicate +balance between natural science and "spirit impression" when discussing +the much controverted reality of "dowsing" for water. + +It was this breadth of vision, unhampered by mere intellectualism, but +always kept within reasonable bounds by scientific deduction and +analysis, which constituted Alfred Russel Wallace a seer of the first +rank. + +Wallace lived to see the theory of evolution applied to the life-history +of the earth and the starry firmament, to the development of nations and +races, to the progress of mind, morals and religion, even to the origin +of consciousness and life--a conception which has completely +revolutionised man's attitude towards himself and the world and God. +Evolution became intelligible in the light of that idea which came to +him in his hut at Ternate and changed the face of the universe. Surely +it was enough for any one man to be one of the two chief originators of +such a far-reaching thought and to witness its impact upon the ancient +story of special creations which it finally laid in the dust. But +Wallace was privileged beyond all the men of his generation. He lived to +see many of the results of the theory of evolution tested by time and to +foresee that there were definite limits to its range, that, indeed, +there were two lines of development--one affecting the visible world of +form and colour and the other the invisible world of life and +spirit--two worlds springing from two opposite poles of being and +developing _pari passu_, or, rather, the spiritual dominating the +material, life originating and controlling organisation. It was, in +short, his peculiar task to reveal something of the Why as well as the +How of the evolutionary process, and in doing so verily to bring +immortality to light. + +The immediate exciting cause of this discovery of the inadequacy of +evolution from the material side alone to account for the world of life +may seem to many to have been trivial and unworthy of the serious +attention of a great scientist. How, it might be asked, could the crude +and doubtful phenomena of Spiritualism afford reasonably adequate +grounds for challenging its supremacy and for setting a limit to its +range? But spiritualistic phenomena were only the accidental modes in +which the other side of evolution struck in upon his vision. They set +him upon the other track and opened up to him the vaster kingdom of life +which is without beginning, limit or end; in which perchance the +sequence of life from the simple to the complex, from living germ to +living God, may also be the law of growth. It is in the light of this +ultimate end that we must judge the stumbling steps guided by raps and +visions which led him to the ladder set up to the stars by which +connection was established with the inner reality of being. That was the +distinctive contribution which he made to human beliefs over and above +his advocacy of pure Darwinism. + + * * * * * + +Reading almost everything he could obtain upon occult phenomena, Wallace +found that there was such a mass of testimony by men of the highest +character and ability in every department of human learning that he +thought it would be useful to bring this together in a connected sketch +of the whole subject. This he did, and sent it to a secularist magazine, +in which it appeared in 1866, under the title of "The Scientific Aspect +of the Supernatural." He sent a copy to Huxley. + + * * * * * + +TO T.H. HUXLEY + + +_9 St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W. November 22, 1866._ + +Dear Huxley,--I have been writing a little on a _new branch_ of +Anthropology, and as I have taken your name in vain on the title-page I +send you a copy. I fear you will be much shocked, but I can't help it; +and before finally deciding that we are all mad I hope you will come and +see some very curious phenomena which we can show you, _among friends +only_. We meet every Friday evening, and hope you will come sometimes, +as we wish for the fullest investigation, and shall be only too grateful +to you or anyone else who will show us how and where we are deceived. + + * * * * * + +T.H. HUXLEY TO A.R. WALLACE + + +[? _November, 1886._] + +Dear Wallace,--I am neither shocked nor disposed to issue a Commission +of Lunacy against you. It may be all true, for anything I know to the +contrary, but really I cannot get up any interest in the subject. I +never cared for gossip in my life, and disembodied gossip, such as these +worthy ghosts supply their friends with, is not more interesting to me +than any other. As for investigating the matter, I have half-a-dozen +investigations of infinitely greater interest to me to which any spare +time I may have will be devoted. I give it up for the same reason I +abstain from chess--it's too amusing to be fair work, and too hard work +to be amusing.--Yours faithfully, + +T.H. HUXLEY. + + * * * * * + +TO T.H. HUXLEY + + +_9 St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W. December 1, 1866._ + +Dear Huxley,--Thanks for your note. Of course, I have no wish to press +on you an inquiry for which you have neither time nor inclination. As +for the "gossip" you speak of, I care for it as little as you can do, +but what I do feel an intense interest in is the exhibition of _force_ +where force has been declared _impossible_, and of _intelligence_ from a +source the very mention of which has been deemed an _absurdity_. + +Faraday has declared (apropos of this subject) that he who can prove the +existence or exertion of force, if but the lifting of a single ounce, by +a power not yet recognised by science, will deserve and assuredly +receive applause and gratitude. (I quote from memory the sense of his +expressions in his Lecture on Education.) + +I believe I can now show such a force, and I trust some of the +physicists may be found to admit its importance and examine into +it.--Believe me yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_Holly House, Barking, E. December 25, 1870._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,-- ... You did not hear Mrs. Hardinge[58] on very +favourable topics, and I hope you will hear her often again, and +especially hear one of her regular discourses. I think, however, from +what you heard, that, setting aside all idea of her being more than a +mere spiritualist lecturer setting forth the ideas and opinions of the +sect, you will admit that spiritualists, as represented by her, are +neither prejudiced nor unreasonable, and that they are truly imbued with +the scientific spirit of subordinating all theory to fact. You will also +admit, I think, that the moral teachings of Spiritualism, as far as she +touched upon them, are elevated and beautiful and calculated to do good; +and if so, that is the use of Spiritualism--the getting such doctrines +of future progress founded on actual phenomena which we can observe and +examine now, not on phenomena which are said to have occurred thousands +of years ago and of which we have confessedly but imperfect records. + +I think, too, that the becoming acquainted with two such phases of +Spiritualism as are exhibited by Mrs. Hardinge and Miss Houghton must +show you that the whole thing is not to be judged by the common +phenomena of public stances alone, and I can assure you that there are +dozens of other phases of the subject as remarkable as these +two....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_Holly House. Barking, E. June 1, 1871._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,-- ... I have lately had a stance with the celebrated +Mr. Home, and saw that most wonderful phenomenon an accordion playing +beautiful music by itself, the bottom only being held in Mr. Home's +hand. I was invited to watch it as closely as I pleased under the table +in a well-lighted room. I am sure nothing touched it but Mr. Home's one +hand, yet at one time I saw a shadowy yet defined hand on the keys. This +is too vast a phenomenon for any sceptic to assimilate, and I can well +understand the impossibility of their accepting the evidence of their +own senses. Mr. Crookes, F.R.S., the chemist, was present and suspended +the table with a spring balance, when it was at request made heavy or +light, the indicator moving accordingly, and to prevent any mistake it +was made light when the hands of all present were resting on the table +and heavy when our hands were all underneath it. The difference, if I +remember, was about 40 lb. I was also asked to place a candle on the +floor and look under the table while it was lifted completely off the +floor, Mr. Home's feet being 2 ft. distant from any part of it. This was +in a lady's house in the West End. Mr. Home courts examination if people +come to him in a fair and candid spirit of inquiry....--Yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_The Dell, Grays, Essex. January 11, 1874._ + +My dear Miss Buckley,--I am delighted to hear of your success so far, +and hope you are progressing satisfactorily. Pray keep accurate notes of +all that takes place.... Allow me ... to warn you not to take it for +granted till you get proof upon proof that it is really your sister that +is communicating with you. I hope and think it is, but still, the +conditions that render communication possible are so subtle and complex +that she may not be able; and some other being, reading your mind, may +be acting through you and making you think it is your sister, to induce +you to go on. Be therefore on the look out for characteristic traits of +your sister's mind and manner which are different from your own. These +will be tests, especially if they come when and how you are not +expecting them. Even if it is your sister, she may be obliged to use the +intermediation of some other being, and in that case her peculiar +idiosyncrasy may be at first disguised, but it will soon make itself +distinctly visible. Of course you will preserve every scrap you write, +and date them, and they will, I have no doubt, explain each other as you +go on. + +If you can get to see the last number of the _Quarterly Journal of +Science_, you will find a most important article by Mr. Crookes, giving +an outline of the results of his investigations, which he is going to +give in full in a volume. His facts are most marvellous and convincing, +and appear to me to answer every one of the objections that have usually +been made to the evidence adduced....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_The Dell, Grays, Essex. February 28, 1874._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,--I was much pleased with your long and interesting +letter of the 19th and am glad you are getting on at last. It will be +splendid if you really become a good medium for some first-rate +unmistakable manifestations that even Huxley will acknowledge are worth +seeing, and Carpenter confess are not to be explained by unconscious +cerebration....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_The Dell, Grays, Essex. March 9, 1874._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,--I compassionate your mediumistic troubles, but I +have no doubt it will all come right in the end. The fact that your +sister will not talk as you want her to talk--will not say what you +expect her to say, is a grand proof that it is not your unconscious +cerebration that does her talking for her. Is not that clear? Whether it +is she herself or someone else who is talking to you, is not so clear, +but that it is not you, I think, is clear enough. + +I can quite understand, too, that your sister in her new life may be, +above all things, interested in getting the telegraph in good order, to +communicate, and will not think of much else till that is done. While +the first Atlantic cable was being laid the messages would be chiefly +reports of progress, directions and instructions, with now and then +trivialities about the weather, the time, or small items of news. Only +when it was in real working order was a President's Message, a Queen's +Speech, sent through it. + +Automatic writing and trance speaking never yet convinced anybody. They +are only useful for those who are already convinced. But you _would_ +begin this way. You would not go to mediums and séances and see what you +could get that way. So now you must persevere; but do not give up your +own judgment in anything. Insist upon having things explained to you, or +say you won't go on. You will then find they will be explained, only it +may take a little more time.... --Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_The Dell, Grays, Essex. April 24, 1874._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,-- ... On coming home this evening I received the news +of poor little Bertie's death--this morning at eight o'clock. I left him +only yesterday forenoon, and had then considerable hopes, for we had +just commenced a new treatment which a fortnight earlier I am pretty +sure might have saved him. The thought suddenly struck me to go to Dr. +Williams, of Hayward's Heath ... but it was too late. As he had been in +this same state of exhaustion for nearly a month, it is evident that +very slight influences might have been injurious or beneficial. Our +orthodox medical men are profoundly ignorant of the subtle influences of +the human body in health and disease, and can thus do nothing in many +cases which Nature would cure if assisted by proper conditions. We who +know what strange and subtle influences are around us can believe +this....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Wallace felt the death of this child so deeply that during the +remainder of his life he never mentioned him except when obliged, and +then with tears in his eyes.--A.B. FISHER. + + * * * * * + +TO MISS BUCKLEY + + +_The Dell, Grays, Essex. Thursday evening, [? December, 1875]._ + +Dear Miss Buckley,--Our stance came off last evening, and was a +tolerable success. The medium is a very pretty little lively girl, the +place where she sits a bare empty cupboard formed by a frame and doors +to close up a recess by the side of a fireplace in a small basement +breakfast-room. We examined it, and it is absolutely impossible to +conceal a scrap of paper in it. Miss Cooke is locked in this cupboard, +above the door of which is a square opening about 15 inches each way, +the only thing she takes with her being a long piece of tape and a chair +to sit on. After a few minutes Katie's whispering voice was heard, and a +little while after we were asked to open the door and seal up the +medium. We found her hands tied together with the tape passed three +times round each wrist and tightly knotted, the hands tied close +together, the tape then passing behind and well knotted to the +chair-back. We sealed all the knots with a private seal of my friend's, +and again locked the door. A portable gas lamp was on a table the whole +evening, shaded by a screen so as to cast a shadow on the square opening +above the door of the cupboard till permission was given to illuminate +it. Every object and person in the room were always distinctly visible. +A face[59] then appeared at the opening, but dark and indistinct. + +After a time another face quite distinct with a white turban-like +headdress--this was a handsome face with a considerable general likeness +to that of the medium, but paler, larger, fuller, and older--decidedly a +different face, although like. The light was thrown full on this face, +and on request it advanced so that the chin projected a little beyond +the aperture. We were then ordered to release the medium. I opened the +door, and found her bent forward with her head in her lap, and +apparently in a deep sleep or trance--from which a touch and a few words +awoke her. We then examined the tape and knots--all was as we left it +and every seal perfect. + +The same face appeared later in the evening, and also one decidedly +different with coarser features. + +After this, for the sake I believe of two sceptics present, the medium +was twice tied up in a way that no human being could possibly tie +herself. Her wrists were tied together so tightly and painfully that it +was impossible to untie them in any moderate time, and she was also +secured to the chair; on the other occasion the two arms were tied close +above the elbows so tightly that the arms were swelling considerably +from impeded circulation, the elbows being drawn together as close as +possible behind the back, there repeatedly knotted, and again tightly +knotted to the back of the chair. Miss C. was evidently in considerable +pain, and she had to be lifted out bodily in her chair before we could +safely cut her loose, so tightly was she bound. This evidently had a +great effect on the sceptics, as I have no doubt it was intended to +have, and it demonstrated pretty clearly that some strange being was +inside the cupboard playing these tricks, although quite invisible and +intangible to us except when she made certain portions of herself +visible. + +When Miss C. was complaining of being hurt by the tying we could hear +the whispering voice soothing her in the kindest manner, and also heard +kisses, and Miss C. afterwards declared that she could feel hands and +face about her like those of a real person. + +During all the face exhibitions singing had to go on to a rather painful +extent.[60] + +A Dr. Purdon was present, an Army surgeon, who has been much in India, +and seems a very intelligent man. He seemed very intimate with the +family, and told us he had studied them all, and had had Miss Cooke a +month at a time in his own house, studying these phenomena. He was +absolutely satisfied of their genuineness, and indeed no opportunity for +imposture seems to exist. + +The children of the house tell wonderful tales of how they are lifted up +and carried about by the spirits. They seem to enjoy it very much, and +to look upon it all as just as real and natural as any other matters of +their daily life. + +Can such things be in this nineteenth century, and the wise ones pass +away in utter ignorance of their existence?--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +At the Glasgow Meeting of the British Association in 1876, Prof. (now +Sir) W.F. Barrett read a paper "On some Phenomena associated with +Abnormal Conditions of Mind." Wallace was Chairman of the Section in +which the paper was read, and a vigorous controversy arose at the close +between Dr. Carpenter, who came in towards the end of the paper, and the +Chairman. The paper set forth certain remarkable evidence which Prof. +Barrett had obtained from a subject in the mesmeric trance, giving what +appeared to be indubitable proof of some supernormal mode of +transmission of ideas from his mind to that of the subject. The facts +were so novel and startling that Prof. Barrett asked for a committee of +experts to examine the whole question and see whether such a thing as +"thought transference," independently of the recognised channels of +sense, did really exist. This was the first time evidence of this kind +had been brought before a scientific society, and a protracted +discussion followed. The paper also dealt with certain so-called +spiritualistic phenomena, which at the time Prof. Barrett was disposed +to attribute to hallucination and "thought-transference." The +introduction of this topic led the discussion away from the substance of +the paper, and Prof. Barrett's plea for a committee of investigation on +thought-transference fell through. So strong was the feeling against the +paper in official scientific circles at the time, that even an abstract +was refused publication in the _Report_ of the British Association, and +it was not until the Society for Psychical Research was founded that the +paper was published, in the first volume of its _Proceedings_. It was +the need of a scientific society to collect, sift and discuss and +publish the evidence on behalf of such supernormal phenomena as Prof. +Barrett described at the British Association that induced him to call a +conference in London at the close of 1881, which led to the foundation +of the Society for Psychical Research early in 1882. + +Wallace, in his letter to Prof. Barrett which follows, refers to +Reichenbach's experiments with certain sensitives who declared they saw +luminosity from the poles of a magnet after they had been for some time +in a perfectly darkened room. Acting on Wallace's suggestion, Prof. +Barrett constructed a perfectly darkened room and employed a large +electro-magnet, the current for which could be made or broken by an +assistant outside without the knowledge of those present in the darkened +room. Under these circumstances, and taking every precaution to prevent +any knowledge of when the magnet was made active by the current, Prof. +Barrett found that two or three persons, out of a large number with whom +he experimented, saw a luminosity streaming from the poles of the magnet +directly the current was put on. An article of Prof. Barrett's on the +subject, with the details of the experiment, was published in the +_Philosophical Magazine_, and also in the _Proceedings_ of the Society +for Psychical Research (Vol. I.). + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Rosehill, Dorking, December 18, 1876._ + +My dear Prof. Barrett,-- ... I see you are to lecture at South +Kensington the end of this month (I think), and if you can spare time to +run down here and stay a night or two we shall be much pleased to see +you, and I shall be greatly interested to have a talk on the subject of +your paper, and hear what further evidence you have obtained. I want +particularly to ask you to take advantage of any opportunity that you +may have to test the power of sensitives to see the "flames" from +magnets and crystals, as also to _feel_ the influence from them. This is +surely a matter easily tested and settled. I consider it has been tested +and settled by Reichenbach, but he is ignored, and a fresh proof of this +one fact, by indisputable tests, is much needed; and a paper describing +such tests and proofs would I imagine be admitted into the _Proceedings_ +of any suitable society. + +You will have heard no doubt of the Treasury having taken up the +prosecution of Slade. Massey the barrister, one of the most intelligent +and able of the Spiritualists (whose accession to the cause is due, I am +glad to say, to my article in the _Fortnightly_), proposes a memorial +and deputation to the Government protesting against this prosecution by +the Treasury on the ground that it implies that Slade is an habitual +impostor and nothing else, and that in face of the body of evidence to +the contrary, it is an uncalled-for interference with the private right +of investigation into these subjects. On such general grounds as these I +sincerely hope you will give your name to the memorial....--Yours very +faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Rosehill, Dorking. December 9, 1877._ + +My dear Barrett,--I am always glad when a man I like and respect treats +me as a friend. I am advised by other friends also not to waste more +time on Dr. C. [Carpenter], and I do not think I shall answer him again, +except perhaps to keep him to certain points, as in my letter in the +last _Nature_. In a proof of his new edition of "Lectures" I see he +challenges me to produce a person who can detect by light or sensation +when an electro-magnet is made and unmade. The Association of +Spiritualists are going to experiment, as Dr. C. offers to pay £30 if it +succeeds. Should you have an opportunity of trying with any persons, and +can find one who sees or feels the influence strongly, it might be worth +while to send him to London, as nothing would tend to lower Dr. C. in +public estimation on this subject more than his being forced to +acknowledge that what he has for more than thirty years declared to be +purely subjective is after all an objective phenomenon. + +I never had anything to do with showing or sending a medium to Huxley. +He must refer to his séance a few months ago with Mrs. Kane and Mrs. +Jencken (along with Carpenter and Tyndall), when ... nothing but raps +occurred....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +The British Association met in Dublin in 1878, and Prof. Barrett asked +Wallace to stay with him at Kingstown, or, if he preferred being nearer +the meetings, with a friend in Dublin. Earlier in the year Mr. Huggins, +afterwards Sir W. Huggins, O.M. and President of the Royal Society, had +sent Prof. Barrett a very beautifully executed drawing of the knots tied +in an endless cord during the remarkable sittings Prof. Zöllner had with +the medium Slade. Sir W. Huggins invited Prof. Barrett to come and see +him at his observatory at Tulse Hill, near London, and there he met +Wallace and discussed the whole matter. It may not be generally known +that so careful and accurate an observer as Sir W. Huggins was convinced +of the genuineness of the phenomena he had witnessed with Lord Dunraven +and others through the medium D.D. Home. He informed Prof. Barrett of +this himself. + + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Waldron Edge, Duppas Hill, Croydon. June 27, 1873._ + +My dear Barrett,--The receipt of a British Association circular reminds +me of your kind invitation to stay with you or your friend at Dublin, +and as you may be wishing soon to make your arrangements I write at once +to let you know that, much to my regret, I shall not be able to come to +Dublin this year. Since I met you at Mr. Huggins's I have done nothing +myself in Spiritual investigations, but have been exceedingly interested +in the knot-tying experiment of Prof. Zöllner and the weight-varying +experiments of the Spiritualists' Association. I do not see what flaw +can be found in either of them....--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +In the discussion on Prof. Barrett's paper at the Glasgow Meeting of the +British Association, which took place in the London _Times_ and other +newspapers, instances of apparent thought-transference were given by +many correspondents. Each of these cases Prof. Barrett investigated +personally, and one of them led to a remarkable series of experiments +which he conducted at Buxton, with the result that no doubt was left on +his mind of the fact of the transference of ideas from one mind to +another independent of the ordinary channels of sense. He asked Prof. +and Mrs. H. Sidgwick to come to Buxton and repeat his experiments with +the subjects there--daughters of a local clergyman. They did so, and +though they had less success at first than Prof. Barrett had had, they +were ultimately convinced of the genuineness of the phenomena. In +addition, Mr. Edmund Gurney, Mr. Frederic Myers, Prof. A. Hopkinson and +Prof. Balfour Stewart, all responded to Prof. Barrett's invitation to +visit Buxton and test the matter for themselves, and all came to the +same conclusion as he had. Subsequently Gurney and Myers associated +their name with Barrett's in a paper on the subject, published in the +_Nineteenth Century_. + +Prof. Barrett asked Wallace to read over the first report made by Prof. +and Mrs. Sidgwick, which at first seemed somewhat disheartening, and the +following is his reply: + + +REMARKS ON EXPERIMENTS IN THOUGHT READING BY MR. AND MRS. SIDGWICK AT +BUXTON + +The failure of so many of these experiments seems to me to depend on +their having been conducted without any knowledge of the main +peculiarity of thought reading or clairvoyance--that it is a perception +of the object thought of or hidden, not by its name, or even by its sum +total of distinctive qualities, but by the simple qualities separately. +A clairvoyant will perceive a thing as round, then as yellow, and +finally as an orange. Now Mr. Galton's experiments have shown how +various are the powers of visualising objects possessed by different +persons, and how distinct their modes of doing so; and if these distinct +visualisations of the same thing are in any way presented to a +clairvoyant, there is little wonder that some confusion should result. +This would suggest that one person who possesses the faculty of clearly +visualising objects would meet with more success than a number of +persons some of whom visualise one portion or quality of the object, +some another, while to others the name alone is present to the mind. It +follows from these considerations that cards are bad for such +experiments. The qualities of number, colour, form and arrangement may +be severally most prominent in one mind or other, and the result is +confusion to the thought reader. This is shown in the experiments by the +number of pips or the suit alone being often right. + +It must also be remembered that children have not the same thorough +knowledge of the names of the cards that we have, nor can they so +rapidly and certainly count their numbers. This introduces another +source of uncertainty which should be avoided in such experiments as +these. + +The same thing is still more clearly shown by the way in which objects +are guessed by some prominent quality or resemblance, not by any +likeness of name--as poker guessed for walking-stick, fork for pipe, +something iron for knife, etc. And the total failure in the case of +names of towns is clearly explained by the fact that these would convey +no distinct idea or concrete image that could be easily described. These +last failures really give an important clue to the nature of the faculty +that is being investigated, since they show that it is not _words_ or +_names_ that are read but thoughts or images that are perceived, and the +certainty of the perception will depend upon the simple character of +these images and the clearness and identity of the perception of them by +the different persons present. + +If these considerations are always kept in view, I feel sure that the +experiments will be far more successful. + +ALFRED E. WALLACE. + +Sept. 6, 1881. + + * * * * * + +Wallace's remarkable gifts as a lecturer are less widely known than his +lucid and admirable style as a writer. Though Sir Wm. Barrett has heard +a great number of eminent scientific men lecture, he considers that few +could approach him for the simplicity, clearness and vigour of his +exposition, which commanded the unflagging attention of every one of his +hearers. Mr. Frederic Myers, no mean judge of literary merit, once said +he thought Wallace one of the most lucid English writers and lecturers +of his time. Prof. Barrett was anxious to induce Wallace to lecture in +Dublin, and brought the matter before the Science Committee of the Royal +Dublin Society, which arranges a course of afternoon lectures by +distinguished men every spring. The Committee cordially supported the +suggestion that Wallace should be invited to lecture, and the invitation +was accepted. During his visit to Dublin, Wallace stayed with Prof. +Barrett at Kingstown, and was busily engaged in revising the +proof-sheets of his book on "Land Nationalisation" (1882). + +In "My Life" (Vol. II., p. 334) Wallace says that among the eminent men +whose "first acquaintance and valued friendship" he owed to a common +interest in Spiritualism was Frederic Myers, whom he met first at some +séances in London about the year 1878. + + * * * * * + +F.W.H. MYERS TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Leckhampton House, Cambridge. April 12, 1890._ + +My dear Wallace,--I will read your pamphlet[61] most carefully; will +write and tell you how it affects me; and will in any case send it on +with your letter and a letter of my own to Sir John Gorst, whom I know +well, and whom I agree with you in regarding as the most acceptable +member of the Government. + +If I am converted, it will be wholly _your_ doing. I have read much on +the subject--Creighton, etc., and am at present strongly +pro-vaccination; at the same time, there is no one by whom I would more +willingly be converted than yourself. + +I am glad to take this opportunity of telling you something about my +relation to one of your books. I write now from bed, having had some +influenzic pneumonia, now going off. For some days my temperature was +105 and I was very restless at night, anxious to read, but in too +sensitive and fastidious a state to tolerate almost any book. I found +that almost the only book which I could read was your "Malay +Archipelago" (of course I had read it before). In spite of my complete +ignorance of natural history there was a certain charm about the book, +both moral and literary, which made it deeply congenial in those trying +hours. You have had few less instructed readers, but very few can have +dwelt on that simple manly record with a more profound sympathy. + +I want to bespeak you as a _friend at court_. When we get into the next +world, I beg you to remember me and say a good word for me when you can, +as you will have much influence there. + +To me it seems that Hodgson's report[62] is the _best_ thing which we +have yet published. I trust that it impresses you equally. It has +converted _Podmore_ amongst other people! + +I will, then, write again soon, and I am yours most truly, + +F.W.H. MYERS. + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER (_née_ BUCKLEY) + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. January 4, 1896._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--I am glad to hear that you are going on with your +book. I am sure it will be a comfort to you. I have read one book of +Hudson's--"A Scientific Demonstration of a Future Life," and that is so +pretentious, so unscientific, and so one-sided that I do not feel +inclined to read more of the same author's work. I do not think I +mentioned to you (as I thought you did not read much now) a really fine +and original work, called "Psychic Philosophy, a Religion of Natural +Law," by Desertis (Redway). I should like to know if, after reading +that, you still think Hudson's books worth reading. I have been much +pleased and interested lately in reading Mark Twain's, Mrs. Oliphant's +and Andrew Lang's books about Joan of Arc. The last two are far the +best, Mrs. Oliphant's as a genuine sympathetic _history_, Lang's as a +fine realistic story ("A Monk of Fife"). Jeanne was really perhaps the +most beautiful character in authentic history, and the one that most +conclusively demonstrates spirit-guidance, and both Mrs. Oliphant and A. +Lang bring this out admirably.... --Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. September 14, 1896._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--I have much pleasure in signing your application +for the Psychical Research Society, though the majority of the active +members are so absurdly and illogically sceptical that you will not find +much instruction in their sayings. Mr. Podmore's report in the +last-issued _Proceedings_ is a good illustration.... + +We have all been in Switzerland this year. Violet, her mother, and five +lady friends all went together to a rather newly-discovered place, +Adelboden, a branch valley from that going up to the Gemmi Pass by +Kandersteg. I went first for a week to Davos, to give a lecture to Dr. +Lunn's party, and enjoyed myself much, chiefly owing to the company of +Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, one of the most witty, earnest, advanced, and +estimable men I have ever met. Dr. Lunn himself is very jolly, and we +had also Mr. Le Gallienne, the poet and critic, and between them we had +a very brilliant table-talk. Mr. Haweis was also there, and one +afternoon he and I talked for two hours about Spiritualism. He is a +thorough spiritualist, and preaches it....--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. TO MRS. FISHER + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. April 9, 1897._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--I have tried several Reincarnation and +Theosophical books, but _cannot_ read them or take any interest in them. +They are so purely imaginative, and do not seem to me rational. Many +people are captivated by it--I think most people who like a grand, +strange, complex theory of man and nature, given with authority--people +who if religious would be Roman Catholics. Crookes gave a suggestive and +interesting, but in some ways rather misleading address as President of +the Psychical Research Society. I liked Oliver Lodge's address to the +Spiritualists' Association better....--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +In 1891, at the urgent request of Prof. H. Sidgwick, President of the +Society for Psychical Research, Prof. Barrett undertook, with +considerable reluctance, to make a thorough examination of the subject +of "dowsing" for water and minerals by means of the so-called "divining +rod." At the time he fully believed that a critical inquiry of this kind +would speedily show all the alleged successes of the dowser to be due +either to fraud or a sharp eye for the ground. As the inquiry went on, +to his surprise he found that neither chicanery, nor clever guessing, +nor local knowledge, nor chance coincidence could explain away the +accumulated evidence, but that something new to science was really at +the root of the matter. This result was so startling that Prof. Barrett +had to pursue the investigation for six years before venturing to +publish his first report, which appeared in the _Proceedings_ of the +Society for Psychical Research, Part xxxii., 1897. This was followed by +a second report published some years later, in which he gave a fresh +body of evidence on the criticisms of some eminent geologists to whom he +had submitted the evidence. The reports were reviewed in _Nature_ with +considerable severity, and some erroneous statements were made, to +which Prof. Barrett replied. The editor, Sir Norman Lockyer, at first +declined to publish Prof. Barrett's reply, and to this Wallace refers in +the following letter. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 30, 1899._ + +My dear Barrett,-- ... Apropos of _Nature_, they never gave a word of +notice to my book[63]--probably they would say out of kindness to myself +as one of their oldest contributors, since they would have had to +scarify me, especially as regards the huge Vaccination chapter, which is +nevertheless about the most demonstrative bit of work I have done. I +begged Myers--as a personal favour--to read it. He told me he firmly +believed in vaccination, but would do so, and afterwards wrote me that +he could see no answer to it, and if there was none he was converted. +There certainly has been not a tittle of answer except abuse. + +I am glad you brought Lockyer up sharp in his attempt to refuse you the +right to reply. I am glad you now have some personal observations to +adduce. I hope persons or corporations who are going to employ a dowser +will now advise you so that you may be present....--Yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + +_Parkstone, Dorset. December 24, 1900._ + +My dear Barrett,-- ... I have read your very interesting paper on the +divining rod, and the additional evidence you now send. Of course, I +think it absolutely conclusive, but there are many points on which I +differ from your conclusions and remarks, which I think are often unfair +to the dowsers. I will just refer to one or two. At p. 176 (note) you +call the idea of there being a "spring-head" at a particular point +"absurd." But instead of being absurd it is a _fact_, proved not only by +numerous cases you have given of strong springs being found quite near +to weak springs a few yards off, but by all the phenomena of mineral and +hot springs. Near together, as at Bath, hot springs and cold springs +rise to the surface, and springs of different quality at Harrogate, yet +each keeps its distinct character, showing that each rises from a great +depth without any lateral diffusion or intermixture. This is a common +phenomenon all over the world, the dowsers' facts support it, geologists +know all about it, yet I presume they have told you that when a dowser +states this fact it ceases to be a fact and becomes an absurdity! + +The only other point I have time to notice is your Sect. II. (p. 285). +You head this, "Evidence that the Motion of the Rod is due to +Unconscious Muscular Action." Naturally I read this with the greatest +interest, but found to my astonishment that you adduce no evidence at +all, but only opinions of various people, and positive assertions that +such is the case! Now as I _know_ that motions of various objects occur +without any muscular action, or even any contact whatever, while Crookes +has proved this by careful experiments which have never been refuted, +what _improbability_ is there that this should be such a case, and what +is the value of these positive assertions which you quote as "evidence"? +And at p. 286 you quote the person who says the more he tried to prevent +the stick's turning the more it turned, as _evidence_ in favour of +muscular action, without a word of explanation. Another man (p. 287) +says he "could not restrain it." None of the "trained anatomists" you +quote give a particle of _proof_, only positive opinion, that it must be +muscular action--simply because they do not believe any other action +possible. Their evidence is just as valueless as that of the people who +say that all thought-transference is collusion or imposture! + +I do not say that it is not "muscular action," though I believe it is +not always so, but I do say that you have as yet given not a particle of +proof that it is so, while scattered through your paper is plenty of +evidence which points to its being something quite different. Such are +the cases when people hold the rod for the first time and have never +seen a dowser work, yet the rod turns, over water, to their great +astonishment, etc. etc. + +Your conclusion that it is "clairvoyance" is a good provisional +conclusion, but till we know what clairvoyance really is it explains +nothing, and is merely another way of stating the _fact_. + +I believe all true clairvoyance to be spirit impression, and that all +true dowsing is the same--that is, when in either case it cannot be +thought-transference, but even this I believe to be also, for the most +part, if not wholly, spirit impression.--Believe me yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. February 17, 1901._ + +My dear Barrett,--I am rather sorry you wrote to any one of the Society +for Psychical Research people about my being asked to be President, +because I should certainly feel compelled to decline it. I never go, +willingly, to London now, and should never attend meetings, so pray say +no more about it. Besides, I am so widely known as a "crank" and a +"faddist" that my being President would injure the Society, as much as +Lord Rayleigh would benefit it, so pray do not put any obstacle in _his_ +way, though of course there is no necessity to beg him as a favour to +be the successor of Sidgwick, Crookes and Myers.... + + * * * * * + +TO REV. J.B. HENDERSON + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. August 10, 1893._ + +Dear Sir,--Although I look upon Christianity as originating in an +unusual spiritual influx, I am not disposed to consider [it] as +_essentially_ different from those which originated other great +religious and philanthropic movements. It is probable that in _your_ +sense of the word I am not a Christian.--Believe me yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. J.W. MARSHALL + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. March 6, 1894._ + +My dear Marshall,--We were very much grieved to hear of your sad loss in +a letter from Violet. Pray accept our sincere sympathy for Mrs. Marshall +and yourself. + +Death makes us feel, in a way nothing else can do, the mystery of the +universe. Last autumn I lost my sister, and she was the only relative I +have been with at the last. For the moment it seems unnatural and +incredible that the living self with its special idiosyncrasies you have +known so long can have left the body, still more unnatural that it +should (as so many now believe) have utterly ceased to exist and become +nothingness! + +With all my belief in, and knowledge of, Spiritualism, I have, however, +occasional qualms of doubt, the remnants of my original deeply ingrained +scepticism; but my reason goes to support the psychical and +spiritualistic phenomena in telling me that there _must_ be a hereafter +for us all....--Believe me yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO DR. EDWIN SMITH + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. October 19, 1899._ + +Dear Sir,--I know nothing of London mediums now. Nine-tenths of the +alleged frauds in mediums arise from the ignorance of the sitters. The +only way to gain any real knowledge of spiritualistic phenomena is to +follow the course pursued in all science--study the elements before +going to the higher branches. To expect proof of materialisation before +being satisfied of the reality of such simpler phenomena as raps, +movements of various objects, etc. etc., is as if a person began +chemistry by trying to analyse the more complex vegetable products +before he knew the composition of water and the simplest salts. + +If you want to _know_ anything about Spiritualism you should experiment +yourself with a select party of earnest inquirers--personal friends. +When you have thus satisfied yourself of the existence of a considerable +range of the physical phenomena and of many of the obscurities and +difficulties of the inquiry, you may use the services of public mediums, +without the certainty of imputing every little apparent suspicious +circumstance to trickery, since you will have seen similar suspicious +facts in your private circle where you _knew_ there was no trickery. You +will find rules for forming private circles in some issues of _Light_. +You can get them from the office of _Light_.--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +PROF. BARRETT TO A.R. WALLACE + +_6 De Vesci Terrace, Kingstown, Co. Dublin. November 3, 1905._ + +My dear Wallace,-- ... Just now I am engaged in a correspondence with +the Secretaries of the Society for Psychical Research on the question of +the Presidency for next year. I maintain that as a matter of duty to +the Society you should be asked to accept the Presidency, though of +course it would be impossible for you to be much more than an Honorary +President, as we could not expect you often to come to London. I am +anxious that in our records for future reference your Presidency should +appear.... Podmore, who is proposed as President, represents the +attitude of resolute incredulity, and I consider this line of action has +been to some extent injurious to the S.P.R. Crookes supported my +proposal, and so did Lodge, and so would Myers if he had lived. All this +is of course between ourselves.... + +I have a vast amount of material unpublished on "dowsing" and am +convinced the explanation is subconscious clairvoyance....--Yours very +sincerely, + +W.F. BARRETT. + + * * * * * + +TO MRS. FISHER + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. April 20, 1906._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--If you mean "honest" by "thoroughly reliable," +there are plenty of such mediums, but if you mean those who give equally +good results always, and to all persons, I should say there are none.... + +I am reading Herbert Spencer's "Autobiography" (just finished Vol. I.). +I find it very interesting, though tedious in parts. I am glad I did not +read it before I wrote mine. He certainly brings out his own character +most strikingly, and a wonderful character it was. How extraordinarily +little he owed either to teaching or to reading! I think he is best +described as a "reasoning genius."--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +LORD AVEBURY TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_48 Grosvenor Street, W. May 1, 1910._ + +My dear Wallace,--I have been reading your biography with great +interest. It must be a source of very pleasant memories to you to look +back and feel how much you have accomplished. + +It surprises me, however, how much we differ, and it is another +illustration of the problems [?] of our (or rather I should say of my) +intellect. + +In some cases, indeed, the difference is as to facts. + +You would, I am sure, for instance, find that you have been misinformed +as to "thousands of dogs" being vivisected annually (p. 392).... As to +Spiritualism, my difficulty is that nothing comes of it. What has been +gained by your séances, compared to your studies? + +I see you have a kindly reference to our parties at High Elms in old +days, on which I often look back with much pleasure, but much regret +also. + +If you would give us the pleasure of another visit, _do_ propose +yourself, and you will have a very hearty welcome from yours very +sincerely, + +AVEBURY. + + * * * * * + +A lecture delivered by Prof. Barrett before the Quest Society in London, +entitled "Creative Thought," was published by request, and as it +discussed the subject of evolution and the impossibility of explaining +the phenomena of life without a supreme Directing and Formative Force +behind all the manifestations of life, he was anxious to have Wallace's +criticisms. At that time he had not read Wallace's recently published +work on a similar subject, and he was greatly surprised to find how +closely his views agreed with those of the great naturalist. + + +TO PROF. BARRETT + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. February 15, 1911._ + +My dear Barrett,--Thanks for your proofs, which I return. It is really +curious how closely your views coincide with mine, and how admirably and +clearly you have expressed them. If it were not for your adopting +throughout, as an actual fact, the (to me) erroneous theory of the +"subconscious self," I should agree with every word of it. I have put +"?" where this is prominently put forward, merely to let you know how I +totally dissent from it. To me it is pure assumption, and, besides, +proves nothing. Thanks for the flattering "Postscript," which I return +with a slight suggested alteration. + +Reviews have been generally very fair, complimentary and flattering. But +to me it is very curious that even the religious reviewers seem +horrified and pained at the idea that the Infinite Being does not +actually do every detail himself, apparently leaving his angels, and +archangels, his seraphs and his messengers, which seem to exist in +myriads according to the Bible, to have no function whatever!--Yours +very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +PROF. BARRETT TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_6 De Vesci Terrace, Kingstown, Co. Dublin. February 18, 1911._ + +My dear Wallace,-- ... Thank you very much for your kind letter and +comments. I have modified somewhat the phraseology as regards the +"subliminal self." I think we really agree but use different terms. +There _is_ a hidden directive power, which works in conjunction with, +and is temporarily part of, our own conscious self; but it is below the +threshold of consciousness, or is a subliminal part of our self. + +I should like to have come over to Broadstone expressly to ask your +views on the parts you queried. For I have an immense faith in the +soundness of your judgment, and in the accuracy of your views _in the +long run_. + +I should like also immensely to see you again and in your lovely +home....--Yours ever sincerely, + +W.F. BARRETT. + + * * * * * + +TO PROF. BARRETT + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. February 20, 1911._ + +My dear Barrett,--I wrote you yesterday on quite another matter, but +having yours this morning in reply to my criticisms of your Address, I +send a few lines of explanation. Most of my queries to your statements +apply solely to your expressing them so positively, as if they were +absolute certainties which no psychical researcher doubted. My main +objection to the term "subliminal self" and its various synonyms is, +that it is so dreadfully vague, and is an excuse for the assumption that +a whole series of the most mysterious of psychical phenomena are held to +be actually explained by it. Thus it is applied to explain all cases of +apparent "possession," when the alleged "secondary self" has a totally +different character, and uses the dialect of another social grade, from +the normal self, sometimes even possesses knowledge that the real self +could not have acquired, speaks a language that the normal self never +learnt. All this is, to me, the most gross travesty of science, and I +therefore object totally to the use of the term which is so vaguely and +absurdly used, and of which no clear and rational explanation has ever +been given. + +You are now one of my oldest friends, and one with whom I most +sympathise; and I only regret that we have seen so little of each +other.--Yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +TO MR. E. SMEDLEY + + +_Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 2, 1911._ + +Dear Mr. Smedley,--I am quite astonished at your wasting your money on +an advertising astrologer. In the horoscope sent you there is not a +single definite fact that would apply to you any more than to thousands +of other men. All is vague, what "might be," etc. etc. It is just +calculated to lead you on to send more money, and get in reply more +words and nothing else....--Yours very truly, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +[Illustration: A.R. WALLACE ADMIRING _EREMUS ROBUSTUS_ about 1905.] + + + + +PART VII + +Characteristics + + "There is a point of view so lofty or so peculiar that from it we + are able to discern in men and women something more than and apart + from creed and profession and formulated principle; which indeed + directs and colours this creed and principle as decisively as it + is in its turn acted on by them, and this is their character or + humanity."--LORD MORLEY. + + "As sets the sun in fine autumnal calm + So dost thou leave us. Thou not least but last + Link with that rare and gallant little band + Of seekers after truth, whose days, though past, + Shed lustre on the hist'ry of their land. + And thine, O Wallace, thine the added charm + Of modesty, thy mem'ry to embalm."--_Anonymous._ + +(_Received with a bunch of lilies-of-the-valley, a few days after Dr. +Wallace's death_.) + + +Addison somewhere says that modesty sets off every talent which a man +can be possessed of. This was manifestly true of Alfred Russel Wallace. +When, for instance, honours were bestowed upon him, he accepted or +rejected them with the same good-humour and unspoilable modesty. To +Prof. E.B. Poulton, whose invitation for the forthcoming Encæmia had +been conveyed in Prof. Bartholomew Price's letter, he wrote: + +_Godalming. May 28, 1889._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--I have just received from Prof. B. Price the +totally unexpected offer of the honorary degree of D.C.L. at the coming +Commemoration, and you will probably be surprised and _disgusted_ to +hear that I have declined it. I have to thank you for your kind offer of +hospitality during the ceremony, but the fact is, I have at all times a +profound distaste of all public ceremonials, and at this particular +time that distaste is stronger than ever. I have never recovered from +the severe illness I had a year and a half ago, and it is in hopes of +restoring my health that I have let my cottage here and have taken +another at Parkstone, Dorset, into which I have arranged to move on +Midsummer Day. To add to my difficulties, I have work at examination +papers for the next two or three weeks, and also a meeting (annual) of +our Land Nationalisation Society, so that the work of packing my books +and other things and looking after the plants which I have to move from +my garden will have to be done in a very short time. Under these +circumstances it would be almost impossible for me to rush away to +Oxford except under absolute compulsion, and to do so would be to render +a ceremony which at any time would be a trial, a positive punishment. + +Really the greatest kindness my friends can do me is to leave me in +peaceful obscurity, for I have lived so secluded a life that I am more +and more disinclined to crowds of any kind. I had to submit to it in +America, but then I felt exceptionally well, whereas now I am altogether +weak and seedy and not at all up to fatigue or excitement.--Yours very +faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. Prof. Poulton pressed him to reconsider his decision, +and he reluctantly gave way. + + * * * * * + +_Godalming. June 2, 1889._ + +My dear Mr. Poulton,--I am exceedingly obliged by your kind letters, and +I will say at once that if the Council of the University should again +ask me to accept the degree, to be conferred in the autumn, as you +propose, I could not possibly refuse it. At the same time I hope you +will not in any way urge it upon them, as I really feel myself too much +of an amateur in Natural History and altogether too ignorant (I left +school--a bad one--finally, at fourteen) to receive honours from a great +University. But I will say no more about that.--Yours very faithfully, + +A.R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +In due course he received the degree. "On that occasion," says Professor +Poulton, "Wallace stayed with us, and I was anxious to show him +something of Oxford; but, with all that there is to be seen, one subject +alone absorbed the whole of his interest--he was intensely anxious to +find the rooms where Grant Allen had lived. He had received from Grant +Allen's father a manuscript poem giving a picture of the ancient city +dimly seen by midnight from an undergraduate's rooms. With the help of +Grant Allen's college friends we were able to visit every house in which +he had lived, but were forced to conclude that the poem was written in +the rooms of a friend or from an imaginary point of view." + +His friend Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer, with others, was promoting his +election to the Royal Society, and wrote to him: + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Kew. October 23, 1892._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,-- ... When you were at Kew this summer I took the +liberty of saying that it would give great pleasure to the Fellows of +the Royal Society if you would be willing to join their body. I +understood you to say that it would be agreeable to you. I now propose +to comply with the necessary formalities. But before doing so it will be +proper to ask for your formal consent. You will then, as a matter of +course, be included in the next annual election. + +Will you forgive me if I am committing any indiscretion in saying that I +have good authority for adding (though I suppose it can hardly be stated +officially at this stage) that no demand will ever be made upon you for +a subscription?--Believe me yours sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Kew. January 12, 1893._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,-- ... I was very vexed to hear that I had +misunderstood your wishes about the Royal Society. Of course, the matter +must often have presented itself to your mind, and I confess that it +argued a little presumption on the part of a person like myself, so far +inferior to you in age and standing, to think that you would yield to my +solicitation. + +I was obliged for my health to go to Eastbourne, and there I had the +pleasure of seeing Mr. Huxley, who, you will be glad to hear, is +wonderfully well, and an ardent gardener! His present ambition is to +grow every possible saxifrage. + +I told him that I had had the audacity to approach you on the subject of +the Royal Society. He heartily approved, and expressed the strongest +opinion that unless you had some insuperable objection you ought to +yield. All of us who belong to the R.S. have but one wish, which is that +it should stand before the public as containing all that is best and +worthiest in British Science. As long as men like you stand aloof, that +cannot be said. Lately we have been exposed to some very ill-natured +attacks: we have been told that we are professional, and not +discoverers. Well, this is all the more reason for your not holding +aloof from us. I wish you would think it over again. Huxley went the +length of saying that to him it seemed a plain duty. But this is +language I do not like to use. + +As to attending the meetings or taking part in the work of the Society, +that is immaterial. Darwin never did either, though he did once come to +one of the evening receptions, and enjoyed it immensely. + +In writing as I do I am not merely expressing my own opinions, but those +of many others of my own standing who are keenly interested in the +matter. + +It is not a great matter to ask. I have the certificate ready. You have +but to say the word. You will be put to no trouble or pecuniary +responsibility. That my father-in-law arranged, long ago. + +To dissociate yourself from the R.S. really amounts nowadays to doing it +an injury. And I am sure you do not wish that. + +With all good wishes, believe me yours sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +TO SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER + + +_Parkstone, Dorset. January 17, 1893._ + +Dear Mr. Thiselton-Dyer,--I have been rather unwell myself the last few +days or should have answered your very kind letter sooner. I feel really +overpowered. I cannot understand why you or anyone should care about my +being an F.R.S., because I have really done so little of what is usually +considered scientific work to deserve it. I have for many years felt +almost ashamed of the amount of reputation and honour that has been +awarded me. I can understand the general public thinking too highly of +me, because I know that I have the power of clear exposition, and, I +think, also, of logical reasoning. But all the work I have done is more +or less amateurish and founded almost wholly on other men's +observations; and I always feel myself dreadfully inferior to men like +Sir J. Hooker, Huxley, Flower, and scores of younger men who have +extensive knowledge of whole departments of biology of which I am +totally ignorant. I do not wish, however, to be thought ungrateful for +the many honours that have been given me by the Royal and other +Societies, and will therefore place myself entirely in your hands as +regards my election to the F.R.S. + +I am much pleased to hear that Huxley has taken to gardening. I have no +doubt he will do some good work with his saxifrages. For myself the +personal attention to my plants occupies all my spare time, and I derive +constant enjoyment from the mere contemplation of the infinite variety +of forms of leaf and flower, and modes of growth, and strange +peculiarities of structure which are the source of fresh puzzles and +fresh delights year by year. With best wishes and many thanks for the +trouble you are taking on my behalf, believe me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED B. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +In 1902 the _Standard_ announced that the degree of D.C.L. was to be +conferred upon him by the University of Wales. He wrote to Miss Dora +Best, who had sent him the information: + + +I have not seen the _Standard_. But I suppose it is about the offer of a +degree by the University of Wales. You will not be surprised to hear +that I have declined it "with thanks." The bother, the ceremony, the +having perhaps to get a blue or yellow or scarlet gown! and at all +events new black clothes and a new topper! such as I have not worn this +twenty years. Luckily I had a good excuse in having committed the same +offence before. Some ten years back I declined the offer of a degree +from Cambridge, so that settled it. + +P.S.--Having already degrees two--LL.D. (Dublin) and D.C.L. (Oxford)--I +might have quoted Shakespeare: "To gild refined gold, to paint the +lily," etc. But I didn't!--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +In 1908 he received the Order of Merit, the highest honour conferred +upon him. To his friend Mrs. Fisher he wrote: + + +Dear Mrs. Fisher,--Is it not awful--two more now! I should think very +few men have had three such honours within six months! I have never felt +myself worthy of the Copley Medal--and as to the Order of Merit--to be +given to a red-hot Radical, Land Nationaliser, Socialist, +Anti-Militarist, etc. etc. etc., is quite astounding and +unintelligible!... + +There is another thing you have not heard yet, but it will be announced +soon. Sir W. Crookes, as Secretary of the Royal Institution, wrote to me +two weeks back asking me very strongly to give them a lecture at their +opening meeting (third week in January) appropriate to the Jubilee of +the "Origin of Species." I was very unwell at the time--could eat +nothing, etc.--and was going to decline positively, having nothing more +to say! But while lying down, vaguely thinking about it, an idea flashed +upon me of a new treatment of the whole subject of Darwinism, just +suitable for a lecture to a R.I. audience. I felt at once there was +something that ought to be said, and that I should like to say--so I +actually wrote and accepted, provisionally. My voice has so broken that +unless I can improve it I fear not being heard, but Crookes promised to +read it either wholly, or leaving to me the opening and concluding +paragraphs. I was very weak--almost a skeleton--but I am now getting +much better. But finishing up the "Spruce" book, and now all these +honours and congratulations and letters, etc., are giving me much work, +yet I am getting strong again, and really hope to do this "lecture" as +my last stroke for Darwinism against the Mutationists and Mendelians, +but much more effective, I hope, than my article in the August +_Contemporary Review_, though that was pretty strong.--Yours very +sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + +How more than true "Sunlight's"[64] words have come, "You will come out +of the hole! You will be more in the world. You will have satisfaction, +retrospection, and work"! Literally fulfilled!--A.R.W. + + * * * * * + +And to Mr. F. Birch: + +_December 30, 1908._ + +Dear Fred,-- ... I received a letter from Lord Knollys--the King's +Private Secretary--informing me that His Majesty proposed to offer me +the Order of Merit, among the Birthday honours! This is an "Order" +established by the present King about eight years ago, solely for +"merit"--whether civil or military--it is a pity it was not civil only, +as the military have so many distinctions already. So I had to compose a +very polite letter of acceptance and thanks, and then later I had to beg +to be excused (on the ground of age and delicate health) from attending +the investiture at Buckingham Palace (on December 14th), when Court +dress--a kind of very costly livery--is obligatory! and I was kept for +weeks waiting. But at last one of the King's Equerries, Col. Legge (an +Earl's son), came down here about two weeks ago bringing the Order, +which is a very handsome cross in red and blue enamel and gold--rich +colours--with a crown above, and a rich ribbed-silk blue and crimson +riband to hang it round the neck! Col. Legge was very pleasant, stayed +half an hour, had some tea, and showed us how to wear it. So I shall be +in duty bound to wear it on the only public occasion I shall be seen +again (in all probability), when I give (or attempt to give) my +lecture.[65] Then, I had a letter from Windsor telling me that chalk +portraits of all the members of the Order were to be taken for the +collections in the Library, and a Mr. Strang came and stayed the night, +and in four hours completed a very good life-size head, in coloured +chalk, and so far, so good!--Yours very sincerely, ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +Wallace regarded "Sunlight's" prophecy about "retrospection" as being +fulfilled in 1904, when he received the invitation of Messrs. Chapman +and Hall to begin collecting material for his autobiography which was +subsequently published in two large volumes, under the title of "My +Life." + +Referring to this work he wrote to Mrs. Fisher: + +_Broadstone, Dorset. April_ 17, 1904. + +Dear Mrs. Fisher,--Thanks for your remarks on what an autobiography +ought to be. But I am afraid I shall fall dreadfully short. I seem to +remember nothing but ordinary facts and incidents of no interest to +anyone but my own family. I do not feel myself that anything has much +influenced my character or abilities, such as they are. Lots of things +have given me opportunities, and those I can state. Also other things +have directed me into certain lines, but I can't dilate on these; and +really, with the exception of Darwin and Sir Charles Lyell, I have come +into close relations with hardly any eminent men. All my doings and +surroundings have been commonplace! + +I am now just reading a charming and ideal bit of autobiography--Robert +Dale Owen's "Threading my Way." If you have not read it, do get it +(published by Trübner and Co. in 1874). It is delightful. So simple and +natural throughout. But his father was one of the most wonderful men of +the nineteenth century--Robert Owen of New Lanark--and this book gives +the true history of his great success. Then R.D. Owen met Clarkson and +heard from his own lips how he worked to abolish the slave trade. + +Then he had part of his education at Hofwyl under Fellenberg, an +experiment in education and self-government wonderfully original and +successful. He afterwards worked at "New Harmony" with his father, and +met during his life almost all the most remarkable people in England and +America. + +This book only contains the first twenty-seven years of his life and I +am afraid he never completed it. Such a book makes me despair!--Yours +very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +When "My Life" was published, he wrote to the same old and valued +friend: + + +_Broadstone, Wimborne. November 7, 1905._ + +My dear Mrs. Fisher,--The reviewers are generally very fair about the +fads except a few. The _Review_ invents a new word for me--I am an +"anti-body"; but the _Outlook_ is the richest: I am the one man who +believes in Spiritualism, phrenology, anti-vaccination, and the +centrality of the earth in the universe, whose life is worth writing. +Then it points out a few things I am capable of believing, but which +everybody else knows to be fallacies, and compares me to Sir I. Newton +writing on the prophets! Yet of course he praises my biology up to the +skies--there I am wise--everywhere else I am a kind of weak, babyish +idiot! It is really delightful! + +Only one is absolutely savage about it all--the _Liverpool_ _Daily Post +and Mercury_. The reviewer devotes over three columns almost wholly to +the fads--as to all of which he evidently knows absolutely nothing, but +he is cocksure that I am always wrong!...--Yours very sincerely, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +He always thought that he was deficient in the gift of humour: "I am," +he wrote to Mr. J.W. Marshall (May 6, 1905), "still grinding away at my +autobiography. Have got to my American lecture tour, and hope to finish +by about Sept. but have such lots of interruptions. I am just reading +Huxley's Life. Some of his letters are inimitable, but the whole is +rather monotonous. I find there is a good deal of variety in my life if +I had but the gift of humour! Alas! I could not make a joke to save my +life. But I find it very interesting." "Unless somebody," he wrote to +Miss Evans, "can make me laugh just before the critical moment I always +have a horrid expression in photographs." Yet another observant friend +remarked that "he had a keen sense of humour. It was always his boyish +joyous exuberance which touched me. He never grew old. When I had sat +with him an hour he was a young man, he became transfigured to me." ... +"The last time I saw Dr. Wallace," writes Prof. T.D.A. Cockerell of +Colorado, "was immediately after the Darwin Celebration at Cambridge in +1909. I was the first to give him the details concerning it, and vividly +remember how interested he was, and how heartily he laughed over some of +the funny incidents, which may not as yet be told in print. One of his +most prominent characteristics was his keen sense of humour, and his +enjoyment of a good story." In the summer of 1885 he spent a holiday +with Prof. Meldola at Lyme Regis. "After our ramble," said the +Professor, "we used to spend the evenings indoors, I reading aloud the +'Ingoldsby Legends,' which Wallace richly enjoyed. His humour was a +delightful characteristic. 'The inimitable puns of T. Hood were,' he +said, 'the delight of my youth, as is the more recondite and fantastic +humour of Mark Twain and Lewis Carroll in my old age.'" + + * * * * * + +Wallace loved to give time and trouble in aiding young men to start in +life, especially if they were endeavouring to become naturalists. He +sent them letters of advice, helped them in the choice of the right +country to visit, and gave them minute practical instructions how to +live healthily and to maintain themselves. He put their needs before +other and more fortunate scientific workers and besought assistance for +them. + +"The central secret of his personal magnetism lay in his wide and +unselfish sympathy," writes Prof. Poulton.[66] "It might be thought by +those who did not know Wallace that the noble generosity which will +always stand as an example before the world was something +special--called forth by the illustrious man with whom he was brought in +contact. This would be a great mistake. Wallace's attitude was +characteristic, and characteristic to the end of his life. + +"A keen young naturalist in the North of England, taking part in an +excursion to the New Forest, called on Wallace and confided to him the +dream of his life--a first-hand knowledge of tropical nature. When I +visited 'Old Orchard' in the summer of 1903, I found that Wallace was +intently interested in two things: his garden, and the means by which +his young friend's dream might best be realised. The subject was +referred to in seventeen letters to me; it formed the sole topic of some +of them. It was a grand and inspiring thing to see this great man +identifying himself heart and soul with the interests of one--till then +a stranger--in whom he recognised the passionate longings of his own +youth. By the force of sympathy he re-lived in the life of another the +splendid years of early manhood." + +The late Prof. Knight recalled meeting him at the British Association in +Dundee, during the year 1867, when Wallace was his guest for the usual +time of the gathering. He wrote: + + I, and everyone else who then met him at my house, were struck, as + no one could fail to be, by his rare urbanity, his social charm, + his modesty, his unobtrusive strength, his courtesy in explaining + matters with which he was himself familiar but those he conversed + with were not; and his abounding interest, not only in almost + every branch of Science, but in human knowledge in all its phases, + especially new ones. He was a many-sided scientific man, and had a + vivid sense of humour. He greatly enjoyed anecdote, as + illustrative of character. During those days he talked much on the + fundamental relations between Science and Philosophy, as well as + on the connection of Poetry with both of them. When he left Dundee + he went to Kenmore, that he might ascend Ben Lawers in search of + some rare ferns. + + In 1872 I saw him, after meeting Thomas Carlyle and Dean Stanley + at Linlathen, when Darwin's theory was much discussed, and when + our genial host--Mr. Erskine--talked so dispassionately but + decidedly against evolution as explanatory of the rise of what was + new. A little later in the same year Matthew Arnold discussed the + same subject with some friends at the Athenæum Club, defending the + chief aim of Darwin's theory, and enlarging from a different point + of view what Wallace had done in the same direction. I remember + well that he characterised the two men as fellow-workers, not as + followers, or in any sense as copyists. Wallace's versatility not + only continued, but grew in many ways with the advance of years. + It was seen in his appreciation of the value of historical study. + Quite late in life he wrote: "The nineteenth century is quite as + wonderful in the domain of History as in that of Science." + Comparatively few know, or remember, that he and his young brother + Herbert--on whom he left an interesting chapter _in + memoriam_--both wrote verses, some of which were of real value. + + It may be safely said that few scientific men have sympathetically + entered into bordering territories and therein excelled. The whole + field of psychical research was familiar to him, and he might have + been a leader in it. + + My last meeting with him was at his final home, the "Old Orchard," + Broadstone, in 1909. I was staying at Boscombe in Hants, and he + asked me to "come and see his garden, while we talked of past + days." He had then the freshness of boyhood, blent with the mellow + wisdom of age.--W.A.K. + +The eminent naturalist and traveller, Dr. Henry O. Forbes, who later +explored the greater part of the lands visited by Wallace, contributes +the following appreciation of the latter's scientific work: + + As a traveller, explorer and working naturalist, Wallace will + always stand in the first rank, compared even with the most modern + explorers. It ought not to be forgotten, however, how great were + the difficulties, the dangers and the cost of travel fifty years + ago, compared with the facilities now enjoyed by his successors, + who can command steam and motor transport to wellnigh any spot on + the coasts of the globe, and who have to their hand concentrated + and preserved foods, a surer knowledge of the causes of tropical + diseases, and outfits of non-perishable medicines sufficient for + many years within the space of a few cubic inches. Commissariat + and health are the keys to all exploration in uncivilised regions. + Wallace accomplished his work on the shortest of commons and lay + weeks at a time sick through inability to replenish his medical + stores. + + He was no mere "trudger" over new lands. Where those before him, + and even many after him, have been able to see only sterile + objects, his discerning eyes perceived everywhere a meaning in + the varying modes of organic life, and in response to his + sympathetic mind Nature revealed to him more of her multitudinous + secrets than to most others. Wallace's Amazonian travels were far + from unfruitful, in spite of the irreparable loss he sustained in + the burning of his notes and the bulk of his collections in the + vessel by which he was returning home; but it was in the Malay + Archipelago that his most celebrated years of investigation were + passed, which marked him as one of the greatest naturalists of our + time. As a methodical natural history collector--which is "the + best sport in the world" according to Darwin--he has never been + surpassed; and few naturalists, if any, have ever brought together + more enormous collections than he. The mere statement, taken from + his "Malay Archipelago," of the number of his captures in the + Archipelago in six years of actual collecting, exceeding 125,000 + specimens--a number greater than the entire contents of many large + museums--still causes amazement. The value of a collection, + however, depends on the full and accurate information attached to + each specimen, and from this point of view only a few collections, + including Darwin's and Bates's, have possessed the great + scientific value of his. + + Wallace's Eastern explorations included nearly all the large and + the majority of the smaller islands of the Archipelago. Many of + them he was the first naturalist to visit, or to reside on. Ceram, + Batjian, Buru, Lombok, Timor, Aru, Ke and New Guinea had never + been previously scientifically investigated. When in 1858 "the + first and greatest of the naturalists," as Dr. Wollaston styles + Wallace, visited New Guinea, it was "the first time that any + European had ventured to reside alone and practically unprotected + on the mainland of this country," which, dangerous as it is now in + the same regions, was infinitely more so then. Of the journals of + his voyagings, "The Malay Archipelago" will always be ranked among + the greatest narratives of travel. The fact that this volume has + gone through a dozen editions is witness to its extraordinary + popularity among intelligent minds, and hardly supports the belief + that his scientific work has been forgotten. Nor can this + popularity be a matter of much surprise, for few travellers have + possessed Wallace's powers of exposition, his lucidity and charm + of style. Professor Strasburger of Bonn has declared that through + "The Malay Archipelago" "a new world of scientific knowledge" was + unfolded before him. "I feel it ... my duty," he adds, "to + proclaim it with gratitude." Wallace's narrative has attracted + during the past half-century numerous naturalists to follow in his + tracks, many of whom have reaped rich aftermaths of his harvest; + but certain it is that no explorer in the same, if in any other, + region has approached his eminence, or attained the success he + achieved. + + As a systematic zoologist, Wallace took no inconsiderable place; + his _métier_, however, was different. He described, nevertheless, + large sections of his Lepidoptera and of his birds, on which many + valuable papers are printed in the _Transactions_ of the learned + societies and in various scientific periodicals. Of the former, + special mention may be made of that on variation in the + "Papilionidæ of the Malayan Region," of which Darwin has recorded: + "I have never in my life been more struck by any paper." Of the + latter, reference may be drawn to his account of the "Pigeons of + the Malay Archipelago" and his paper on the "Passerine Birds," in + which he proposed an important new arrangement of the families of + that group (used later in his "Geographical Distribution") based + on the feathering of their wings. Without a lengthy search through + the zoological records, it would be impossible to say how many + species Wallace added to science; but the constant recurrence in + the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum of "wallacei" as the + name bestowed on various new species by other systematists, and of + "Wallace" succeeding those scientifically named by himself, is an + excellent gauge of their very large number. + + In the field of anthropology Wallace could never be an + uninterested spectator. He took a deep interest, he tells us, in + the study of the various races of mankind. His accounts of the + Amazonian tribes suffered greatly by the loss of his journals; but + of the peoples of the Malay Archipelago he has given us a most + interesting narrative, detailing their bodily and mental + characteristics, and showing how their distribution accorded with + that of the fauna on the opposite sides--Malays to the West, + Papuans to the East--of Wallace's Line. If fuller investigation of + the New Guinea tribes requires some modification in regard to + their origin, his observations, as broadly outlined then, remain + true still. His opinions on the origin of the Australian + aborigines--that they were a low and primitive type of Caucasian + race--which, when first promulgated, were somewhat sceptically + received, are now those accepted by many very competent + anthropologists. + + Wallace's contributions to Geographical Science were only second + in importance to those he so pre-eminently made to biology. Though + skilled in the use of surveying instruments, he did little or no + map-making--at all times a laborious and lengthy task--for, with + more important purposes in his mind, he could not spare the time, + nor did the limitations to his movements permit any useful + attempt. Yet he did pure geographical work quite as important. The + value of the comparative study of the flora and fauna of + neighbouring regions, the great differences in the midst of much + likeness between the organic life of neighbouring land masses, was + a subject that was always in Wallace's mind during his exploration + of the Amazon Valley, for he perceived that the physical geography + and the distribution of these animals and plants were of the + greatest service in elucidating their history where the geological + record was defective. As is well known, the visual inspection of + the geological structure of tropical countries is always difficult + and often impossible to make out because of the dense vegetation + upon the surface and even the faces of the river gorges. But for + the loss of his collections and notes we should have had from + Wallace's pen a Physical History of the Amazon. This loss was, + however, amply made up by his very original contributions to the + geography of the Malay Archipelago. "The Zoological Geography of + the Malay Archipelago" and "The Physical Geography of the Malay + Archipelago" (written on Eastern soil, with the texts of his + discourses around him) were the forerunners of his monumental + "Geographical Distribution of Animals," elaborated in England + after his return. "To the publication of the 'Geographical + Distribution of Animals' we owe the first scientific study of the + distribution of organic life on the globe, which has broadened + ever since, and continues to interest students daily; his + brilliant work in Natural History and Geography ... is universally + honoured," are the opinions of Dr. Scott speaking as President of + the Linnean Society of London. + + One of Wallace's most important contributions to the physical + geography of the Malay region was his discovery of the physical + differences between the western and the eastern portions of the + Archipelago; i.e. that the islands lying to the east of a line + running north from the middle of the Straits of Bali and outside + Celebes were fragments of an ancient and larger Australian + continent, while those to the western side were fragments of an + Asiatic continent. This he elucidated by recognising that the + flora and fauna on the two sides of the line, close though these + islands approached each other, were absolutely different and had + remained for ages uncommingled. This line was denominated + "Wallace's Line" by Huxley, and this discovery alone would have + been sufficient to associate his name inseparably with this region + of the globe.--H.O.F. + +Like Darwin, Wallace gave excessive attention to the suggestions and +criticisms of people who were obviously ignorant of the subjects about +which they wrote. He was never impatient with honest ignorance or +considered the lowly position of his correspondents. He replied to all +letters of inquiry (and he received many from working men), and always +gave his best knowledge and advice to anyone who desired it. There was +not the faintest suggestion of the despicable sense of superiority about +him. + +"I had, of course, revelled in 'The Malay Archipelago' when a boy," says +Prof. Cockerell, "but my first personal relations with Dr. Wallace arose +from a letter I wrote him after reading his 'Darwinism,' then (early in +1890) recently published. The book delighted me, but I found a number of +little matters to criticise and discuss, and with the impetuosity of +youth proceeded to write to the author, and also to send a letter on +some of the points to _Nature_. I have possibly not yet reached years of +discretion, but in the perspective of time I can see with confusion that +what I regarded as worthy zeal might well have been characterised by +others as confounded impudence. In the face of this, the tolerance and +kindness of Dr. Wallace's reply is wholly characteristic: 'I am very +much obliged to you for your letter containing so many valuable +emendations and suggestions on my "Darwinism." They will be very useful +to me in preparing another edition. Living in the country with but few +books, I have often been unable to obtain the _latest_ information, but +for the purpose of the argument the facts of a few years back are often +as good as those of to-day--which in their turn will be modified a few +years hence.... You appear to have so much knowledge of details in so +many branches of natural history, and also to have thought so much on +many of the more recondite problems, that I shall be much pleased to +receive any further remarks or corrections on any other portions of my +book.' This letter, written to a very young and quite unknown man in the +wilds of Colorado, who had merely communicated a list of more or less +trifling criticisms, can only be explained as an instance of Dr. +Wallace's eagerness to help and encourage beginners. It did not occur to +him to question the propriety of the criticisms, he did not write as a +superior to an inferior; he only saw what seemed to him a spark of +biological enthusiasm, which should by all means be kindled into flame. +Many years later, when I was at his house, he produced with the greatest +delight some letters from a young man who had gone to South America and +was getting his first glimpse of the tropical forest. What discoveries +he might make! What joy he must have on seeing the things described in +the letter, such things as Dr. Wallace himself had seen in Brazil so +long ago!" + +Wallace's critical faculty was always keen and vigilant. Unlike some +critics, however, he relished genuine and well-informed criticism of his +own writings. Flattery he despised; whilst the charge of dishonesty +aroused strongest resentment. Deceived he might be, but he required +clear proof that his own eyes and ears had led him astray. Romanes, who +had propounded the forgotten theory of physiological selection, charged +Wallace with adopting it as his own. This was not only untrue, it was +ridiculous; and Wallace, after telling him so and receiving no apology, +dropped him out of his recognition. During Romanes' illness Mr. +Thiselton-Dyer wrote to Wallace and sought to bring about a +reconciliation, and Wallace replied: + + * * * * * + +_Parkstone, Dorset. September 26, 1893._ + +My dear Thiselton-Dyer,--I am sorry to hear of Romanes' illness, because +I think he would have done much good work in carrying out experiments +which require the leisure, means and knowledge which he possesses. I +cannot, however, at all understand his wishing to have any communication +from myself. I do not think I ever met Romanes in private more than +once, when he called on me more than twenty years ago about some curious +psychical phenomena occurring in his own family; and perhaps half a +dozen letters--if so many--may have passed between us since. There is +therefore no question of personal friendship disturbed. I consider, +however, that he made a very gross misstatement and personal attack on +me when he stated, both in English and American periodicals, that in my +"Darwinism" I adopted his theory of "physiological selection" and +claimed it as my own, and that my adoption of it was "unequivocal and +complete." This accusation he supported by such a flood of words and +quotations and explanations as to obscure all the chief issues and +render it almost impossible for the ordinary reader to disentangle the +facts. I told him then that unless he withdrew this accusation as +publicly as he had made it I should decline all future correspondence +with him, and should avoid referring to him in any of my writings. + +This is, of course, very different from any criticism of my theories; +that, or even ridicule, would never disturb me; but when a man has made +an accusation of literary and scientific dishonesty, and has done all he +can to spread this accusation over the whole civilised world, my only +answer can be--after showing, as I have done (_see Nature_, vol. xliii., +pp. 79 and 150), that his accusations are wholly untrue--to ignore his +existence. + +I cannot believe that he can want any sympathy from a man he says has +wilfully and grossly plagiarised him, unless he feels that his +accusations were unfounded. If he does so, and will write to me to that +effect (for publication, if I wish, after his death), I will accept it +as full reparation and write him such a letter as you suggest.--Believe +me yours very faithfully, + +ALFRED R. WALLACE. + + * * * * * + +SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE + + +_Kew. September 27, 1897._ + +Dear Mr. Wallace,--I am afraid I have been rather guilty of an +impertinence which I hope you will forgive. + +Romanes is an old acquaintance of mine of many years' standing. +Personally, I like him very much; but for his writings I confess I have +no great admiration. + +Pray believe me I had no mission of any sort on his part to write to +you. But I feel so sorry for him that when he told me how much he +regretted that he did not stand well with you, I could not resist +writing to tell you of the calamities that have befallen him. + +I must confess I was in total ignorance of what you tell me. I don't +see how, under the circumstances, you can do anything. I was never more +surprised in my life, in fact, than when I read your letter. The whole +thing is too childishly preposterous. + +Romanes laments over _me_ because he says I wilfully misunderstand his +theory. The fact is, poor fellow, that I do not think he understands it +himself. If his life had been destined to be prolonged I should have +done all in my power to have induced him to occupy himself more with +observation and less with mere logomachy. + +I cannot get him to face the fact that natural hybrids are being found +to be more and more common amongst plants. At the beginning of the +century it was supposed that there were some sixty recognisable species +of willows in the British Isles: now they are cut down to about sixteen, +and all the rest are resolved into hybrids.--Ever sincerely, + +W.T. THISELTON-DYER. + + * * * * * + +Wallace was a seeker after Truth who was never shy of his august +mistress, whatever robes she wore. "I feel within me," wrote Darwin to +Henslow, "an instinct for truth, or knowledge, or discovery, of +something of the same nature as the instinct of virtue." This was +equally true of Wallace. He had a fine reverence for truth, beauty and +love, and he feared not to expose error. He paid no respect to +time-honoured practices and opinions if he believed them to be false. +Vaccination came under his searching criticism, and in the face of +nearly the whole medical faculty he denounced it as quackery condemned +by the very evidence used to defend it. He very carefully examined the +claims of phrenology, which had been laughed out of court by scientific +men, and he came to the conclusion that "in the present (twentieth) +century phrenology will assuredly attain general acceptance. It will +prove itself to be the true science of the mind. Its practical uses in +education, in self-discipline, in the reformatory treatment of +criminals, and in the remedial treatment of the insane, will gain it +one of the highest places in the hierarchy of the sciences; and its +persistent neglect and obloquy during the last sixty years of the +nineteenth century will be referred to as an example of the almost +incredible narrowness and prejudice which prevailed among men of science +at the very time they were making such splendid advances in other fields +of thought and discovery."[67] + +Wallace was not even scared out of his wits by ghosts, for, unlike +Coleridge, he believed in them although he thought he had seen many. +Whether truth came from the scaffold or the throne, the séance or the +sky, it did not alter the truth, and did not prejudice or overbear his +judgment. He shed his early materialism (which temporarily took +possession of him as it did of many others as a result of the shock +following the overwhelming discoveries of that period) when he was +brought face to face with the phenomena of the spiritual kingdom which +withstood the searching test of his keen observation and reasoning +powers. Prejudices, preconceived notions, respect for his scientific +position or the opinions of his eminent friends or the reputation of the +learned societies to which he belonged--all were quietly and firmly put +aside when he saw what he recognised to be the truth. If his +fellow-workers did not accept it, so much the worse for them. He stood +four-square against the onslaught of quasi-scientific rationalism, which +once threatened to obliterate all the ancient landmarks of morality and +religion alike. He made mistakes, and he admitted and corrected them, +because he verily loved Truth for her own sake. And to the very end of +his long life he kept the windows of his soul wide open to what he +believed to be the light of this and other worlds. + +He was, then, a man of lofty ideals, and his idealism was at the base +of his opposition to the materialism which boasted that Natural +Selection explained all adaptation, and that Physics could give the +solution of Huxley's poser to Spencer: "Given the molecular forces in a +mutton chop, deduce Hamlet and Faust therefrom," and which regarded mind +as a quality of matter as brightness is a quality of steel, and life as +the result of the organisation of matter and not its cause. + +"We have ourselves," wrote Prof. H.F. Osborn in an account of Wallace's +scientific work which Wallace praised, "experienced a loss of confidence +with advancing years, an increasing humility in the face of +transformations which become more and more mysterious the more we study +them, although we may not join with this master in his appeal to an +organising and directing principle." But profound contemplation of +nature and of the mind of man led Wallace to belief in God, to accept +the Divine origin of life and consciousness, and to proclaim a hierarchy +of spiritual beings presiding over nature and the affairs of nations. +"Whatever," writes Dr. H.O. Forbes, "may be the last words on the deep +and mysterious problems to which Wallace addressed himself in his later +works, the unquestioned consensus of the highest scientific opinion +throughout the world is that his work has been for more than half a +century, and will continue to be, a living stimulus to interpretation +and investigation, a fertilising and vivifying force in every sphere of +thought." + +It is perhaps unprofitable to go further than in previous chapters into +his so-called heresies--political, scientific or religious. Yet we may +imitate his boldness and ask whether he was not, perhaps, in advance of +his age and whether his heresies were not shrewd anticipations of some +truth at present but partially revealed. Take the example of +Spiritualism, which, I suppose, has more opponents than +anti-vaccination. No one can overlook the fact that Spiritualism has +many scientific exponents--Myers, Crookes, Lodge, Barrett and others. +Prejudices against Spiritualism are as unscientific as the credulity +which swallows the mutterings of every medium. Podmore's two ponderous +volumes on the History of Spritualism are marred by an obvious anxiety +to make the very least, if not the very worst, of every phenomenon +alleged to be spiritualistic. That kind of deliberate and obstinate +blindness which prided itself on being the clear cold light of science +Wallace scorned and denounced. He did not insist upon spiritualistic +manifestations shaping themselves according to his own predesigned +moulds in order to be investigated. He watched for facts whatever form +they assumed. He fully recognised that the phenomena he saw and heard +could be easily ridiculed, but behind them he as fully believed that he +came into contact with spiritual realities which remain, and which led +him to other explanations of the higher faculties of man and the origin +of life and consciousness than were acceptable to the materialistic +followers of Haeckel, Büchner and Huxley. And who dares dogmatically to +assert in the name of science and in the second decade of the twentieth +century, when the deeper meanings of evolution are being revealed, and +the philosophy of Bergson is spoken about on the housetops, that he was +wrong? In these views may he not become the peer of Darwin? + +At first blush it may seem to be a bad example of special pleading to +attempt to discover the reason for his opposition to vaccination in his +idealism. But it is not far from the truth. He believed in a Ministry of +Public Health, that doctors should be servants of the State, and that +they should be paid according as they kept people well and not ill. +Health is the natural condition of the human body when it is properly +sustained and used. And chemicals, even in sickness, are of less +importance than fresh air, light and proper food. He ridiculed, too, the +notion of unhealthy places. "It is like," he wrote to Mr. Birch, "the +old idea that every child must have measles, and the sooner the better." +To the same correspondent, who was contemplating going into virgin +forests and who expressed his fear of malaria, he replied: "There is no +special danger of malaria or other diseases in a dense forest region. I +am sure this is a delusion, and the dense virgin forests, even when +swampy, are, in a state of nature, perfectly healthy to live in. It is +man's tampering with them, and man's own bad habits of living, that +render them unhealthy. Having now gone over all Spruce's journals and +letters during his twelve years' life in and about the Amazonian +forests, I am sure this is so. And even where a place is said to be +notoriously 'malarious,' it is mostly due not to infection only but to +predisposition due to malnutrition or some bad mode of living. A person +living healthily may, for the most part, laugh at such terrors. Neither +I nor Spruce ever got fevers when we lived in the forests and were able +to get wholesome food." "Health," he said to the present writer, "is the +best resistant to disease, and not the artificial giving of a mild form +of a disease in order to render the body immune to it for a season. +Vaccination is not only condemned upon the statistics which are used to +uphold it, but it is a false principle--unscientific, and therefore +doomed to fail in the end." Besides which, he believed in mental +healing, and had recorded definite and certain benefit from spiritual +"healers." And he reminded himself that amongst doctors (witness the +blind opposition encountered by Lister's discoveries) were found from +time to time not a few enemies of the true healing art, and obstinate +defenders of many forms of quackery. Wallace made no claim to be an +original investigator. He knew his limitations, and said again and again +that he could not have conducted the slow and minute researches or have +accumulated the vast amount of detailed evidence to which Darwin, with +infinite patience, devoted his life. He was genuinely glad that it had +not fallen to his lot to write "The Origin of Species." He felt that his +chief faculty was to reason from facts which others discovered. Yet he +had that original insight and creative faculty which enabled him to see, +often as by flashlight, the explanation which had remained hidden from +the eyes of the man who was most familiar with the particular facts, and +he elaborated it with quickening pulse, anxious to put down the whole +conception which filled his mind lest some portion of it should escape +him. Therein lay one secret of his great genius. He often said that he +was an idler, but we know that he was a patient and industrious worker. +His idleness was his way of describing his long musings, waiting the +bidding of her whom God inspires--Truth, who often hides her face from +the clouded eyes of man. For hours, days, weeks, he was disinclined to +work. He felt no constraining impulse, his attention was relaxed or +engaged upon a novel, or his seeds, or the plan of a new house, which +always excited his interest. Then, apparently suddenly, whilst in one of +his day-dreams, or in a fever (as at Ternate, to recall the historical +episode when the theory of Natural Selection struck him), an +explanation, a theory, a discovery,[68] the plan of a new book, came to +him like a flash of light, and with the plan the material, the +arguments, the illustrations; the words came tumbling one over the +other in his brain, and as suddenly his idleness vanished, and work, +eager, prolonged, unwearying, filled his days and months and years until +the message was written down and the task fully accomplished. Whilst +writing he referred to few books, but wrote straight on, adding +paragraph to paragraph, chapter to chapter, without recasting or +revision.[69] And the result was fresh, striking, original. It was a +creation. The work being done, he relapsed into his busy idleness. The +truth, as he saw it, seemed to come to him. Some people called him a +prophet, but he was not conscious of that high calling. I do not +remember him saying that he was only a messenger. Perhaps later, when he +was reviewing his life, he connected his sudden inspirations with a +higher source, but for their realisation he relied upon a foundation of +veritable facts, facts patiently accumulated, a foundation laid broad +and deep. He had the vision of the prophet allied with the wisdom of the +philosopher and the calm mental detachment of the man of science. +Perhaps another explanation of his genius may be found in his +open-mindedness. Truth found ready access to his conscience, and always +a warm welcome, and he saw with open eyes where others were stone-blind. + +He belonged to our common humanity. No caste or acquired pride or +unapproachable intellectualism cut him off from the people. His simple +humanness made him one with us all. And his humanity was singularly +comprehensive. It led him, for instance, to investigate the subject of +suffering in animals. He noticed that all good men and women rightly +shrank from giving pain to them, and he set himself to prove that the +capacity for pain decreased as we descended the scale of life, and that +poets and others were mistaken when they imputed acute suffering to the +lower creation, because of the very restricted response of their nervous +system. Even in the case of the human infant, he concluded that only +very slight sensations are at first required, and that such only are +therefore developed. The sensation of pain does not, probably, reach its +maximum till the whole organism is fully developed in the adult +individual. "This," he added, with that characteristic touch which made +him kin to all oppressed people, "is rather comforting in view of the +sufferings of so many infants needlessly sacrificed through the terrible +defects of our vicious social system." + +To Wallace pain was the birth-cry of a soul's advance--the stamp of rank +in nature is capacity for pain. Pain, he held, was always strictly +subordinated to the law of utility, and was never developed beyond what +was actually needed for the protection and advance of life. This brings +the sensitive soul immense relief. Our susceptibility to the higher +agonies is a condition of our advance in life's pageant. + +Take another instance. Amongst his numerous correspondents there were +not a few who decided not to take life, for food, or science, or in war. +One young man who went out with the assistance of Wallace to Trinidad +and Brazil to become a naturalist, and to whom he wrote many letters[70] +of direction and encouragement, gave up the work of collecting--to +Wallace's sincere disappointment--and came home because he felt that it +was wrong to take the lives of such wondrous and beautiful birds and +insects. Another correspondent, who had joined the Navy, wrote a number +of long letters to Wallace setting forth his conscientious objections to +killing, arrived at after reading Wallace's books; and although Wallace +endeavoured from prudential considerations to restrain him from giving +up his position, he nevertheless wholly sympathised with him and in the +end warmly defended him when it was necessary to do so. The sacrifice, +too, of human life in dangerous employments for the purpose of financial +gain, no less than the frightful slaughter of the battlefield, was +abhorrent to Wallace and aroused his intensest indignation. Life to him +was sacred. It had its origin in the spiritual kingdom. "We are lovers +of nature, from 'bugs' up to 'humans,'" he wrote to Mr. Fred Birch. + +By every means he laboured earnestly to secure an equal opportunity of +leading a useful and happy life for all men and women. He championed the +cause of women--of their freer life and their more active and public +part in national service. He found the selective agency, which was to +work for the amelioration he desired, in a higher form of sexual +selection, which will be the prerogative of women; and therefore woman's +position in the not distant future "will be far higher and more +important than any which has been claimed for or by her in the past." +When political and social rights are conceded to her on equality with +men, her free choice in marriage, no longer influenced by economic and +social considerations, will guide the future moral progress of the race, +restore the lost equality of opportunity to every child born in our +country, and secure the balance between the sexes. "It will be their +(women's) special duty so to mould public opinion, through home training +and social influence, as to render the women of the future the +regenerators of the entire human race." + +He was acutely anxious that his ideals should be realised on earth by +the masses of the people. He had a large and noble vision of their +future. And he had his plan for their immediate redemption--national +ownership of the soil, better housing, higher wages, certainty of +employment, abolition of preventable diseases, more leisure and wider +education, not merely for the practical work of obtaining a livelihood +but to enable them to enjoy art and literature and song. His opposition +to Eugenics (to adopt the word introduced by Galton, which Wallace +called jargon) sprang from his idealism and his love of the people, as +well as from his scientific knowledge. On the social side he thought +that Eugenics offered less chance of a much-needed improvement of +environment than the social reforms which he advocated, whilst on the +scientific side he believed that the attempt, with our extremely limited +knowledge, to breed men and women by artificial selection was worse than +folly. He feared that, as he understood it, Eugenics would perpetuate +class distinctions, and postpone social reform, and afford +quasi-scientific excuses for keeping people "in the positions Nature +intended them to occupy," a scientific reading of the more offensive +saying of those who, having plenty themselves, believe that it is for +the good of the lower classes to be dependent upon others. "Clear up," +he said to the present writer one day, when we drifted into a warm +discussion of the teachings of Eugenists; "change the environment so +that all may have an adequate opportunity of living a useful and happy +life, and give woman a free choke in marriage; and when that has been +going on for some generations you may be in a better position to apply +whatever has been discovered about heredity and human breeding, and you +may then know which are the better stocks." + +"Segregation of the unfit," he remarked to an interviewer after the +Eugenic Conference, at which much was unhappily said that wholly +justified his caustic denunciation, "is a mere excuse for establishing +a medical tyranny. And we have enough of this kind of tyranny already +... the world does not want the eugenist to set it straight.... Eugenics +is simply the meddlesome interference of an arrogant scientific +priestcraft." + +Thus his radicalism and his so-called fads were born of his high +aspirations. He was not the recluse calmly spinning theories from a +bewildering chaos of observations, and building up isolated facts into +the unity of a great and illuminating conception in the silence and +solitude of his library, unmindful of the great world of sin and sorrow +without. He could say with Darwin, "I was born a naturalist"; but we can +add that his heart was on fire with love for the toiling masses. He had +felt the intense joy of discovering a vast and splendid generalisation, +which not only worked a complete revolution in biological science, but +has also illuminated the whole field of human knowledge. Yet his +greatest ambition was to improve the cruel conditions under which +thousands of his fellow-creatures suffered and died, and to make their +lives sweeter and happier. His mind was great enough and his heart large +enough to encompass all that lies between the visible horizons of human +thought and activity, and even in his old age he lived upon the topmost +peaks, eagerly looking for the horizon beyond. In the words of the late +Mr. Gladstone, he "was inspired with the belief that life was a great +and noble calling; not a mean and grovelling thing that we are to +shuffle through as we can, but an elevated and lofty destiny." + + * * * * * + +But we must not be tempted into further disquisition. As he grew older +the public Press as well as his friends celebrated his birthdays. +Congratulations by telegram and letter poured in upon him and gave him +great pleasure. Minor poets sang special solos, or joined in the +chorus. One example may be quoted: + + ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE + + 8TH JANUARY, 1911 + + A little cot back'd by a wood-fring'd height, + Where sylvan Usk runs swiftly babbling by: + Here thy young eyes first look'd on earth and sky, + And all the wonders of the day and night; + O born interpreter of Nature's might, + Lord of the quiet heart and seeing eye, + Vast is our debt to thee we'll ne'er deny, + Though some may own it in their own despite. + Now after fourscore teeming years and seven, + Our hearts are jocund that we have thee still + A refuge in this world of good and ill, + When evil triumphs and our souls are riv'n; + A friend to all the friendless under heav'n; + A foe to fraud and all the lusts that kill. + + O champion of the Truth, whate'er it be! + World-wand'rer over this terrestrial frame; + Twin-named with Darwin on the roll of fame; + This day we render homage unto thee; + For in thy steps o'er alien land and sea, + Where life burns fast and tropic splendours flame. + Oft have we follow'd with sincere acclaim + To mark thee unfold Nature's mystery. + For this we thank thee, yet one thing remains + Shall shrine thee deeper in the heart of man, + In ages yet to be when we are dust; + Thou hast put forth thy hand to rend our chains, + Our birthright to restore from feudal ban; + O righteous soul, magnanimous and just! + + W. BRAUNSTON JONES. + +Sir William Barrett, one of Wallace's oldest friends, visited him during +the last year of his life, and thus describes the visit: + + In the early summer of 1913, some six months before his death, I + had the pleasure of paying another visit and spending a delightful + afternoon with my old friend. His health was failing, and he sat + wrapped up before a fire in his study, though it was a warm day. + He could not walk round his garden with me as before, but pointed + to the little plot of ground in front of the French windows of his + study--where he had moved some of his rarer primulas and other + plants he was engaged in hybridising--and which he could just + manage to visit. His eyesight and hearing seemed as good as ever, + and his intellectual power was undimmed.... + + Dr. Wallace then, pointing to the beautiful expanse of garden, + woodland and sea which was visible from the large study windows, + burst forth with vigorous gesticulation and flashing eyes: "Just + think! All this wonderful beauty and diversity of nature results + from the operation of a few simple laws. In my early unregenerate + days I used to think that only material forces and natural laws + were operative throughout the world. But these I now see are + hopelessly inadequate to explain this mystery and wonder and + variety of life. I am, as you know, absolutely convinced that + behind and beyond all elementary processes there is a guiding and + directive force; a Divine power or hierarchy of powers, ever + controlling these processes so that they are tending to more + abundant and to higher types of life." + + This led Dr. Wallace to refer to my published lecture on "Creative + Thought" and express his hearty concurrence with the line of + argument therein; in fact he had already sent me his views, which, + with his consent, I published as a postscript to that lecture. + + Then our conversation turned upon recent political events, and it + was remarkable how closely he had followed, and how heartily he + approved, the legislation of the Liberal Government of the day. + His admiration for Mr. Lloyd George was unfeigned. "To think that + I should have lived to see so earnest and democratic a Chancellor + of the Exchequer!" he exclaimed, and he confidently awaited still + larger measures which would raise the condition of the workers to + a higher level; and nothing was more striking than his intense + sympathy with every movement for the relief of poverty and the + betterment of the wage-earning classes. The land question, we + agreed, lay at the root of the matter, and land nationalisation + the true solution. In fact, ever since I read the proof-sheets of + his book on this subject, which he corrected when staying at my + house in Kingstown, I have been a member of the Land + Nationalisation Society, of which he was President. + + Needless to say, Dr. Wallace was an ardent Home Ruler and Free + Trader,[71] but on the latter question he said there should be an + export duty on coal, especially the South Wales steam coal, as our + supply was limited and it was essential for the prosperity of the + country--and "the purchaser pays the duty," he remarked. I + heartily agreed with him, and said that a small export duty _had_ + been placed on coal by the Conservative Government, but + subsequently was removed. This he had forgotten, and when later on + I sent him particulars of the duty and its yield, he replied + saying that at that time he was so busy with the preparation of a + book that he had overlooked the fact. He wrote most energetically + on the importance of the Government being wise in time, and urged + at least a 2s. export duty on coal. + + We talked about the question of a portrait of Dr. Wallace being + painted and presented to the Royal Society, which had been + suggested by the Rev. James Marchant, to whom Dr. Wallace + referred, when talking to me, in grateful and glowing + terms.--W.F.B. + +Perhaps it should be added to Sir William Barrett's reminiscences that +the movement which was set on foot to carry out this project was stayed +by Wallace's death. + +During the last years of his life his pen was seldom dry. His interest +in science and in politics was fresh and keen to the closing week. He +wrote "Social Environment and Moral Progress" in 1912, at the age of 90. +The book had a remarkable reception. Leading articles and illustrated +reviews appeared in most of the daily newspapers. The book, into which +he had put his deepest thoughts and feelings upon the condition of +society, was hailed as a virile and notable production from a truly +great man. After this was issued, he saw another, "The Revolt of +Democracy," through the press. But this did not exhaust his activities. +He entered almost immediately into a contract to write a big volume upon +the social order, and as a side issue to help, as is mentioned in the +Introduction, in the production of an even larger book upon the writings +and position of Darwin and Wallace and the theory of Natural Selection +as an adequate explanation of organic evolution. Age did not seem to +weaken his amazing fertility of creative thought, nor to render him less +susceptible to the claims of humanity, which he faced with a noble +courage. In nobility of character and in magnitude, variety and richness +of mind he was amongst the foremost scientific men of the Victorian Age, +and with his death that great period, which was marked by wide and +illuminating generalisations and the grand style in science, came to an +end. + +Apart altogether, however, from his scientific position and attainments, +which set him on high, he was a noble example of brave, resolute, and +hopeful endeavour, maintained without faltering to the end of a long +life. And this is not the least valuable part of his legacy to the race. + +When Henslow died, Huxley wrote to Hooker: "He had intellect to +comprehend his highest duty distinctly, and force of character to do it; +which of us dare ask for a higher summary of his life than that? For +such a man there can be no fear in facing the great unknown; his life +has been one long experience of the substantial justice of the laws by +which this world is governed, and he will calmly trust to them still as +he lays his head down for his long sleep." Let that also stand as the +estimate of Wallace by his contemporaries, an estimate which we believe +posterity will confirm. And to it we may add that death, which came to +him in his sleep as a gentle deliverer, opened the door into the larger +and fuller life into which he tried to penetrate and in which he firmly +believed. If that faith be founded in truth, Darwin and Wallace, yonder +as here, are united evermore. + + * * * * * + +I am writing these concluding words on the second anniversary of his +death. Before me there lies the telegram which brought me the sad news +that he had "passed away very peacefully at 9.25 a.m., without regaining +consciousness." He was in his ninety-first year. It was suggested that +he should be buried in Westminster Abbey, beside Charles Darwin, but +Mrs. Wallace and the family, expressing his own wishes as well as +theirs, did not desire it. On Monday, November 10th, he was laid to rest +with touching simplicity in the little cemetery of Broadstone, on a +pine-clad hill swept by ocean breezes. He was followed on his last +earthly journey by his son and daughter, by Miss Mitten, his +sister-in-law, and by the present writer. Mrs. Wallace, being an +invalid, was unable to attend. The funeral service was conducted by the +Bishop of Salisbury (Dr. Ridgeway), and among the official +representatives were Prof. Raphael Meldola and Prof. E.B. Poulton +representing the Royal Society; the latter and Dr. Scott representing +the Linnean Society, and Mr. Joseph Hyder the Land Nationalisation +Society. A singularly appropriate monument, consisting of a fossil +tree-trunk from the Portland beds, has been erected over his grave upon +a base of Purbeck stone, which bears the following inscription: + + ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, O.M. + Born Jan. 8th, 1823, Died Nov. 7th, 1913 + +A year later, on the 10th of December, 1914, his widow died after a long +illness, and was buried in the same grave. She was the eldest daughter +of Mr. William Mitten, of Hurstpierpoint, an enthusiastic botanist, and +in no mean degree she inherited her father's love of wild flowers and of +the beautiful in nature. It was this similarity of tastes which led to +her close intimacy and subsequent marriage, in 1866, with Wallace. Their +married life was an exceedingly happy one. She was able to help him in +his scientific labours, and she provided that atmosphere in the home +life which enabled him to devote himself to his many-sided enterprises. +And nothing would give him more joy than to know that this book is +dedicated to her memory. + +[Illustration: THE GRAVE OF ALFRED RUSSEL AND ANNIE WALLACE] + +Soon after Wallace's death a Committee was formed (with Prof. Poulton as +Chairman and Prof. Meldola as Treasurer) to erect a memorial, and the +following petition was sent to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster +Abbey: + + We, the undersigned, earnestly desiring a suitable national + memorial to the late Alfred Russel Wallace, and believing that no + position would be so appropriate as Westminster Abbey, the + burial-place of his illustrious fellow-worker Charles Darwin, + petition the Right Reverend the Dean and Chapter for permission to + place a medallion in Westminster Abbey. We further guarantee, if + the medallion be accepted, to pay the Abbey fees of £200. + + ARCH. GEIKIE + WILLIAM CROOKES + A.B. KEMPE + E. RAY LANKESTER + D.H. SCOTT + D. PRAIN + A.E. SHIPLEY + RAPHAEL MELDOLA + P.A. MACMAHON + JOHN W. JUDD + OLIVER J. LODGE + E.B. POULTON + A. STRAHAN + H.H. TURNER + J. LARMOR + W. RAMSAY + SILVANUS P. THOMPSON + JOHN PERRY + JAMES MARCHANT (Hon. Sec.) + +To which the Dean replied: + + _The Deanery, Westminster, S.W. December 2, 1913._ + + Dear Mr. Marchant,--I have pleasure in informing you that I + presented your petition at our Chapter meeting this morning, and a + glad and unanimous assent was accorded to it. + + I should be glad later on to be informed as to the artist you are + employing; and probably it would be as well for him and you and + some members of the Royal Society to meet me and the Chapter and + confer together upon the most suitable and artistic arrangement or + rearrangement of the medallions of the great men of science of the + nineteenth century. + + Nothing could have been more satisfactory or impressive than the + document with which you furnished me this morning. I hope to get + it specially framed.--Yours sincerely, + + HERBERT E. RYLE. + +Mr. Bruce-Joy, who had made an excellent medallion of Dr. Wallace during +his lifetime, accepted the commission to fashion the medallion for +Westminster Abbey, and it was unveiled, by a happy but undesigned +coincidence, on All Souls' Day, November 1 1915, together with +medallions to the memory of Sir Joseph Hooker and Lord Lister. In the +course of his sermon, the Dean said--and with these words we may well +conclude this book: + +"To-day there are uncovered to the public view, in the North Aisle of +the Choir, three memorials to men who, I believe, will always be ranked +among the most eminent scientists of the last century. They passed away, +one in 1911, one in 1912, and one in 1913. They were all men of +singularly modest character. As is so often observable in true +greatness, there was in them an entire absence of that vanity and +self-advertisement which are not infrequent with smaller minds. It is +the little men who push themselves into prominence through dread of +being overlooked. It is the great men who work for the work's sake +without regard to recognition, and who, as we might say, achieve +greatness in spite of themselves. + +[Illustration: THE WALLACE AND DARWIN MEDALLIONS IN THE NORTH AISLE OF +THE CHOIR OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY] + +"Alfred Russel Wallace was a most famous naturalist and zoologist. He +arrived by a flash of genius at the same conclusions which Darwin had +reached after sixteen years of most minute toil and careful +observation.... It was a unique example of the almost exact concurrence +of two great minds working upon the same subject, though in different +parts of the world, without collusion and without rivalry.... Between +Darwin and Wallace goodwill and friendship were never interrupted. +Wallace's life was spent in the pursuit of various objects of +intellectual and philosophical interest, over which I need not here +linger. All will agree that it is fitting his medallion should be placed +next to that of Darwin, with whose great name his own will ever be +linked in the worlds of thought and science. + +"All will acknowledge the propriety of these three great names being +honoured in this Abbey Church, even though it be, to use Wordsworth's +phrase, already + + 'Filled with mementoes, satiate with its part + Of grateful England's overflowing dead.' + +"These are three men whose lifework it was to utilise and promote +scientific discovery for the preservation and betterment of the human +race." + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + +LISTS OF WALLACE'S WRITINGS + + +I.--BOOKS + +Date Title + +1853 "Palm Trees on the Amazon" +1853 "A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro." New + Edition in "The Minerva Library," 1889 +1866 "The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural" +1869 "The Malay Archipelago," 2 vols. Tenth Edition, 1 vol., 1890 +1870 "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection." Republished, + with "Tropical Nature," 1891 +1874 "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism." Revised Edition, 1896 +1876 "The Geographical Distribution of Animals," 2 vols. +1878 "Tropical Nature and other Essays." Printed in 1 vol. with + "Natural Selection," 1891 +1879 "Australasia." "Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel." + (New issue, 1893) +1880 "Island Life." Revised Edition, 1895 +1882 "Land Nationalisation" +1885 "Bad Times" +1889 "Darwinism." 3rd Edition, 1901 +1898 "The Wonderful Century." New Edition, 1903 +1900 "Studies, Scientific and Social" +1901 "The Wonderful Century Reader" +1901 "Vaccination a Delusion" +1903 "Man's Place in the Universe." New Edition, 1904. Cheap 1s. + Edition, 1912 +1905 "My Life," 2 vols. New Edition, 1 vol., 1908 +1907 "Is Mars Habitable?" +1908 "Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes," by Richard + Spruce. Edited by A.R. Wallace +1910 "The World of Life" +1913 "Social Environment and Moral Progress" +1913 "The Revolt of Democracy" + + +II.--ARTICLES, PAPERS, REVIEWS, ETC. + +_The articles marked with an asterisk were republished in Wallace's +"Studies, Scientific and Social."_ + + +-----------------+---------------------+---------------------------------- + DATE | PERIODICAL OR | SUBJECT + | SOCIETY | +--------+--------+---------------------+---------------------------------- + | 1850 | Proc. Zool. Soc., | On the Umbrella Bird + | | Lond. | + | 1852 | " " | Monkeys of the Amazon + | 1852-3 | Trans. Entomol. | On the Habits of the Butterflies + | | Soc. | of the Amazon Valley + | 1853 | Zoologist | On the Habits of the Hesperidæ + | 1853 | Proc. Zool. Soc., | On some Fishes allied to Gymnotus + | | Lond. | +June 6 | 1853 | Entomolog. Soc. | On the Insects used for Food by + | | | the Indians of the Amazon +June 13 | 1853 | Royal Geograph. Soc.| The Rio Negro + | 1854-5 | Zoologist | Letters from Singapore and Borneo + | 1854-6 | Trans. Entomol. | Description of a New Species of + | | Soc. | Ornithoptera + | 1855 | Annals and Mag. | On the Ornithology of Malacca + | | of Nat. Hist. | + | 1855 | Journ. Bot. | Botany of Malacca + | 1855 | Zoologist | The Entomology of Malacca +Sept. | 1855 | Annals and Mag. | On the Law which has regulated + | | of Nat. Hist. | the Introduction of New Species + | 1856 | " " | Some Account of an Infant + | | | Orang-Outang + | 1856 | " " | On the Orang-Outang or Mias of + | | | Borneo +Dec. | 1856 | " " | On the Habits of the Orang-Outang + | | | of Borneo + | 1856 | " " | Attempts at a Natural Arrangement + | | | of Birds +Nov. 22 | 1856 | Chambers's Journ. | A New Kind of Baby + | 1856 | Journ. Bot. | On the Bamboo and Durian of Borneo + | 1856 | Zoologist | Observations on the Zoology of + | | | Borneo + | 1856-8 | Trans. Entomol. | On the Habits, etc., of a Species + | | Soc. | of Ornithoptera inhabiting the + | | | Aru Islands + | 1856-9 | " " | Letters from Aru Islands and from + | | | Batchian +Dec. | 1857 | Annals and Mag. | Natural History of the Aru Islands + | | of Nat. Hist. | + | 1857 | " " | On the Great Bird of Paradise + | 1857 | Proc. Geograph. | Notes of a Journey up the Sadong + | | Soc. | River + | 1858 | " " | On the Aru Islands + | 1858 | Zoologist | Note on the Theory of Permanent + | | " " | and Geographical Varieties + | 1858 | " " | On the Entomology of the Aru + | | | Islands + | 1858-61| Trans. Entomol. | Note on the Sexual Differences in + | | Soc. | the Genus Lomaptera + | 1859 | Annals and Mag. | Correction of an Important Error + | | of Nat. Hist. | affecting the Classification of + | | | the _Psittacidæ_ + | 1859 | Proc, Linn. Soc. |On the Tendency of Varieties to + | | (iii. 45) | Depart Indefinitely from the + | | | Original Type[72] +Oct. | 1859 | Ibis |Geographical Distribution of Birds +Dec. | 1859 | Entomolog. Soc. |Note on the Habits of Scolytidæ and + | | | Bostrichidæ + | 1860 | Journ. Geograph. |Notes of a Voyage to New Guinea + | | Soc. | + | 1860 | Ibis |The Ornithology of North Celebes + | 1860 | Proc. Zool, Soc., |Notes on Semioptera wallacii + | | Lond. | + | 1860 | Proc. Linn. Soc. |Zoological Geography of Malay + | | (iv. 172) | Archipelago + | 1861 | Ibis |On the Ornithology of Ceram and + | | | Waigiou + | 1861 | " |Notes on the Ornithology of Timor + | 1862 | Proc. and Journ. |On the Trade between the Eastern + | | Geogr. Soc. | Archipelago and New Guinea + | | | and its Islands + | 1862 | Proc. Zool. Soc., |List of Birds from the Sula Islands + | | Lond. | + | 1862 | Ibis |On some New Birds from the Northern + | | | Moluccas + | 1862 | Proc. Zool. Soc., |Narrative of Search after Birds of + | | Lond. | Paradise + | 1862 | " |On some New and Rare Birds from New + | | | Guinea + | 1862 | " |Description of Three New Species + | | | of _Pitta_ from the Moluccas + | 1863 | Annals and Mag. |On the Proposed Change in Name of + | | of Nat. Hist. | _Gracula pectoralis_ + | 1863 | Entomol. Journ. |Notes on the Genus _Iphias_ + | 1863 | Ibis |Note on _Corvus senex _and _Corvus + | | | fuscicapillus_ + | 1863 | " |Notes on the Fruit-Pigeons of Genus + | | | _Treron_ + | 1863 | Intellectual |The Bucerotidæ, or Hornbills + | | Observer | + | 1863 | Proc. Zool, Soc. |List of Birds collected on Island + | | Lond. | of Bouru +April | 1863 | Zoologist |Who are the Humming-Bird's + | | | Relations? +June | 1863 | Royal Geograph. |Physical Geography of the Malay + | | Soc. | Archipelago + | 1863 | Proc, Zool. Soc., |On the Identification of _Hirundo + | | Lond. | esculenta_, Linn. + | 1863 | " |List of Birds inhabiting the + | | | Islands of Timor, Flores and + | | | Lombok + | 1863 | Annals and Mag. |On the Rev. S. Haughton's Paper on + | | of Nat. Hist. | the Bee's Cell and the Origin of + | | | Species +Jan. 1 | | Nat. Hist. Rev. |Some Anomalies in Zoological and + | | | Botanical Geography +Jan. 7 | 1864 |Edinburgh New |Ditto + | | Journ. (Philos.) | + | 1864 | Proc. Zool. Soc., | Parrots of the Malayan Region + | | Lond. | + | 1864 | Anthropol. Soc. | The Origin of Human Races and the + | | Journ. | Antiquity of Man deduced from + | | | Natural Selection + | 1864 | Proc. Entom. Soc. | Effect of Locality in producing + | | and Zoologist | Change of Form in Insects + | 1864 | Proc. Entom. Soc. | Views on Polymorphism + | 1864 | Ibis | Remarks on the Value of + | | | Osteological Characters in the + | | | Classification of Birds + | 1864 | " | Remarks on the Habits, + | | | Distribution, etc., of the Genus + | | | _Pitta_ + | 1864 | " | Note on _Astur griseiceps_ + | 1864 | Nat. Hist. Rev. | Bone Caves in Borneo + | 1865 | Proc. Zool. Soc., | List of the Land Shells collected + | | Lond. | by Mr. Wallace in the Malay + | | | Archipelago +Jan. | 1865 | Trans. Ethnolog. | On the Progress of Civilisation in + | | Soc. | North Celebes +Jan. | 1865 | " | On the Varieties of Man in the + | | | Malay Archipelago + | 1865 | Proc. Zool. Soc., | Descriptions of New Birds from the + | | Lond. | Malay Archipelago +June 17 | 1865 | Reader | How to Civilise Savages* +Oct. | 1865 | Ibis | Pigeons of the Malay Archipelago + | 1866 | Trans. Linn. Soc. | On the Phenomena of Variation and + | | (xxv.) (Abstract | Geographical Distribution as + | | in Reader, April, | illustrated by Papilionidæ of + | | 1864) | the Malayan Region + | 1866 | Proc. Zoo. Soc., | List of Lepidoptera collected by + | | Lond. | Swinton at Takow, Formosa + | 1866 | Proc. Entomol. }| Exposition of the Theory of + | | Soc. }| Mimicry as explaining Anomalies + | 1867 | Zoologist }| of Sexual Variation + | 1867 | Intellectual | The Philosophy of Birds' Nests + | | Observer | +Jan. | 1867 | Quarterly Journ. | Ice-Marks in North Wales + | | of Sci. | +April | 1867 | " | The Polynesians and their + | | | Migrations* +July | 1867 | Westminster Rev. | Mimicry and other Protective + | | | Resemblances among Animals +Sept. | 1867 | Science Gossip | Disguises of Insects +Oct. | 1867 | Quarterly Journ. | Creation by Law + | | of Sci. | + | 1867 | Proc. Entomol. }| + | | Soc. }| A Catalogue of the Cetoniidæ of + | 1868 | Trans. Entomol. }| the Malayan Archipelago, etc. + | | Soc. }| +Jan. 7 | 1868 | Ibis | Raptorial Birds of the Malay + | | | Archipelago + | 1868 | Trans. Entomol. | On the Pieridæ of the Indian and + | | Soc. | Australian Regions + | 1868 | --- | The Limits of Natural Selection + | | | applied to Man* + | 1869 | Trans. Entomol. | Note on the Localities given in + | | Soc. | the "Longicornia Malayana" + | 1869 | Journ. of Travel | A Theory of Birds' Nests + | | and Nat. Hist. | +April | 1869 | Quarterly Rev. | Reviews of Lyell's "Principles + | | | of Geology" (entitled + | | | "Geological Climates and + | | | Origin of Species") + | 1869 | Macmillan's Mag. | Museums for the People* + | 1869 | Trans. Entomol. | Notes on Eastern Butterflies (3 + | | Soc. | Parts) + | 1870 | Brit. Association | On a Diagram of the Earth's + | | Report | Eccentricity, etc. +March | 1871 | Academy | Review of Darwin's "Descent of + | | | Man" +May 23 | 1871 | Entomolog. Soc. | Address on Insular Faunas, etc. + | 1871 | " | The Beetles of Madeira and + | | | their Teachings* +Nov. | 1871 | ---- | Reply to Mr. Hampden's Charges + | 1873 | Journ. Linnean Soc. | Introduction to F. Smith's + | | | Catalogue of Aculeate + | | | Hymenoptera, etc. +Jan. 4 | 1873 | Times | Spiritualism and Science +April | 1873 | Macmillan's Mag. | Disestablishment and + | | | Disendowment, with a Proposal + | | | for a really National Church + | | | of England* +Sept. 16| 1873 | Daily News | Coal a National Trust* +Dec. | 1873 | Contemp. Rev. | Limitation of State Functions + | | | in the Administration of + | | | Justice* +Jan. 17 | 1874 | Academy | Reviews of Mivart's "Man and + | | | Apes" and A.J. Mott's "Origin + | | | of Savage Life" +April | 1874 | ---- | Review of W. Marshall's + | | | "Phrenologist amongst the + | | | Todas" +April | 1874 | ---- | Review of G. St. Clair's + | | | "Darwinism and Design" + | 1874 | Ibis | On the Arrangement of the + | | | Families constituting the + | | | Order Passeres +May | 1876 | Academy | Review of Mivart's "Lessons + | | | from Nature" + | 1877 | Proc. Geograph. | The Comparative Antiquity of + | | Soc. | Continents +July | 1877 | Quarterly Journ. of | Review of Carpenter's + | | Sci. | "Mesmerism and Spiritualism," + | | | etc. +Sept. | 1877 | Macmillan's Mag. | The Colours of Animals and +and Oct.| | | Plants +Nov. | 1877 | Fraser's Mag. | The Curiosities of Credulity +Dec. | 1877 | Fortnightly Rev. | Humming-Birds +Dec. | 1877} | Athenæum | {Correspondence with W.B. +Jan. | 1878} | " | { Carpenter on Spiritualism +Nov. | 1878 | Fortnightly Rev. | Epping Forest, and How to Deal + | | | with it +Feb. | 1879 | Contemp. Rev. | New Guinea and its Inhabitants +April | 1879 | Academy | Review of Haeckel's "Evolution + | | | of Man" +July | 1879 | Nineteenth Cent. | Reciprocity: A Few Words in + | | | Reply to Mr. Lowe* +July | 1879 | Quarterly Rev. | Glacial Epochs and Warm Polar + | | | Climates +Jan. | 1880 | Nineteenth Cent. | The Origin of Species and + | | | Genera* +Oct. | 1880 | Academy | Review of A.H. Swinton's + | | | "Insect Variety" +Nov. | 1880 | Contemp. Rev. | How to Nationalise the Land* + | | | +Dec. 4 | 1880 | Academy | Review of Seebohm's "Siberia In + | | | Europe" + | 1881 | Rugby Nat. Hist. | Abstract of Four Lectures on + | | Soc. Rept. | the Natural History of + | | | Islands +Dec. | 1881 | Contemp. Rev. | Monkeys: Their Affinities and + | | | Distribution* +Aug. and| 1883 | Macmillan's Mag. | The Why and How of Land + Sept. | | | Nationalisation* +March | 1884 | Christn. Socialist | The Morality of Interest--The + | | | Tyranny of Capital + | 1886 | Claims of Labour | The Depression of Trade* + | | Lectures | +Mar. 5 | 1887 | Banner of Light | Letter "_In re_ Mrs. Ross + | | | (Washington, D.C.)" +Mar. 17 | 1887 | Independ. Rev. | Review of E.D. Cope's "Origin + | | | of the Fittest" + | 1887 | Nation |" +Oct. | 1887 | Fortnightly Rev. | American Museums* + | 1888 | ---- | The Action of Natural Selection + | | | in producing Old Age, Decay + | | | and Death +June | 1889 | Land Nationalisation| Address + | | Soc. | +Sept. | 1890 | Fortnightly Rev. | Progress without Poverty (Human + | | | Selection)* +Oct. | 1891 | " | English and American Flowers* +Dec. | 1891 | " | Flowers and Forests of the Far + | | | West* +Jan. | 1892 | Arena | Human Progress, Past and + | | | Future* + | 1892 | Address to L.N.S. | Herbert Spencer on the Land + | | | Question* +Aug. | 1892 | Nineteenth Cent. | Why I Voted for Mr. Gladstone +Aug. and| 1892 | Natural Sci. | The Permanence of Great Ocean + Dec. | | | Basins* +Nov. | 1892 | Fortnightly Rev. | Our Molten Globe* +Dec. | 1892 | Natural Sci. | Note on Sexual Selection +Feb. | 1893 | Nineteenth Cent. | Inaccessible Valleys* +Mar. and| 1893 | Arena | The Social Quagmire and the Way + Apr. | | | Out of it* +Apr. and| 1893 | Fortnightly Rev. | Are Individually Acquired + May | | | Characters Inherited?* +Nov. | 1893 | " | The Ice Age and its Work* +Dec. | 1893 | " | Erratic Blocks, etc. Lake + | | | Basins* + | 1893 | Arena | The Bacon-Shakespeare Case +April 9 | 1894 | Land Nationalisation| Address on Parish Councils + | | Soc. | +June | 1894 | Natural Sci. | The Palearctic and Nearctic + | | | Regions compared as regards + | | | Families and Genera of + | | | Mammalia and Birds +June | 1894 | Contemp. Rev. | How to Preserve the House of + | | | Lords* +July | 1894 | Land and Labour | Review of F.W. Hayes' "Great + | | | Revolution of 1905" +Sept. | 1894 | Natural Sci. | The Rev. G. Henslow on Natural + | | | Selection* + | 1894 | Smithsonian Rep. | Method of Organic Evolution +Oct. | 1894 | Nineteenth Cent. | A Counsel of Perfection for + | | | Sabbatarians* + | | | + | 1894 | Vox Clamantium | Economic and Social Justice* +Feb. and| 1895 | Fortnightly Rev. | Method of Organic Evolution* + March | | | +Oct. | 1895 | " | Expressiveness of Speech or + | | | Mouth-Gesture as a Factor in + | | | the Origin of Language* + | 1895 | Agnostic Annual | Why Live a Moral Life?* +May | 1896 | Contemp. Rev. | How Best to Model the Earth* +July 25 | 1896 | Labour Leader | Letter on International Labour + | | | Congress +Aug. | 1896 | Fortnightly Rev. | The Gorge of the Aar and its + | | | Teaching* +Dec. | 1896 | Journ. Linn. Soc. | The Problem of Utility: Are + | | (v. 25) | Specific Characters always or + | | | generally Useful? +March | 1897 | Natural Sci. | Problem of Instinct* + | 1897 | "Forecasts of | Re-occupation of Land, Solution + | | Coming Century" | of the Unemployed Problem* +March 20| 1898 | Lancet | Letter on Vaccination +May 9 | 1898 | Shrewsbury Chron. | Letter to Dr. Bond and A.K.W. + | | | on Vaccination +June 16,| | | + 21, 25,| 1898 | Echo |" +Aug. 15 | | | +Sept. 1 | 1898 | The Eagle and the | Darwinism and Nietzscheism in + | | Serpent | Sociology + | 1898 | Printed for private | Justice not Charity (Address to + | | circulation | International Congress of + | | | Spiritualists, London, June, + | | | 1898)* +Dec. 31 | 1898 | Academy | Paper Money as a Standard of + | | | Value* +Feb., | 1899 | Journ. Soc. | Letters on Mr. Podmore _re_ + March,| | Psychical Res. | Clairvoyance, etc. + April | | | +May | 1899 | L'Humanité | The Causes of War and the + | | Nouvelle | Remedies* +Nov. 18 | 1899 | Clarion | Letter on the Transvaal War + | 1899 | N.Y. Independent | White Men in the Tropics* + | | | + | 1900 | N.Y. Sun | Evolution +Nov. | 1900 | N.Y. Journ. | Social Evolution in the + | | | Twentieth Century: An + | | | Anticipation + | 1900 | ---- | Ralahine and its Teachings* + | | ---- | True Individualism the + | | | Essential Preliminary of a + | | | Real Social Advance* + | 1901 | Morning Leader | An Appreciation of the Past + | | | Century +Jan. 17 | 1903 | Black and White | Relations with Darwin +March | 1903 | Fortnightly Rev. | Man's Place in the Universe +Sept. | 1903 | " | Man's Place in the Universe. + | | | Reply to Critics +Oct. | 1903 | Academy | The Wonderful Century. Reply to + | | | Dr. Saleeby +Nov. 12 | 1903 | Daily Mail | Does Man Exist in Other Worlds? + | | | Reply to Critics +Jan. 1 | 1904 | Clarion | Anticipations for the Immediate + | | | Future, Written for the + | | | _Berliner Lokalanzeiger_, and + | | | refused +Feb., | 1904 | Fortnightly Rev. | An Unpublished Poem by E.A. + April | | | Poe, "Leonainie" +Apr., | 1904 | Independent Rev. | Birds of Paradise in the + May | | | Arabian Nights + | 1904 | Anti-Vaccination | Summary of the Proofs that + | | League | Vaccination does not Prevent + | | | Small-pox, but really + | | | Increases it + | 1904 | Labour Annual | Inefficiency of Strikes + | 1904 | Clarion | Letter on Opposition to + | | | Military Expenditure + | | Vaccination | Letter on Inconsistency of the + | | Inquirer | Government on Vaccination +Oct. 27 | 1906 | Daily News | Why Not British Guiana? Five + | | | Acres for 2s. 6d. +Nov. | 1906 | Independent Rev. | The Native Problem in South + | | | Africa and Elsewhere +Jan. | 1907 | Fortnightly Rev. | Personal Suffrage, a Rational + | | | System of Representation and + | | | Election +Feb. | 1907 | " | A New House of Lords + | 1907 |Harmsworth's "History| How Life became Possible on the + | | of the World" | Earth +Sept. 13| 1907 | Public Opinion | Letter on Sir W. Ramsay's + | | | Theory: Did Man reach his + | | | Highest Development in the + | | | Past? +Jan. 1 | 1908 | N.Y. World | Cable on Advance in Science in + | | | 1907 +Jan. 18 | 1908 | Outlook | Letter on Woman +Jan. | 1908 | Fortnightly Rev. | Evolution and Character +June and| 1908 | Socialist Rev. | The Remedy for Unemployment + July | | | +July | 1908 | Times | Letter on the First Paper on + | | | Natural Selection +July | 1908 | Delineator | Are the Dead Alive? +Aug. 14 | 1908 | Public Opinion | Is it Peace or War? A Reply +Aug. | 1908 | Contemp. Rev. | Present Position of Darwinism +Sept. | 1908 | New Age | Letter on Nationalisation, not + | | | Purchase, of Railways +Dec. | 1908 | Contemp. Rev. | Darwinism _v._ Wallaceism +Christ | 1908 | Christian | On the Abolition of Want + -mas | | Commonwealth | +Jan. 22 | 1909 | Royal Institution | The World of Life, as + | | | Visualised, etc., by + | | | Darwinism +Feb. | 1909 | Clarion pamphlet | The Remedy for Unemployment + | | (? Socialist Rev.)| +Feb. 6 | 1909 | Daily News | Flying Machines in War +Feb. 12 | 1909 | Daily Mail | Charles Darwin (Centenary) +Feb. 12 | 1909 | Clarion | The Centenary of Darwin +March | 1909 | Fortnightly Rev. | The World of Life (revised + | | | Lecture) +April 8 | 1909 | Daily News | Letter on Aerial Fleets +April 8 | 1910 | " | Man in the Universe +Oct. 14 | 1910 | Public Opinion | A New Era in Public Opinion +Jan. 25 | 1912 | Daily Chronicle | Letter on the Insurance Act +Aug. 9 | 1912 | Daily News | A Policy of Defence +Sept. | 1912 | ---- | The Nature and Origin of Life + + +III.--LETTERS, REVIEWS, ETC., IN "NATURE" + +--------+----------+------+-------------------------------------------- + VOL. | PAGE | DATE | SUBJECT +--------+----------+------+-------------------------------------------- + I. | 105 | 1869 | Origin of Species Controversy + " | 132 | " | " " " + " | 288, 315 | 1870 | Government Aid to Science + " | 399, 452 | " | Measurement of Geological Time + " | 501 | " | Hereditary Genius + II. | 82 | " | Pettigrew's "Handy Book of Bees" + " | 234 | " | A Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise + " | 350 | " | Early History of Mankind + " | 465 | " | Speech on the Arrangement of Specimens + | | " | in a Natural History Museum (British + | | " | Association) + " | 510 | " | Glaciation of Brazil + III. | 8, 49 | " | Man and Natural Selection + " | 85, 107 | " | " " " + " | 165 | " | Mimicry versus Hybridity + " | 182 | 1871 | Leroy's "Intelligence and Perfectibility of + | | | Animals" + " | 309 | " | Theory of Glacial Motion + " | 329 | " | Duncan's "Metamorphoses of Insects" + " | 385 | " | Dr. Bevan's "Honey Bee" + " | 435 | " | Anniversary Address at the Entomological + | | " | Society + " | 466 | " | Sharpe's Monograph of the Alcedinidæ + IV. | 22 | " | Staveley's "British Insects" + " | 178 | " | Dr. Bastian's Work on the Origin of Life + " | 181 | " | H. Howorth's Views on Darwinism + " | 221 | " | " " " + " | 222 | " | Recent Neologisms + " | 282 | " | Canon Kingsley's "At Last" + V. | 350 | 1872 | The Origin of Insects + " | 363 | " | Ethnology and Spiritualism + VI. | 237 | " | The Last Attack on Darwinism (Reviews) + " | 284, 299 | " | Bastian's "Beginnings of Life" + " | 328 | " | Ocean Circulation + " | 407 | " | Speech on Diversity of Evolution (British + | | | Association) + " | 469 | " | Houzeau's "Faculties of Man and + | | | Animals" + VII. | 68 | " | Misleading Cyclopædias + " | 277 | 1873 | Modern Applications of the Doctrine of + " | | | Natural Selection (Reviews) + " | 303 | " | Inherited Feeling + " | 337 | " | J.T. Moggridge's "Harvesting Ants and + | | | Trapdoor Spiders" + " | 461 | " | Cave Deposits of Borneo +VIII. | 5 | 1873 | Natural History Collections in the East + | | | India Museum + " | 65, 302 | " | Perception and Instinct In the Lower + " | | | Animals + " | 358 | " | Dr. Page's Textbook on Physical Geography + " | 429 | " | Works on African Travel (Reviews) + " | 462 | " | Lyell's "Antiquity of Man" +IX. | 102 | " | Dr. Meyer's Exploration of New Guinea + " | 218 | 1874 | Belt's "Naturalist in Nicaragua" + " | 258 | " | David Sharp's "Zoological Nomenclature" + " | 301, 403 | " | Animal Locomotion +X. | 459 | " | Migration of Birds + " | 502 | " | Automatism of Animals +XII. | 83 | 1875 | Lawson's "New Guinea" +XIV. | 403 | 1876 | Opening Address in Biology Section, British + " | | | Association + " | 473 | " | Erratum in Address to Biology Section, + " | | | British Association + " | 24 | " | Reply to Reviewers of "Geographical + " | | | Distribution of Animals" + " | 174 | " | "Races of Men" + " | 274 | 1877 | Glacial Drift in California + " | 431 | " | The "Hog-wallows" of California +XVI. | 548 | " | Zoological Relations of Madagascar and + " | | | Africa +XVII. | 8 | " | Mr. Wallace and Reichenbach's Odyle + " | 44 | " | The Radiometer and its Lessons + " | 45 | " | Bees Killed by Tritoma + " | 100 | " | The Comparative Richness of Faunas and + " | | | Floras tested Numerically + " | 101 | " | Mr. Crookes and Eva Fay + " | 182 | 1878 | Northern Affinities of Chilian Insects +XVIII. | 193 | " | A Twenty Years' Error in the Geography of + " | | | Australia +XIX. | 4 | " | Remarkable Local Colour-Variation in + " | | | Lizards + " | 121, 244 | " | The Formation of Mountains + " | 289 | 1879 | " " " + " | 477 | " | Organisation and Intelligence + " | 501, 581 | " | Grant Allen's "Colour Sense" + " | 582 | " | Did Flowers Exist during the + | | | Carboniferous Epoch +XX. | 141 | " | Butler's "Evolution, Old and New" + " | 501 | " | McCook's "Agricultural Ants of Texas" + " | 625 | " | Reply to Reviewers of Wallace's + " | | | "Australasia" +XXI. | 562 | 1880 | Reply to Everett on Wallace's "Australasia" +XXII. | 141 | " | Two Darwinian Essays +XXIII. | 124, 217,| " | Geological Climates + | 266 | | + " | 152, 175 | " | New Guinea + " | 169 | " | Climates of Vancouver Island and + " | | " | Bournemouth + " | 195 | " | Correction of an Error in "Island Life" +XXIV. | 242 | 1881 | Tyler's "Anthropology" +XXIV. | 437 | 1881 | Weismann's "Studies in the Theory of + | | | Descent" +XXV. | 3 | " | Carl Bock's "Head-Hunters of Borneo" + " | 381 | 1882 | Grant Allen's "Vignettes from Nature" + " | 407 | " | Houseman's "Story of Our Museum" +XXVI. | 52 | " | Weismann's "Studies in the Theory of + | | | Descent" + " | 86 | " | Müller's "Difficult Cases of Mimicry" +XXVII. | 481 | 1883 | " " " + " | 482 | " | On the Value of the Neo-arctic as One of the + | | | Primary Zoological Regions +XXVIII. | 293 | " | W.F. White's "Ants and their Ways" +XXXI. | 552 | 1885 | Colours of Arctic Animals +XXXII. | 218 | " | H.O. Forbes's "A Naturalist's Wanderings + | | | in the Eastern Archipelago" +XXXIII. | 170 | 1886 | Victor Hehn's "Wanderings of Plants and + | | | Animals" +XXXIV. | 333 | " | H.S. Gorham's "Central American Entomology" + " | 467 | " | Physiological Selection and the Origin of + | | | Species +XXXV. | 366 | 1887 | Mr. Romanes on Physiological Selection +XXXVI. | 530 | " | The British Museum and the American + | | | Museums +XXXIX. | 611 | 1889 | Which are the Highest Butterflies? (Quotations + | | | from Letter of W.H. Edwards) +XL. | 619 | " | Lamarck _versus_ Weismann +XLI. | 53 | " | Protective Coloration of Eggs +XLII. | 289 | 1890 | E.B. Poulton's "Colours of Animals" + " | 295 | " | Birds and Flowers +XLIII. | 79, 150 | " | Romanes on Physiological Selection + " | 337 | 1891 | C. Lloyd Morgan's "Animal Life and + | | | Intelligence" + " | 396 | " | Remarkable Ancient Sculptures from North-West + | | | America +XLIV. | 529 | " | David Syme's "Modification of Organisms" +XLVI. | 518 | " | Variation and Natural Selection +XLV. | 31 | " | Topical Selection and Mimicry + " | 553 | 1892 | W.H. Hudson's "The Naturalist in La + | | | Plata" +XLVI. | 56 | " | Correction in "Island Life" +XLVII. | 55 | " | An Ancient Glacial Epoch in Australia + " | 175, 227 | " | The Earth's Age + " | 437 | 1893 | The Glacial Theory of Alpine Lakes + " | 483 | " | W.H. Hudson's "Idle Days in Patagonia +XLVIII. | 27 | " | H.O. Forbes's Discoveries in the Chatham + | | | Islands + " | 73 | " | Intelligence of Animals + " | 198 | " | The Glacier Theory of Alpine Lakes + " | 267 | " | The Non-inheritance of Acquired Characters + " | 389 | " | Pre-natal Influences on Character + " | 390 | " | Habits of South African Animals + " | 589 | " | The Supposed Glaciation of Brazil +XLIX. | 3 | 1893 | The Recent Glaciation of Tasmania + " | 52, 101 | " | Sir W. Howorth on "Geology in Nubibus" + " | 53 | " | Recognition Marks + " | 197, 220 | 1894 | The Origin of Lake Basins + " | 333 | " | J.H. Stirling's "Darwinianism, Workmen and + | | | Work" + " | 549 | " | B. Kidd's "Social Evolution" + " | 610 | " | What are Zoological Regions? (Read at Cambridge + | | | Natural Science Club) +L. | 196 | " | Panmixia and Natural Selection + " | 541 | " | Nature's Method in the Evolution of Life +LI. | 533 | 1895 | Tan Spots over Dogs' Eyes + " | 607 | " | The Age of the Earth +LII. | 4 | " | Uniformitarianism in Geology + " | 386 | " | H. Dyer's "Evolution of Industry" + " | 415 | " | The Discovery of Natural Selection +LIII. | 220 | 1896 | The Cause of an Ice Age + " | 317 | " | The Astronomical Theory of a Glacial Period + " | 553 | " | E.D. Cope's "Primary Factors of Organic + | | | Evolution" + " | 553 | " | G. Archdall Reid's "Present Evolution of Man" +LV. | 289 | 1897 | E.B. Poulton's "Charles Darwin and the Theory + | | | of Natural Selection" +LIX. | 246 | 1899 | The Utility of Specific Characters +LXI. | 273 | 1900 | Is New Zealand a Zoological Region? +LXVII. | 296 | 1903 | Genius and the Struggle for Existence +LXXV. | 320 | 1907 | Fertilisation of Flowers by Insects +LXXVI. | 293 | " | The "Double Drift" Theory of Star Motions +=======+==========+======+================================================= + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +"Acclimatisation," Wallace's article on, ii. 11 + +Acquired characters, non-inheritance of (_see_ Non-inheritance) + +Africa, flora of, i. 309 + +Agassiz, Louis, attacks Darwin's "Origin of Species," i. 142; + glacial theories of, 176; + on diversity of human races, ii. 28 + +Alexandria, Wallace at, i. 45-7 + +Allbutt, Sir Clifford, theory of generation, i. 214 + +Allen, Charles (Wallace's assistant), i. 39, 40, 46, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, + 60, 79 + +---- Grant, on origin of wheat, ii. 46; + Wallace and, 219 + +Alpine plants, i. 210, 311 + +Amazon and Rio Negro, Wallace's exploration of, i. 26-30 + +Amboyna, Wallace at, i. 106 + +America, Wallace's lecture tour in, ii. 14 + +"Anatomy of Expression," Bell's, i. 182 + +"Ancient Britain and the Invasions of Julius Cæsar," Holmes's, ii. 86 + +Angræcum sesquipedale, i. 189 (note) + +Animals and plants, distribution of, Darwin's views, i. 131 + +"---- ---- under Domestication," i. 112 + +---- geographical distribution of, i. 94, 136; + migration of, Lyell's theory, ii. 19 + +"Antarctic Voyage," Scott's, ii. 82 + +"Anthropology," Tyler's, Wallace's review of, ii. 65; + his interest in, 231 _et seq._ + +Antiseptic treatment, medical opposition to, ii. 241 + +Ants, instincts of, i. 279 + +Apis testacea, i. 146 + +Archebiosis, i. 274-6 + +Argus pheasant, i. 230, 289, 292 + +Argyll, Duke of, i. 189, 313, 315, ii. 23; + his theory of flight, 25-7 + +Arnold, Matthew, on Darwin's theory, ii. 228 + +Aru Islands, distribution of animals in, i. 132; + productions of, 161 + +---- pig, i. 160, 161, 162 + +Astronomy, Wallace's works on, ii. 167 _et seq._; + lectures at Davos on, 168 + +"Australasia," Wallace's, i. 42 + +Australia, fauna and flora of, ii. 10, 20, 32-3 + +---- Wallace invited to lecture in, ii. 155 + +Avebury, Lord, i. 122, 137, 164; + signs memorial to City Corporation in Wallace's favour, 303; + and the Civil List pension to Wallace, 305 + +---- letter from, on Wallace's biography, and Spiritualism, ii. 212 + +Azores, birds of, i. 138; + orchids of, 311 + + +B + +"Bad Times," Wallace's, ii. 109, 143 + +Baer, von, ii. 96 + +Bahamas, flora of, ii. 33 + +Baker, J.G., on alpine plants of Madagascar, i. 311-12 + +Balfour, Francis, i. 315 + +Bali, fauna of, ii. 19-20 + +Ball, Sir Robert, on solar nebula, ii. 174 + +"Barnacles," Darwin's, ii. 2 + +Barrett, Sir W.F., paper on "Phenomena associated with Abnormal Conditions + of the Mind," ii. 195; + on Wallace as lecturer, 201; + inquiry into dowsing, etc., 205; + invites Wallace's criticism of "Creative Thought," 212; + last visit to Wallace, 248-9 + +---- letters from: on Presidency of Psychical Research Society, + ii. 210-11; + on a Supreme Directive Power, 213-14 + +Bartlett, on colouring of male birds, i. 302 + +Bates, F., i. 69 + +---- H.W., i. 24, 25; + explores the Amazon, 26-30 + +---- ---- letter from, on "Law regulating Introduction of New + Species," i. 64 + +Bates's caterpillar, i. 178, 253 + +Bateson, Prof., Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyerson, ii. 91 + +---- "Material for Study of Variation," ii. 60-1 + +Bats, fruit-eating, i. 57 + +_Beagle_, Darwin's voyage in the, i. 19, 31, 32, 33, 43 + +"------, Voyage of the," i. 31, 32, 34, ii. 2 + +Bee's cell, Prof. Haughton's paper on the, i. 148 + +Bees' combs, i. 135; + a honeycomb from Timor, 143, 146 + +Beetles, Darwin's zeal for collecting, i. 18; + Wallace's study of, 24; + South American, 30; + Wallace's collection of, 38,114 + +"Beginnings of Life," Bastian's, i. 274 + +Bell, Sir C., i. 182 + +Belt, Mr., glacial theory of, i. 298 + +Bendyshe, Mr., i. 165 + +Bennett, A.W., i. 253 + +Bentham, G., i. 219 + +Bergson, Wallace on, ii. 98 + +Bermuda, birds of, i. 138 + +Best, Miss Dora, letter to, on Welsh offer of a degree to Wallace, ii. 222 + +Biology and geographical distribution, Wallace's works on, ii. 1-17; + correspondence on, 18-102 + +---- "Grand Old Men" of, ii. 12 (note) + +Birch, Mr. F., ii. 177, 223-4 + +Bird of paradise, i. 41, 44, 238, 261 + +Birds, flight of, i. 145-6, ii. 25 _et seq._; + colour problem of, i. 184, 185, 212, 226-9, 230, 252, 289 (note), 302; + polygamous, 194, 199; + migration of, ii. 19, 20; + instincts of, 54 + +Birds' nests, i. 134, 191, 212, 213, 252 + +"---- ---- and Plumage," Wallace's, i. 191 + +"---- ---- Philosophy of," Wallace's, i. 212, ii. 6, 8 + +Blackbird, crested, i. 163 + +Blainville, D., i. 162 + +Blandford, H.F., i. 290 + +Blood relationship, Galton on, i. 277 + +Blyth, E., i. 132 + +Blytt, Axel, essay on plants of Scandinavia, i. 293 + +Borneo, Wallace's collections from, i. 61; + cave exploration, 152 + +---- Company, i. 38, 39, 40 + +Boston (U.S.A.), Wallace's lectures at, ii. 15 + +Botany, Darwin's study of, at Cambridge, i. 17; + Wallace's study of, 20, 21, ii. 106 + +"----, Elements of," Lindley's, i. 21 + +Brazil, Wallace's explorations in, i. 29 + +Bree, Dr., i. 271 (note), 272-3 + +British Museum, original of Wallace letter in, i. 73 + +Broadstone, funeral of Wallace at, ii. 252 + +Bronn, H.G., translates "Origin of Species" into German, i. 141 + +Brooke, Capt., i 52 + +---- H. Jamyn, ii. 175 + +---- Sir James, i. 39, 52, 59-60, 152, 238 + +Bruce-Joy, Mr., portrait-medallion of Wallace, ii. 122, 254 + +Buckle, Rev. G., article by, on Lyell's "Principles," i. 232 + +Buckley, Miss (Mrs. Fisher), i. 260, 264, 313, 316, 319, ii. 40, 89, 90; + reviews "Descent of Man," i. 264 + +Budd, Dr. Richard, ii. 58 + +Buffon and Evolution, i. 1 + +Buru, Wallace's collection of birds from, ii. 3 + +Bustards, i. 146 + +Butler, Samuel, "Life and Habit," ii. 102 + +Butterflies, Wallace's study of, i. 24; + of South America, 30; + of Malay Archipelago, 41-2; + protective adaptation of, 140; + variation and distribution of, 149; + mimetic, 167, 168, 176, 178, 189 (note), 200, 213, 217, 224, 254, 300; + sexual selection of, 179, 260 (note); + flight of, ii, 26 + + +C + +Cambridge, Darwin at, i. 16, 17 + +---- Philosophical Society, attacks on "Origin of Species" at, i. 142 + +Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, ii. 146 + +Carbon, deposits of, i. 298 + +Carlyle, Thomas, ii. 228 + +Carpenter, Dr., his controversies with Wallace, ii. 195, 198 + +Carroll, Lewis, Wallace's quotations from, ii. 105 + +Casuarius, query from Darwin on, i. 239 + +Caterpillars, colouring of, i. 178, 179, 183, 236, 260, 270, 299 + +Celebes, i. 138, 237, 289; + geological distribution in, 168 + +"Cessation of selection," ii. 52 + +Chambers, Robert, i. 114, 116, 244 + +Child's "Root Principles," ii. 83 + +Clairvoyance, ii. 200, 208, 211. (_See also_ Spiritualism) + +Claparède, critique of, on Wallace's "Natural Selection," i. 253, 254 + +Clarke, Prof., attacks Darwin at Cambridge Philosophical Society, i. 142 + +Clarkson, Thomas, ii. 225 + +Cleistogamic flowers, i. 298 + +Climates, geological, Wallace's theory of, i. 306 + +Climatic conditions, plants and, i. 130 + +"Climbing Plants, Movements and Habits of," Darwin's, i, 285, ii. 2 + +Coal, export duties on, Wallace's view of, ii. 250 + +Cockerell, Sydney C., ii. 161 + +---- Theo. D.A., ii. 49; + and the Darwin Celebration at Cambridge, 226; + first personal relations with Wallace, 233-5 + +"Coleoptera Atlantidum," Wollaston's, ii. 22-3 + +"Colin Clout's Calendar," ii. 46 + +Coloration, protective, i. 156, 177, 178-9, 181, 183, 184, 185-6, + 201, 220, 221, 224 _et seq._, 260, 270, 298, ii. 4, 11, + 85. (_See also_ Protection, Mimicry) + +Colour-adaptability, ii. 56 + +Confucius, Wallace's appreciation of, ii. 152 + +Conscience, evolution of, i. 263 + +"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection," Wallace's, i. 94, + 250, 252, ii. 5, 6 + +Cooke, Kate, medium, ii. 193, 194, 195 + +Co-operation, Wallace on, ii. 151-2 + +Cope, E.D., ii. 47 + +Copley Medals awarded to Wallace, ii. 128, 222 + +Coral islands, Lyell on, ii. 22 + +"---- Reefs," Darwin's, ii. 2 + +---- snakes, i. 187 + +Crawford, Marion, one of Wallace's favourite authors, ii. 131 + +"Creation by Law," Wallace's article on, i. 188, 192, ii. 6 + +"Creative Thought," Sir Wm. Barrett's, ii. 212-13, 249 + +"Creed of Science," Graham's, i. 318 + +Croll, James, i. 242, 305, 313, ii. 5, 13 + +Crookes, Sir W., and psychical research, ii. 87, 189, 191, 205; + and Westminster Abbey memorial to Wallace, 253 + +Cross- and self-fertilisation, i. 169, 297, ii. 46 + +"Cross Unions of Dimorphic Plants," Darwin's, i. 218 + +"Crossing Plants," Darwin's, i. 296 + +Crotch, G., i. 262 + + +D + +"Darwin and After Darwin," Romanes', ii. 50 + +"---- and his Teachings," i. 170 + +"---- and 'The Origin,'" Poulton's, ii. 88 (note) + +----, Charles, i. 1, 2; + birth of, 5; + autobiography, 5, 23 (note); + ancestors, 6; + at Shrewsbury Grammar School, 12; + natural history tastes, 12; + as angler, 12; + egg-collecting, 12; + humanity of, 13; + leaves Shrewsbury Grammar School, 15; + fondness for shooting, 16; + at Cambridge, 16; + medical studies, 16; + theological studies, 17, ii. 184; + tours in North Wales, i. 18; + beetle-hunting, 18, 114; + voyage in the _Beagle_, 18; + theory of Natural Selection, 102, 107; + reading, 103; + visits Maer and Shrewsbury, 103; + experiments, 103; + Huxley and, 104; + at work on Species and Varieties, 107; + at Down, 109; + receives presentation copy of Spencer's Essays, 124; + appreciation of Wallace's magnanimity, 134, 137, 139, 141, 153, + 164, 242, 252, 287, 304; + falls from his horse, 243; + on Wallace's review of "Descent of Man," 260-2; + criticism of Wallace's "Geographical Distribution," 286, 289; + at Dorking, 288; + promotes memorial to City Corporation in favour of Wallace, 303; + acknowledgment of "Island Life," 307-8; + on migration of plants, 307 (note), 312; + memorial to Gladstone on behalf of Wallace, 313; + death of, 318 + +Darwin, Charles, letters to Wallace: + On "Law regulating Introduction of New Species," etc., i. 106, ii. 129; + on distribution of animals, i. 133; + on his "Origin of Species," etc., 134, 136; + on Wallace's "Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago," 137; + inviting Wallace's opinion of the "Origin," 139; + on protective adaptation of butterflies, 140; + on Press reviews of "Origin," 141, 144; + on theory of flight, 146; + on Wallace as reviewer, 148; + on Wallace's "Variation" and his paper on Man, 153; + on sexual selection, 159; + on Wallace's papers on pigeons and parrots, 160; + on the Aru pig, 162; + on the crested blackbird, etc., 163; + on Wallace's "Pigeons of Malay Archipelago" and dimorphism, 166; + on the non-blending of varieties, 169; + on the term "survival of the fittest," 174; + on sexual differences in fishes, 177; + on colour of caterpillars, 178; + on coloration and expression in man, 179; + on sexual selection and expression, 182; + on scheme for his work on Man, 183; + on laws of inheritance, etc., 185; + on Wallace's "Mimicry," 187; + on Wallace's reply to Duke of Argyll, 189; + on sexual selection and collateral points, 194; + on pangenesis and sterility of hybrids, 197; + on production of natural hybrids, etc., 201; + on sexual selection, 204, 206, 207; + on northern alpine flora, 211; + on Wallace's article on "Birds' Nests," and on mimetic butterflies, 212; + on Sir Clifford Allbutt's sperm-cell theory, and on female protected + butterflies, 214; +on Wallace's "Protective Resemblance," 216; + on dimorphic plants and colour protection, 220; + on the colour problem of birds, 225, 229, 231; + on fifth edition of "Origin of Species," 233; + on single variations, 234; + on Wallace's "Malay Archipelago," 235, 237, 240; + on Wallace's review of Lyell's "Principles," 242; + on baffling sexual characters, 245; + on Wallace's paper, "Geological Time," 250; + on Wallace's views on Man, 250, 251; + on Wallace's "Natural Selection," 252; + on Wallace's criticism of Bennett's paper, 253; + on his "Descent of Man" and St. G. Mivart, 257; + on Wallace's review of "Descent of Man," 260; + on Chauncey Wright's criticism of Mivart, 264; + on a _Quarterly_ review, 269, 291; + on Fritz Müller's letter on mimicry, 270; + on Dr. Bree, 271, 272; + on Bastian's "Beginnings of Life," 274, 278; + on ants, 279; + criticising Wallace's review of "Expression of the Emotions," 280; + on Spencer and politics, 283; + on Utricularia, 284; + on Wallace's "Geographical Distribution of Animals," 286, 289, 292; + on Wallace's article on Colours of Animals, etc., 299; + on Wallace's "Origin of Species and Genera," 304; + on Wallace's "Island Life," 307; + on land migration of plants, 312; + on memorial for Wallace pension, 314, 315; + on mimicry, 316; + on political economy and "Creed of Science," 318; + on land question, 319 +----, Erasmus, i. 6; on the Wallace-Darwin episode, 127 + +---- Sir Francis, and "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," i. 118, 119, + 120, 122 + +---- Sir G., Expulsion theory of, ii. 180 + +----, Mr. Horace, letter from his father, on discoverers, ii. 242 (note) + +---- Major Leonard, i. 145, 146 + +---- Dr. Robert Waring, i. 6, 18 + +"Darwinism," Wallace's, i, 212, 218, ii. 2, 14, 15, 75, 90, 109; + plan of, 15-17; + Spencer's objection to title, 47 + +Davos, Wallace's lecture at, ii. 204 + +Dawson, Sir J.W., attack on Natural Selection, i. 142 + +De Rougemont, Wallace on, ii. 76 + +De Vries on mutation, ii. 80, 96 + +Decaisne's paper on flora of Timor, i. 236 + +Deformities, article on, in Chambers's Encyclopedia, ii. 57 + +Dendrobium devonianum, i. 23 + +Denudation, theory of, i. 250, 309, ii. 71, 72, 73 + +Deposition, theory of, i. 309, ii. 72, 73 + +"Descent of Man," Darwin's, i. 152, 255, 259, 284, 289 (note), ii. 2, 34; + review in _Pall Mall Gazette_, i. 263; + in _Spectator_, 263 + +"Development of Human Races under Law of Natural Selection," Wallace's, ii. + 6, 183 + +"Different Forms of Flowers and Plants of the Same Species," Darwin's, i. + 298, ii. 2 + +Dimorphism, i. 167, 202, 220 + +Dipsomania, Wallace on, ii. 68 + +Discontinuous variation, ii. 62, 63 + +Disuse, physiological effects of, i. 69 + +Divining rod, experiments with, ii. 205, 206-8, 211 + +Dixey, Dr., ii. 79 + +Domestic selection (_see_ Selection, domestic) + +Domestication, variation under, i. 192 + +Dowsing for water, etc., ii. 205, 206-8, 211 + +Dunraven, Lord, and psychical research, ii. 199 + +"Duration of Life," Weismann's, ii. 44, 45 + +Dyaks, i. 55, 59 + + +E + +Earl, W., on distribution of animals in Malay Archipelago, i. 138 + +"Early History of Mankind," Tylor's, i. 164, 165 + +Earth, formation of, ii. 179; + Wallace's views on, 168 _et seq._ + +"Earthworms," Darwin's, i. 320, ii. 2 + +Edinburgh, Darwin in, i. 16, 17 + +Education, Wallace's views of, ii. 147 + +Edwards, W.H., "Voyage up the Amazon," i. 25 + +Eight hours' day, Wallace on, ii. 156 + +"Encyclopedia of Plants," London's, i. 21, 23, 92 + +Entomological Society, i. 35; + discussion on mimicry at, 176; + Wallace's Presidential Address to, 126 + +Eocene Period, i. 308, 312 + +Epping Forest, superintendency of, Wallace and, i. 302-4, 306 + +Erotylidæ, i. 65 + +Erskine of Linlathen on evolution, ii. 228 + +"Essays on Evolution," Poulton's, ii. 61 (note), 79 (note), 84, 85 + +"---- upon Heredity," Weismann's, ii. 45, 51, 52 + +Eugenics, ii. 160, 246; + term disliked by Wallace, 150, 246; + and segregation of unfit, letter from Wallace on, 160 + +Evans, Miss, ii. 226 + +Evil, origin of, ii. 149 + +Evolution, theory of, Lamarck and, i. 1, 109; + Lyell and, 76, 142, 239; + as conceived in "Vestiges of Creation," 91, 92 (note) _et seq._; + Darwin and, 103 _et seq._, 122-4; + notable converts to, 137, 139, 141, 219, 221, 239; + Wallace's views on, 240, 256, 294, ii. 78, 94, 95; + Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer on, 97, 185. + (_See also_ Selection) + +"---- and Adaptation," Morgan's, ii. 79 + +---- and Mendelism, Wallace on, ii. 93 + +"Evolution of the Stellar System, Researches on," ii. 178 + +"---- Theories of," Poulton's, ii. 61 + +"Evolutionist at Large," ii. 46 + +"Expanse of Heaven," Proctor's, ii. 80 + +"Exposition of Fallacies in the Hypotheses of Darwin," Bree's, i. 271 + (note), 272-3 + +"Expression, Anatomy of," Bell's, i. 182 + +---- in the Malays, i. 182, 191 + +"---- of the Emotions," Darwin's, i. 279, ii. 2; + review of, i. 280-1 + +"Expressiveness of Speech, etc., in the Origin of Language," Wallace's, + ii. 65 + + +F + +Facsimile of Wallace's inscription on envelope containing his first + eight letters from Darwin, i. 128 + +Faraday on Spiritualism, ii. 188 + +Farmer, W.J., ii. 101 + +Farrer, Mr., i. 304 + +Fauna, British, i. 307 + +Felis of Timor, i. 138 + +Fellenberg and R.D. Owen, ii, 225 + +Ferns, Lawrence on, ii. 40 + +"Fertilisation of Orchids," Darwin's, i. 189 (note), ii. 2 + +---- self- and cross-, i. 169, 297, ii. 46 + +Finger-prints, Gallon's papers on, ii. 48-9 + +"First Principles," Spencer's, Wallace's admiration of, i. 125 + +Fish, sexual differences in, i. 178 + +Fisher, Mrs. (_see_ Buckley, Miss) + +---- O., "Physics of the Earth's Crust," Wallace on, ii. 74 + +FitzRoy, Capt., i. 33 + +Flight, theory of, i. 145-6, ii. 25 _et seq._ + +Flora, endemic, ii. 43 + +"Floral Structures," Henslow's, ii. 46 + +Flourens' criticism of Darwin's theory, i. 160 + +Flowers, tropical, i. 238; + cleistogamic, 298 + +Flustra, Darwin's article on larvæ of, i. 16 + +Forbes, Dr. Henry, ii. 12 (note); + estimation of Wallace, 229-33, 239 + +---- Prof., i. 96, 99, 100, 132, 139, 189, 248 + +Forel and Darwin, i, 294, 296 + +"Forms of Flowers," Darwin's, i. 298 + +Fossils, i. 20 + +"Foundations," Sir F. Darwin's, ii. 92 + +Free trade and monopoly, Wallace's views on, ii. 152 + +"Freeland," Wallace's opinion of, ii. 114 + +"Fuel of the Sun," M. Williams's, i. 263-4 + + +G + +Galapagos Islands, i. 97, 103; + fauna of, i. 295, ii. 13 + +Galaxias, i. 290 + +Galton, Sir Francis, on heredity, ii. 45; + on organic stability, 60; + introduces term Eugenics, 246 + +---- letter from, on finger-marks, ii. 48-9 + +Gärtner, i. 195 + +Geach, C., i. 79, 191, 245 + +Geddes, Prof. Patrick, ii. 12 (note), 41, 43 + +Geikie, Sir A., i. 122, ii. 71, 253 + +General Enclosure Act, ii. 140 + +"Genesis of Species," Mivart's, i. 257, 264, 265-7, 291, ii. 31 + +Geodephaga, exotic, i. 69 + +Geographical distribution and biology, Wallace's writings on, ii. 1-17; + correspondence on, 18-102 + +"---- ---- of Animals," Wallace's, i. 42, 286, ii. 1-2, 8, 32, 233, +286-7, 289-94 + +"---- ---- of Mammals," Murray's, i. 181 + +"---- ---- of Plants," Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer's, ii. 90 + +Geographical distribution of plants and animals, i. 94, 95, ii. 13 + +Geography, old-time teaching of, i. 11; + organic, 95; + zoological, ii. 9 + +"Geological Climates and the Origin of Species," Wallace's, ii. 5 + +---- distribution of plants and animals, i. 94, 95, 136 + +"---- History of Man," Lyell's, i. 142 + +"---- Observations on South America," Darwin's, ii. 2 + +---- time, Wallace's paper on, i. 249 + +Geology, Darwin's studies in, i. 16, 17 + +George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd, Wallace's letter to, on the railway strike, + ii. 163; + Wallace's admiration of, 164-5, 249 + +---- Henry, i. 17, 317; + meets Wallace, ii. 143 + +"Germ Plasm," Weismann's, ii. 72 + +"Germinal Selection," Weismann's, ii. 68, 70 + +Glacial period, theory of, i. 149, 176, 177, 248, 251, 287, 298, 307, + 308-10, ii. 6, 13 + +Gladstone, W.E., recommends Wallace for a pension, i. 313 + +---- letter from, on onomatopoeia, ii. 66-7 + +Gould, Dr. Aug., on land shells, i. 133 + +----, John, list of humming-birds, ii. 23; + Sclater's distrust of, 24 + +Graham's "Creed of Science," i. 318 + +Grant, Dr., article on Flustra, i. 16; + advocacy of Evolution by, 122 + +Granville, Lord, ii. 67 + +Gray, Asa, i. 76, 139; + defends Darwin, 142 + +Great Exhibition of 1862, i. 79 + +Greenell, Mary Ann (Mrs. T.V. Wallace), i. 9 + +Growth, economy of, ii. 53 + +Gurney, Edmund, and telepathy, ii. 200 + + +H + +Habinaria, i. 311 + +"Habit and Intelligence," Murphy's, i. 246, 249 + +Haeckel, Prof., and the Darwin-Wallace Jubilee, i. 120 + +Hall, John, sends Wallace orchids from Buenos Ayres, ii. 129 + +---- Spencer, lectures on mesmerism, ii. 182 + +Hardinge, Mrs., medium, ii. 188, 189 + +Hare, Prof. A., ii. 57 + +Hart, Capt., i. 79 + +Haughton, Prof. S., criticises Darwin's "Origin of Species," i. 142; + on "The Bee's Cell and Origin of Species," 148 + +Haweis, Rev. H.R., ii. 204 + +Hayward, Mr., i. 21, 92 + +Heliconiidæ, i. 65 + +Helmes, L.V., reminiscences of Wallace's visit to Sarawak, i. 38-40 + +Hemsley, Dr. W.B., ii. 43 + +Henderson, Rev. J.B., ii. 209 + +Henslow, Prof., Darwin's friendship with, i. 17; + defends Darwin, 142 + +Herdman, Mr., inaugural address to Liverpool Biological Society, ii. 45 + +Heredity, Weismann's essays on, ii. 44-5, 51; + Galton on, 45 + +Herschel, Sir J., i. 17 + +Hertford Grammar School, i. 11, 14 + +Heterogenesis, i. 274 (note), 275, 278 + +Heterostyled plants, illegitimate offspring of, i. 298 + +Hodgson's Psychical Research Report, ii. 203 + +Holland, Sir H., on pangenesis, i. 197 + +Holmes, T. Rice, ii. 86 + +Home, D.D., medium, ii. 189, 199 + +Home Rule, Wallace's advocacy of, ii. 152 + +Homer, onomatopoeic examples in, ii. 66, 67 + +Honeycomb sent by Wallace to Darwin, i. 143 + +Hooker, Sir Joseph, birth of, i. 5, 76; + on oak trees, 56; + and the Darwin-Wallace joint paper, 71, 111, 113, 119, 134, 136, 137, + 139; + receives the Darwin-Wallace Medal, 117; + speech at Darwin-Wallace jubilee, 117; + Darwin's appreciation of, 135, 137; + introduction to "Flora of Australia," 139; + on pangenesis, 197; + visits Darwin at Freshwater, 219; + signs memorial to City Corporation in Wallace's favour, 303; + opinion on Wallace's "Island Life," 307 + +----, Sir Joseph, letters from: + on "Island Life," ii. 32-3; + acknowledging Wallace's "Life," etc., 82-3 + +Hopkins's review of the "Origin of Species," i. 144 + +Hopkinson, Prof. A., and Spiritualism, ii. 200 + +Howorth, Sir H.H., on subsidence and elevation of land, i. 277 + +Hubrecht, Prof., ii. 80; + alleges differences between Darwin and Wallace, 87 + +Hudson's "Scientific Demonstration of a Future Life," ii. 203 + +Huggins, Sir W., and psychical research, ii. 198, 199 + +Hughes, Hugh Price, Wallace's opinion of, ii. 204 + +---- letter from, on Wallace's "Justice, not Charity," ii. 157 + +Humboldt's "Personal Narrative," i. 17, 164, 238 + +Humming-birds, ii. 23, 24 + +Huxley, T.H., i. 1, 5, 76, 116, 137; + meets Wallace, 35; + appreciation of Wallace, 94; + first interview with Darwin, 104; + and Herbert Spencer, 123; + and the memorial to Gladstone as to a pension for Wallace, 313; + and psychical research, ii. 198; + opinion as to Wallace joining Royal Society, 220; + on Henslow, 251 + +---- letters from, declining Wallace's invitation to investigate + "curious phenomena," ii. 187-8 + +Hybrids, sterility of, i. 130, 195 _et seq._; + and Natural Selection, 195 _et seq._; + infertility of, 297 + +Hyder, Mr. J., ii. 161, 252 + +Hyndman, Mr. H.M., letter from, acknowledging Wallace's birthday +congratulations, ii. 164 + + +I + +"Ice-Marks in North Wales," Wallace's, i. 177 + +"Illustrations of British Insects," i. 23 (note) + +"Immigration of Norwegian Flora," Blytt's, i. 293 + +Immortality, Wallace's views on, ii. 176 + +Indian Mutiny, i. 68 + +Indians, American, Bates's opinion of, ii. 29 + +Individual adaptability and natural selection, ii. 55 + +"Insectivorous Plants," Darwin's, i. 284, 285, ii. 2 + +Insects, migration of, Lyell on, ii. 19; + theory of flight, 26 + +Instinct, Archdall Reid's views of, ii. 67 + +"---- in Man and Animals," Wallace's, ii. 6 + +"Introduction to Study of Natural Philosophy," Herschel's, i. 17 + +"Is Mars Habitable?" Wallace's, ii. 172 + +"Island Life," Wallace's, i. 42, 305, 306-7, ii. 5, 12-14, 32, 33, 72, 75 + +Islands, continental, i. 305, ii. 12 + +---- oceanic, i. 138, 210-12, 305, ii. 12 + + +J + +Jameson's lectures on geology and zoology in Edinburgh, i. 16 + +Janet's "Materialism of the Present Day," i. 170, 172, 173, 175 + +Jardine, Sir W., criticism of "Origin of Species," i. 142 + +Java, birds of, i. 87; + flora of, 86; + mountains of, 85-6; + volcanoes of, 85, 86 + +Jencken, Mrs., ii. 198 + +Jenkin, Fleeming, on limitations to variation, i. 190; + Darwin on, 233, 234; + Wallace on, 234 + +Jensen and De Rougemont, ii. 76 + +Jessopp, Rev. Augustus, letter on land nationalisation, ii. 157 + +Joan of Arc, works on, ii. 204 + +Jones, Sir Rupert, on Miocene or Old Pliocene Man in India, ii. 62 + +---- Mr. W. Braunston, birthday ode by, ii. 248 + +Jordan, Mr., ii. 129 + +Josiah Mason College, Birmingham, Wallace and, i. 306 + +"Journal of Researches," Darwin's, i. 18, 25, 37, 43 + +Judd, John W., and Wallace medallion, ii. 253 + +Jukes, J.B., a supporter of Darwin, i. 141 + + +K + +Kane, Mrs., ii. 198 + +Keltie, Dr. J. Scott, on Wallace's exploration in Brazil, i. 29 + +Kelvin, Lord (_see_ Thomson, Sir W.) + +Kempe, Sir A.B., signs petition for Wallace memorial, ii. 253 + +Keyerling and the Darwinian theory, i. 141 + +Kidd, Mr. Benjamin, and "equality of opportunity," ii. 158 + +Kingsley, Canon, letter to Wallace on "Malay Archipelago," ii. 30-1 + +Knight, Prof., ii. 176; + his reminiscences of Wallace, 228 + +Knollys, Lord, ii. 223 + +Kolreuter, i. 195 + +Krefft, Dr. G., i. 316 + +Kropotkin, Prince, "Memoirs of a Revolutionist," i. 89 + + +L + +Lamarck and Evolution, i. 1, 109, 242 + +Lambs, instincts of, ii. 54 + +Land laws, Wallace and, ii. 140 + +---- molluscs, Darwin on, i. 131, 132, 287, 292 + +---- nationalisation, Wallace and, ii. 141 + +---- ---- Society, foundation of, ii. 143 + +"---- ----," Wallace's, i. 317, ii. 109, 143 + +---- shells, i. 132, 133, 262 + +---- Tenure Reform Association, Wallace and, ii. 143 + +Lankester, Sir E. Ray, receives Darwin-Wallace Medal and speaks at + Jubilee celebration, i. 121; + replies to a Darwin Centenary article in the _Times_, ii. 89; + a signatory to Wallace memorial petition, 253 + +Larmor, Sir J., and Wallace national memorial, ii. 253 + +"Law regulating Introduction of New Species," Wallace's, i. 93, 94, 105, + 129, ii. 6, 21 + +Le Gallienne, Mr., meets Wallace, ii. 204 + +Lecky's "Rationalism," Darwin on, i. 164; + Wallace on, 165-6 + +"Lectures on Man," Lawrence's, i. 91 + +Legge, Col., conveys to Wallace the Order of Merit, ii. 224 + +Lemuria, continent of, i. 289 + +Lepidoptera, colour-adaptability in, ii. 56 + +Lewes, G.H., and pangenesis, i. 220; + and origin of species, 221 + +Leyden Museum, i. 87 + +"Lhasa," Waddell's, ii. 82 + +Life after death, Wallace's belief in, ii. 181 + +"---- and Habit," Samuel Butler's, ii. 102 + +"---- and Letters of Charles Darwin," i. 118, 119, 120, 122-3, 127, + 260 (note), 263 (note), 273 (note), 274 (note), ii. 184 + +----, origin of, Spencer on, i. 125-6 + +---- ---- Wallace's views on, ii. 168 + +"Limits of Natural Selection as applied to Man," Wallace's, ii. 6 + +Lindley, Dr., "Elements of Botany," i. 21; + article on orchids by, 23 + +Linnean Society, Darwin-Wallace communication to, i. 71, 89, 109, 118, + 122; + Jubilee of event, 110 _et seq._, ii. 127 + +Lip-expression, efficacy of, ii. 67 + +Littledale, Dr., reminiscences of Wallace, ii. 132-3, 136 + +Lock's "Variation, Heredity, and Evolution," ii. 84 + +Lodge, Sir Oliver, reply to Haeckel, ii. 83; + Romanes lecture, 178-80; + address at Psychical Research Society, 205; + and the national memorial to Wallace, 253 + +Lombok, fauna of, ii. 19, 20 + +Lönnberg, Prof., i. 122 + +"Looking Backward," ii. 114 + +Lophura viellottii, i. 230 + +Loudon's "Encyclopedia of Plants," i. 21, 23, 92 + +Lowell, Prof. Percival, "Mars and its Canals," ii. 172, 175-7 + +Lubbock, Sir John (_see_ Avebury, Lord) + +Lunn, Sir H., meets Wallace, ii. 204 + +Lyell, Sir C., birth of, i. 5; + and the Darwin-Wallace joint essay, 71, 109, 111, 113, 118, 119, + 134, 136, 139, ii. 19; + as Evolutionist, i. 76, 142, 239; + on extinction of species, 98; + and Wallace's "Law regulating Introduction of New Species," 132; + defends Darwin, 142; + on pangenesis, 200; + and the "Fuel of the Sun," 263 + +---- letters from: + on "Origin of Races of Man," ii. 18; + on geographical distribution, 19; + on Wallace's "Law regulating Introduction of Species," etc., 21; + on humming-birds, shells, etc., 23; + on Wallace's "Mimicry of Colours," 25; + on diversity of human races, 28-9; + on Wallace's "Malay Archipelago," 30; + on Wallace's "Geographical Distribution," 32 + +Lyell, Sir Leonard, i. 120 + +Lythrum, trimorphism of, i. 161, 169 + + +M + +McAndrew, Mr., on littoral shells of the Azores, ii. 24 + +Macmahon, Dr. P.A., and the Wallace medallion, ii. 253 + +Madagascar, i. 290 (note); + fauna of, 188, 189, 192, 293, 295; + flora of, 311-13 + +Madeira, land shells in, i. 132; + birds in, 138 + +"Maha Bharata," Wallace's appreciation of, ii. 116 + +Malaria, Wallace on, ii. 241 + +Malay Archipelago, Wallace's explorations in, i. 35-42; + distribution of animals in, 138 + +"---- ----," Wallace's, i. 42, 121, 133, 140, 235, 237; ii. 30, + 143, 159, 230, 231; + translations of, i. 245 + +"Malayan Papilionidæ," Wallace's, i. 153, ii. 4, 6, 231 + +Malthus on "Population," i. 103, 104, 111, 116, 136, 175, 317 + +Man, influence of sexual selection on, i. 154, 155, 180, 181, 182, 183; + geographical distribution of, 156; + zoological classification of, 157; + original colour of, ii. 29. + +----, origin of, Darwin's views of, i. 154-5, 243 + (_see also_ "Descent of Man") + +---- ---- Wallace's views of, i. 91-2, 152-3, 155 _et seq._, 221, + 240, 243, 250, 256, ii. 31 + +"Man's Place in the Universe," ii. 102, 120, 167, 170 _et seq._, 178 + +Mantegazza, colour theory of, i. 299 + +Marchant, James, ii. 100; + and the Wallace memorial, ii. 253; + letter from Bishop Ryle to, 254 + +"Mars," Wallace's, ii. 122, 172-3, 175-7 + +"---- and its Canals," Lowell's, ii. 172, 175-7 + +Marshall, Mr. J.W., ii. 53, 209, 226 + +---- Dr. W., i. 279 + +Martineau, James, Darwin on Spencer's reply to, i. 272 + +"Material for Study of Variation," Bateson's, ii. 60-1 + +"Materialism of the Present Day," Janet's, i. 170, 172, 173, 175 + +Maternal impressions, ii. 57-8 + +Matthew, P., anticipates theory of Natural Selection, i. 116, 142 + +Maw, Mr., reviews "Origin of Species," i. 144 + +Melastoma, i. 150, 151 + +Meldola, Prof. Raphael, lecture on Evolution by, i. 123; + death of, ii. 35; + criticism of Romanes' theory, 36; + on importance of "divergence," 41-2; + President of Entomological Society, 63; + reminiscences of Wallace, 226; + at Wallace's funeral, 252; + and the Abbey memorial, 253 + +Mendelism, ii. 84; + Dr. Archdall Reid's view of, 85; + and Evolution, Wallace on, 93 + +Menura superba, i. 183 (note) + +Mesmerism, Wallace and, i. 24, ii. 182 + +Meyer, Dr. Adolf Bernhard, i. 248, 249 + +Mias, i. 53, 56, 57, ii. 30 + +Mill, John Stuart, invites Wallace to join Land Tenure Reform + Association, ii. 143 + +Mill's "Siege of the South Pole," ii. 82 + +Miller, Mr. Ben R., letter to, ii. 98 + +Mimetic butterflies, i. 167, 168, 176, 178, 179, 189 (note), 200, + 213, 217, 224, 254, 300 + +"Mimicry, and Other Protective Resemblances," Wallace's, ii. 6, 8, 25 + +"---- and Protective Colouring," Wallace's, i. 179, 187 + +---- Bates's theory of, i. 225 + +---- Darwin on, i. 316 + +----, Wallace on, i. 167 (note), 168-9, 176 + +Miocene Period, i. 294, 308, 309, 312 + +"Miracles and Modern Spiritualism," Wallace's, ii. 11, 178, 183 + +Missionaries, Wallace's and Darwin's impressions of, compared, i. 36-8; + Wallace on, 47, 50, 62-3 + +Mitten, Miss, ii. 252 + +---- Mr. William, ii. 35, 253 + +Mivart, St. G., controversy with Mr. G. Darwin, i. 291; + his "Genesis of Species," 257-8, 264, 265-7, ii. 31 + +Moluccas, birds of, ii. 3 + +Monistic theory, ii. 177 + +Monkeys, influence of, on distribution of pigeons and parrots, + i. 166 (note), 167 + +Monopoly and free trade, Wallace on, ii. 152 + +"More Letters," i. 127, 195, 288 (note), 312 (note) + +Morgan, Prof. Lloyd, Wallace on, ii. 67, 68 + +---- T.H., "Evolution and Adaptation," ii. 79 + +Morley, Mr. John (Lord), correspondence with, ii. 159 + +Morton, Dr., on American race problem, ii. 28 + +Moths, Jenner Weir's observations on, i. 179 + +Mott, Mr., on Haeckel, i. 298; + on progression of races, ii. 86 + +Mould, formation of, by agency of earthworms, i. 319 + +Mount Ophir (Malay), i. 51 + +Mouth-gesture as factor in origin of language, ii. 65 + +"Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants," Darwin's, i. 285, 311, ii. 2 + +Mailer, Fritz, "Für Darwin," i. 164; + on mimetic butterflies, 189 (note), 270, 300 + +---- Hermann, i. 189 (note) + +Murchison, Sir Roderick, and Wallace, i. 36; + on Africa, 159 + +Murphy, Mr. M.J., ii. 164 + +Murphy's "Habit and Intelligence," Wallace's review of, i. 246, 249 + +Murray, Andrew, attacks Darwin's "Origin of Species," i. 142; + opposes Trimen's views on mimetic butterflies, 201 + +Murray's "Geographical Distribution of Mammals," i. 181 + +Mutation theory, ii. 79, 84 + +"My Life," Wallace's, i. 6, 10 (note), 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29-30, + 92 (note), 107, 125, 126, 127, 178, 253, 307 (note), 312 (note), + ii. 4, 5, 11, 12, 14, 81, 82, 149, 178, 202 + +Myers, F.W.H., and telepathy, ii. 200, 202; + on Wallace as lecturer, 202 + +---- letter from, on Vaccination pamphlet, the "Malay Archipelago," etc., + ii. 202-3 + + +N + +Nägeli's essay on Natural Selection, i. 241 + +Nathusius on the Aru pig, i. 162 + +Natural Selection (_see_ Selection, natural) + +"---- ---- Action of, in producing Old Age, Decay, and Death," Wallace's, + ii. 44 + +"---- ---- Contributions to the Theory of," Wallace's, i. 94, 250, 252, + ii. 5, 6 + +"---- ---- from a Mathematical Point of View," Bennett's, i. 253 + +Nebular hypothesis, Spencer's, i. 151; + Wallace on, ii. 174 + +Neo-Lamarckians, ii. 47, 60, 64 + +New Zealand, aborigines of, i. 239; + colonisation of, 290; + fauna and flora of, 291, 295, 305, 307, ii. 20, 33, 34 + +"Newton of Natural History," the, i. 76 + +Newton, Prof. A., i. 105, ii. 8, 36 + +"Nicaragua," Belt's, ii. 36 + +Non-inheritance of acquired characters, ii. 44-5, 54, 70, 71, 72, 73; + Prof. Poulton's address on, 79 + +Norman, Dr., and Wallace, ii. 137 + +Norris, Dr. Richard, i. 244, ii. 136 + +---- Miss, ii. 136 + +"Norwegian Flora, Immigration of," Blytt's, i. 293 + + +O + +Oceanic islands, colonisation of, i. 132, 133, 138, 290; + flora of, 210-212, 305 + +Onomatopoeia, ii. 66 + +Orang-utans, i. 53, 56, 57, ii. 30 + +"Orchids," Darwin's, i. 143, 297 + +---- Wallace's admiration of, i. 23, ii. 114; + epiphytal, i. 23; + of the Azores, 311 + +"Origin of Species," Darwin's, i. 67, 72, 76-8, 112, 121, 124, 125, + 129, 134, 136, 139, 141, 146, 164, 174, 176, 224, 240, 241, + 244, 246, 264-5, 271, ii. 1, 2, 77; + reviews of, i. 142, 144 + +---- ---- (_see_ Selection) + +"---- ---- and Genera," Wallace's, i. 304 + +"---- of the Fittest," Cope's, ii. 47 + +"---- of the Races of Man," Wallace's, ii. 18 + +Ornithoptera croesus, i. 41 + +---- poseidon, i. 42 + +Orr, Henry B., ii. 60 + +Osborn, Prof. H.F., on Wallace, ii. 239 + +Ostriches, Wallace on, i. 145; + Darwin on, 146-7 + +Owen, Sir R., Darwin's opinion of, i. 139; + attacks Darwin's theory, 142, 144, 157, 199 + +---- Robert, and Wallace, i. 15, ii. 139, 148, 182, 225 + +---- Robert Dale, ii. 225 + + +P + +Pacific Islands, land shells in, i. 133 + +Pain, Wallace on, ii. 244 + +Pangenesis, i. 196 _et seq._, 219, 220, 276, ii. 102 + +Panmixia, ii. 52, 53 + +Papilio, polymorphic species of, i. 168 + +---- sarpedon choredon, i. 316 + +"Papilionidæ of the Malay Region," Wallace's, i. 153, ii. 4, 6, 231 + +Para, Wallace at, i. 26, 29; + products of, 27 + +Parrots, Wallace's paper on, i. 160, ii. 4 + +"Passerine Birds," Wallace's, ii. 231 + +Pastrana, Julia, i. 181 + +Patagonia, plains of, i. 32 + +"Permanence of Oceanic Basins," Wallace's, ii. 74 + +Permian period, i. 290 + +Perry, John, and Wallace national memorial, ii. 253 + +"Personal Narrative," Humboldt's, i. 17, 164, 238 + +Pheasants, Argus, i. 230, 289, 292 + +"Phenomena of Variation and Geographical Distribution," Wallace's, i. 153 + +Phillips' attack on Darwin's "Origin of Species," i. 142 + +Phrenology, Wallace's belief in, i. 24, ii. 237 + +"Physical Geography of the Malay Archipelago," Wallace's, ii. 232 + +"---- History of Man," Prichard's, i. 91, 116, ii. 73 + +"Physics of the Earth's Crust," Fisher's, ii. 74 + +Physiological selection (_see_ Selection, physiological) + +Pickard-Cambridge, Rev. O., reminiscences of Wallace, ii. 131 + +Pictet, Prof. F.J., reviews the "Origin of Species," i. 141, 144 + +Pigeons, domestic, i. 130 + +"---- of the Malay Archipelago," Wallace's, i. 166, ii. 4 + +"Plants, Crossing," Darwin's, Wallace on, i. 296-7 + +---- geographical distribution of, i. 94; + effect of climatic conditions on, 130; + heterostyled, 298; + migration of, 307 (note), 310, 311-12, 313-14, ii. 32, 34-5; + Lyell on migration of, 19-20; + variety of form and habit in, 54 + +"Plants of India and Indo-Oceanic Continent," Blandford's, i. 290 + +Pleistocene Period, i. 308 + +Pliocene Period, i. 292, 294, ii. 22 + +Podmore, Frank, effect on, of Hodgson's Psychical Research report, + ii. 203; + report by, in _Proceedings_ of Psychical Research Society, 204; + proposed as President, 211 + +Polymorphism, Wallace on, i. 168 + +"Population, Essay on," Malthus's, i. 103, 104, 111, 116, 136, 175, 317 + +"---- Theory of," Spencer's, i. 124 + +Poulton, Prof., and Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity," ii. 44-6; + paper on colours of larva, pupa, etc., 54; + appointed Hope Professor of Zoology in Oxford University, 57; + exposure of an American Neo-Lamarckian by, 60; + Presidential Address to British Association, Wallace's criticism of, 71; + Presidential Address to Entomological Society, 79; + on Wallace, 227; + at funeral of Wallace, 252; + and the Westminster Abbey memorial, 253 + +Poverty, Wallace's views on, ii. 145 _et seq._ + +"Power of Movement in Plants," Darwin's, i. 311, ii. 2 + +Prain, Sir D., and Wallace memorial in Westminster Abbey, ii. 253 + +"Prehistoric Times," Lubbock's, i. 164, 165-6 + +"Present Evolution of Man, The," Archdall Reid's, ii. 67, 73 + +Price, Prof. B., formally offers D.C.L. degree to Wallace, ii. 217 + +Prichard's "Physical History of Man," i. 91, 116, ii. 73 + +Primula, Darwin's paper on, i. 218 + +"Principles of Geology," Lyell's, i. 135, ii. 5 + +"---- of Psychology," Spencer's, i. 123 + +"---- of Sociology," Spencer's, i. 126 + +Proctor, R.A., i. 263; "Expanse of Heaven," ii. 180 + +"Progress and Poverty," Henry George's, i. 317, 318, ii, 143 + +Protection, principle of, i. 140, 177, 184, 186, 189, 192, 199, 205, + 212 _et seq._, 214 _et seq._, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, + 226 _et seq._, 235-6, 252, 256, 257-9, 270, 291, 299-300 + (_see also_ Coloration, protective, _and_ Mimicry) + +"Protective Resemblance," Wallace's, i. 214 + +"---- Value of Colour and Markings in Insects," ii. 38 + +Protoplasm, origin of, Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer on, ii. 96-7 + +"Psychic Philosophy," Desertis's, ii. 203 + +Psychical research, Wallace and, ii. 181, 186 _et seq._, 196, 199 + +---- ---- Society, foundation of, ii. 196 + +Pteropus edulis, i. 54 + +Purdon, Dr., ii. 195 + + +R + +Ramsay, Andrew, Darwin on, i. 141 + +---- Sir Wm., and Wallace national memorial, ii. 253 + +Rathbone, Reginald B., reminiscences of Wallace, ii. 124-7 + +"Rationalism," Lecky's, i. 164-6 + +"Regression to the mean," ii. 69 + +Reichenbach, experiments of, with sensitives, ii. 196, 197 + +"Reign of Law," Duke of Argyll's, ii. 23 + +"Researches," Prichard's, i. 91, 116, ii. 73 + +"---- on Evolution of Stellar Systems," ii. 179-80 + +"Revolt of Democracy," Wallace's, ii. 104, 144, 145, 251 + +Rhynchæa, i. 183, 184 + +Rice, Dr. Hamilton, survey of Uaupés River, i. 29 + +Ridgeway, Dr., Bishop of Salisbury, ii. 252 + +Ridley, Mr. H.N., ii. 76 + +Ripon, Lord, i. 277 + +Rogers, H.D., Darwin on, i. 141 + +Romanes, G.J.: + theory of physiological selection, i. 218, ii. 36; + Meldola's criticism of, 36, 49-50; + Wallace's criticism of, 63 _et seq._; + his accusation against Wallace, 235-7 + +"Root Principles," Child's, ii. 83 + +Rothschild, the Hon. Lionel (Lord), Wallace's admiration of his + butterflies, ii. 88, 129 + +Royal Geographical Society, and exploration of Uaupés River, i. 29 + +---- Institute, the, Wallace's lecture at, ii. 87, 127, 222 + +Rudimentary organs, i. 100 + +Russell, Mr. Alfred, letter to, ii. 158 + +Russia, Czar of, manifesto of, ii. 158 + +---- Wallace on, ii. 161 + +Rütimeyer, researches on mammals in Switzerland by, i. 251 + +Ryle, Bishop, and the medallion of Wallace, 254; + sermon at its unveiling, 254-5 + + +S + +Sadong River, Wallace's exploration of, i. 93 + +Salisbury, Bishop of, at funeral of Wallace, ii. 252 + +---- Marquis of, view of Natural Selection, ii. 59, 60; + translation of his address, 65 + +Santiago, Darwin at, i. 34 + +Sarawak, Wallace in, i. 28, 38-40, 93, 106 + +Scandinavia, distribution of plants in, i. 293 + +Schaffhausen, Dr., almost anticipates Natural Selection, i. 142 + +"Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural," Wallace's, ii. 186 + +"---- Demonstration of a Future Life," Hudson's, ii. 203 + +Sclater, P.H., on Wallace's "Malay Archipelago," i. 139-140; + and Lemuria, 290 (note); + division of earth into zoological regions, ii. 8; + distrust of Gould, 24 + +Scott, Dr. Dukinfield H., speech at presentation of Darwin-Wallace Medals, + i. 110-112; + at Wallace's funeral, ii. 252; + and the Wallace memorial in Westminster Abbey, 254 + +Scott's "Antarctic Voyage," ii. 82 + +Sedgwick, Prof., and Darwin, i. 17, 18; + attacks Darwin at Cambridge Philosophical Society, 142 + +See, T.J.J., ii. 179-80 + +Seeman, Berthold, i. 199, 201, 210, 211 + +Segregation of the unfit, Wallace on, ii. 160-1, 246 + +Selection, domestic, i. 130, 134, 136, 160, 161, 167, 181, 183, + 186, 189 (note), 192, 208, 215, 226, 228, 231, 257, 299 + +---- natural, theory of, i. 155, 156, 170 _et seq._, 195 + _et seq._, 218, 240, 267, 298, 301, ii. 16-17, 63, 75, + 94, 96, 98, 101, 150; + discovery of, i. 2, 89-126; + anticipations of, 116, 142, 176; + Spencer's alternative term for, 125, 171; + Lord Salisbury's conception of, ii. 59, 60, 65; + Neo-Lamarckians and, 64 + +---- physiological, Romanes' theory of, i. 218, ii. 36, 49-50, 63 + _et seq._, 235-7 + +---- sexual, i. 157, 159, 177, 179, 182, 185-6, 194, 199, 203, 204, 212 + _et seq._, 216-17, 220, 224-5, 227 _et seq._, 256, 261, + 298, 299 + +Self-fertilisation, i. 169, 297, ii. 46 + +"Shall we have Common Sense?" Sleeper's, ii. 98, 99 + +Sharpe, Mr. J.W., reminiscences of Wallace, ii. 107-9 + +Shells, Lyell on, ii. 24 + +Shipley, Dr. A.E., and Wallace medallion in Westminster Abbey, ii. 253 + +Shrewsbury Grammar School, Darwin and, i. 12, 15 + +Sidgwick, Prof, and Mrs. H., telepathic experiments by, ii. 199, 200; + Wallace's remarks on, 200-1 + +"Siege of the South Pole," Mill's, ii. 82 + +Silk, George, i. 52, 87; + Wallace's friendship with, 10; + walking tour in Switzerland with Wallace, 35 + +Sims, Mrs. (sister of A.R. Wallace), i. 30, 44, 56, 60, 62, 64, 85 + +---- Thomas, i. 63, 73 + +Singapore, Wallace at, i. 36 + +Slade, prosecution of, ii. 197 + +Sleeper, George W., ii. 98, 99, 100 + +Smedley, Mr. E., ii. 83, 100, 163, 175, 215 + +Smith, Dr. Edwin, ii. 210 + +"Social Environment and Moral Progress," Wallace's, ii. 104, 144-5, 250 + +"---- Statics," Spencer's, i. 123, 150, ii. 143 + +Socialism, Wallace's first lessons in, and later views of, i. 15, 16, + ii. 139 _et seq._; + "individualistic," 114; + Wallace's definition of, 152 + +Society for Psychical Research, foundation of, ii. 196 + +"Sociology, Principles of," i. 126 + +"---- Study of," Spencer's, i. 283 + +Solar nebula, lecture by Sir R. Ball on, ii. 174 + +---- system, central position of, ii. 171 + +South America, fauna of, ii. 10 + +Special creation, i. 189 (note), 190, 192, ii. 23, 185 + +Species, mutability of, i. 78, 137; + law of introduction of, 96, 101-2; + extinction of, 98. + (_See also_ Selection, natural) + +Spencer, Herbert, birth of, i. 5; + and Evolution, 122, 123; + arguments with Huxley on Evolution, 123; + sends Darwin a copy of his Essays, 124; + suggests "survival of the fittest" as alternative to "natural + selection," 125, 171; + Wallace's relations with, 125; + Darwin's approval of "survival of the fittest," 174; + autobiography of, ii. 211 + +---- letters from: + on "Origin of the Races of Man," ii. 18; + on theory of flight, 27-8; + on "Darwinism," 47; + on Lord Salisbury's view of Natural Selection, 59, 60, 65; + on Land Nationalisation Society, 154; + on "Progress and Poverty," etc., 154-5 + +Spilosoma menthastri, i. 179 + +Spiritualism, Wallace's belief in, ii. 122, 167, 178, 181 _et seq._, + 239-40; + Huxley on, 187; + Lord Avebury on, 212 + +Spiritualists, Association of, ii. 198, 199 + +Spontaneous generation, i. 274 + +Spruce, Mr., i. 150, 161, 166, 232 + +Stanley, Dean, at Linlathen, ii. 228 + +Stephens' "Illustrations of British Insects," i. 23 (note) + +Sterility, Natural Selection and, Meldola on, ii. 41-2 + +Stevens, Samuel, i. 26, 48, 49, 54, 71, 72, 102, 105, 143 + +Stewart, Prof. Balfour, and telepathy, ii. 200 + +Strahan, Dr. A., and Wallace memorial, ii. 253 + +Strang, Mr., chalk portrait of Wallace by, ii. 224 + +Strasburger, Prof. Eduard, receives Darwin-Wallace Medal, i. 120; + tribute to Wallace, 120; + on Wallace's "Malay Archipelago," ii. 231 + +Stuart-Menteith, C.G., ii. 160 + +"Studies, Scientific and Social," Wallace's, ii. 143, 147 + +"Study of Variation, with regard to Discontinuity in Origin of Species," + Bateson's, ii. 60-1 + +"Subsidence and Elevation of Land," Sir H.H. Howorth's, i. 277 + +---- theory of, i. 132, 160, 212, 238, 286, 309 + +Survival of the fittest, i. 125, 171, 174-5, ii. 59 + (_see also_ Selection, natural) + +Sus papuensis, i. 161, 162 + +---- scrofa, i. 162 + +Swinton, Mr. A.C., ii. 155 + +Synthetic philosophy, Spencer's, i. 1, 123, 124 + +Switzerland, Wallace's visits to, i. 35, ii. 204 + + +T + +Telepathy, ii. 181, 186 _et seq._, 196, 199 + +"Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from Original Type," + Wallace's, i. 109; + loss of MS., 127, ii. 7 + +Ternate, Wallace at, i. 36, 68, 107, 108; + volcanic eruption of 1849 in, 68; + Wallace's paper on Natural Selection sent to Darwin from, i. 106, ii. 39 + +Tertiary Period, i. 159, 292, 294, 295 + +Thayer's theory of animal colouring, ii. 36 + +"Theories of Evolution," Poulton's, ii. 61 + +"Theory of Development and Heredity," Orr's, ii. 60 + +"---- of Natural Selection from a Mathematical Point of View," Bennett's, + i. 253 + +"---- of Population," Spencer's, i. 124 + +Thiselton-Dyer, Sir W.T.: + appreciation of Wallace by, i. 4; + at Darwin-Wallace Jubilee, 122; + paper on geographical distribution of plants by, ii. 90 + +---- letters from: + on Darwin Commemoration volume, ii. 91; + on Sir F. Darwin's "Foundations" and the Darwin celebration, 92; + on Evolution and the fundamental powers and properties of life, 95-8; + asking Wallace to join Royal Society, 219, 220-1; + on Romanes' charge of plagiarism, 236-7 + +Thompson, Prof. Silvanus P., signs petition for national memorial to + Wallace, ii. 253 + +Thomson, Prof. J.A., ii. 12 (note) + +---- Sir W. (Lord Kelvin), on age of world, i. 242, 250, 268, ii. 75 + +Thought transference (_see_ Telepathy) + +"Threading my Way," R.D. Owen's, ii. 225 + +Timor, birds of, i. 80, ii. 4; + mammalia of, i. 133, ii. 4; + fossils of, i. 138, 148, 290; + Darwin receives honeycomb from, 143, 146; + flora of, 237 + +Transmutation of species, i. 123, ii. 23 + +"Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro," Wallace's, i, 30, 35 + +Trees, tropical, i. 86 + +Trimen, Mr., paper on mimetic butterflies by, i. 200, 201 + +Trimorphism in plants, i. 161, 202, 220 + +Tropical forests, Darwin's description of, i. 31-2; + denizens of, 31 + +"---- Nature," Wallace's, ii. 11 + +Turner, Dr., orchids of, ii. 114 + +---- Mr. H.H., signs petition for national memorial of Wallace, ii. 253 + +Tylor, E.B., "Early History of Mankind," i. 164; + Wallace on, 165; + "Anthropology," ii. 65 + +Tyndall, John, birth of, i. 5; + and psychical research, ii. 198 + + +U + +Uaupés, Indians of, i. 31; + exploration of, i. 29 + +Unfit, segregation of, ii. 160-1, 246 + +United States, Wallace's lecturing tour in, ii. 14 + +"Unparalleled Discoveries of Mr. T.J.J. See, Account of," ii. 178 + +Utricularia, i. 284-5 + + +V + +Vaccination, Wallace and, ii. 149, 202, 237, 240-1; + Rev. H. Price Hughes on, 158; + Frederic Myers and, 206 + +"Variation, Heredity, and Evolution," Lock's, ii. 84 + +---- of birds, i. 162-3 + +"Variations of Animals and Plants under Domestication," Darwin's, + i. 112, 189, 195, 197, 199, ii. 2 + +Variety, Wallace's differentiation of, from species, i. 91-2, 96, 97, + 101, 115, 167 (note), 169, 173, 205, 210, 234, ii. 21, 62, 63, 70 + +Varley, C.F., i. 244 + +Vegetarianism, Wallace on, ii. 158 + +"Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," i. 91, 92 (note) + +Victoria, Queen, approves of pension to Wallace, i. 315 + +"Vignettes from Nature," Grant Allen's, ii. 46 + +Vogt, Prof., i. 221 + +Volcanic eruptions and migration, Lyell's theory of, ii. 19 + +"Voyage of the _Beagle_," Darwin's, i. 31, 32, 34, ii. 2 + +"---- up the Amazon," Edwards's, i. 25 + + +W + +Waddell's "Lhasa," ii. 82 + +Waddington, Mr. Samuel, ii. 77 + +Wages, question of, ii. 156 + +Waimate (N.Z.), missionary settlement at, i. 37 + +Wallace, Alfred Russel: + co-discoverer of Natural Selection, i. 1, 2, 105, 106, 107, 111, 112, + 113, 136, 139, 153, 158, ii. 39-40; + early years, i. 5-44; + nervousness, 7, 14, 35, ii. 134; + his father, i. 8; + his mother, 8, 9, 30; + first experiments, 9, 19-20; + schooldays, 11; + geographical studies, 11; + love of reading, 13; + pupil teacher at Hertford Grammar School, 14; + interest in Socialism, 15, 27, ii. 151 _et seq._, 181; + land-surveying, i. 15, 17, 19, ii. 139, 182; + astronomical studies and writings, i. 20, ii. 167 _et seq._; + early interest in zoology and geology, i. 20; + first telescope, 20, ii. 168; + love of botany, i. 20, 21, ii. 106; + his herbarium, i. 22; + as watchmaker, 23; + interest in phrenology and mesmerism, 24, ii. 181, 182; + studies beetles and butterflies, i. 24, 114; + school teacher at Leicester, 24; + voyage to Amazon, 26 _et seq._; + explores Uaupés River, 29; + fire at sea and loss of collections, 29, 30; + first meeting with Darwin, 35, 105, ii. 62; + meets Huxley, i. 35; + visits Switzerland, 35, ii. 204; + visits Singapore, i. 36; + on missionaries, 37-8, 47, 48, 50, 62-3; + in Sarawak, 38-40; + beetle and butterfly collecting, i. 38, 41-2, 114, 237, ii. 4-5; + ill-health of, i. 40, 79; + enthusiasm as naturalist and collector, 40-2, 115; + journey in a "prau," 42; + early letters, etc., 45-88; + Darwin-Wallace joint paper read before Linnean Society, 71, 89, 109, + 118, 122; + Darwin's appreciation of his magnanimity, 71, 106, 118, 134, 137, 139, + 141, 153, 164, 242, 252, 287, 304; + attack of intermittent fever, 107, 108; + jubilee of Darwin-Wallace essay and his speech, 110 _et seq_; + relations with Spencer, 125; + Presidential Address to Entomological Society, 126; + reads proofs of Spencer's "principles of Sociology," 126; + correspondence with Darwin, 127-320; + inscription on envelope containing Darwin's first eight letters, 128; + sends Darwin a honeycomb, 143; + reads Spencer's works, 147, 150; + "exposé" of Rev. S. Haughton's "Bee's Cell," 148; + his opinion of Agassiz, 149; + and the origin of man, 152, 153, 154, 155 _et seq._, 240; + and Darwin's paper on climbing plants, 162; + on a crested blackbird, 163; + on the _Reader_, 165; + on mimicry, 167 (note), 168, 176, 179; + approves of term "survival of the fittest," 171; + birth of a son, 188; + later views on Natural Selection, 217, 218; + dedicates "Malayan Travels" to Darwin, 232; + birth of a daughter, 234; + visits Wales, 247; + reviews "Descent of Man," 260; + on Chauncey Wright and Mivart, 265-7; + Bethnal Green Museum directorship, 277; + and second edition of "Descent of Man," 281 (note), 282, 283; + social and political views, 283, 317, 319, ii. 139-65, 245-7; + at Dorking, i. 294, 297, ii. 106; + and the superintendency of Epping Forest, i. 302, 303, 304, 306, ii. 106; + writes a work on Geography, i. 304, ii. 14; + recommended for a Civil List pension, i. 313-16; + works on Biology, etc., ii. 3 _et seq._; + articles for "Encyclopædia Britannica," 11; + lectures at Boston, U.S.A., 15; + correspondence on biology, geographical distribution, etc., 18-102; + on theory of flight, i. 145, ii. 25-8; + and Mivart's "Genesis of Species," 34; + friendship with Meldola, 35; + theory of animal heat, 35; + and Romanes, 36 _et seq._, 49 _et seq._; + on ferns, 40; + on sterility and Natural Selection, 41 _et seq._; + admitted to Royal Society, 55, 56, 221, 222; + on "discontinuous variation," 62-3; + theory of mouth-gesture as a factor in origin of language, 65; + on non-heredity of acquired characters, 70; + his last public lecture, 87, 222-3; + two of his works translated into Japanese, 100; + home life, 103-138; + domesticity of, 104; + skill at chess, 107; + Examiner in Physiography at South Kensington, 109; + as housebuilder, 110, 111, 119-120; + honours from scientific societies, 113; + enthusiasm for orchids, 114; + his method of writing, 120-1, 243; + and psychical research, 122, 167, 181-215, 239-40; + daily routine, 123-4; + sense of humour, 125-6, 132, 133, 134, 226, 227, 228; + receives the Order of Merit, 127-9; + his Sarawak spider, 131; + failing health, 135 _et seq._; + death, 138, 252; + funeral, 252; + memorial in Westminster Abbey, 253-5; + lists of writings, 257 +---- ---- ---- letters to his mother: announcing arrival at Singapore, + i. 47; + describing work at Singapore, 48; + on Malacca and missionaries, 49; + on his collections and visit to Rajah Brooke, 51; + on the Rajah, 59; + on correspondence from Darwin and Hooker, and his Aru collection, 71; + on plans for collecting at Java, and impending return to England, 83 + +---- ---- ---- letter to his wife, sending plants from Furka Pass, ii. 115 + +---- ---- ---- letters to his son, Mr. W.G. Wallace: on building of house + at Parkstone, ii. 111-13; + on purchase of land at Broadstone and garden plans, 117-18; + enclosing ground plan of house and describing progress, 118-20; + on "Man's Place in the Universe," and Spiritualism, 121-2; + requesting revision of "Mars," 122; + on forthcoming lecture at the Royal Institution, and conferment of Order + of Merit, 127-9; + on discovery of a rare moth and beetles in root of an orchid, 129-30; + on the railway strike, 163-4 + +---- ---- ---- letters to his daughter Violet: on "victims of + Landlordism," ii. 113; + on "Freeland" and "Looking Backward," 114; + on orchid growing, 114; + on use of a wagging tail, 115-16; + on "Maha Bharata," 116; + on eight hours' movement, 156 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Lord Avebury, on Bill for bird preservation, + i. 162 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Sir W.F. Barrett: + on the nebular hypothesis, ii. 174; + on Mars, 176; + on experiments with sensitives and on prosecution of Slade, 197; + on Dr. Carpenter, 198; + regretting inability to attend Dublin meeting of British Association, + 199; + on the advocacy of vaccination, 206; + on dowsing, 206-8; + on presidency of Psychical Research Society, 208; + on "Creative Thought" and on ministry of angels, 213; + explaining his criticisms of "Creative Thought," 214-15 + +---- ---- ---- letter to F. Bates, on exotic insect-collecting, i. 69 + +---- ---- ---- letters to H.W. Bates: + on Darwin's Journal, i. 25; + on "Law regulating Introduction of New Species" and Ternate, + 65; + congratulating him on arriving home, 72; + on Darwin, 73 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mr. F. Birch: + on "Mars," ii. 177; + announcing conferment of Order of Merit, 223-4 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. H. Jamyn Brooke, on monism, ii. 177 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Miss Buckley (Mrs. Fisher): + on "Descent of Man," ii. 31-2; + on physiology of ferns, etc., 40-1; + on infinity of life-forms, 89-90; + on house-planning at Broadstone, 119-20; + on Turks, 153; + on his "Reciprocity" article, 153; + on the earth as only habitable planet, 175; + on Spiritualism, 188-95; + on psychical and other works, 203-4; + on his visit to Switzerland, 204; + on re-incarnation and theosophical writings, 205; + on psychical research and Spencer's "Autobiography," 211; + on conferment of Order of Merit, 222; + on his autobiography, and Owen, 224-5; + on reviews of "My Life," 225-6 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. Sydney C. Cockerell, on Kropotkin's Life, + ii. 161 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. Theo. D.A. Cockerell, on fertilisation, + ii. 49 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Charles Darwin: + on the Timor honeycomb, i. 143; + on Darwin's "Orchids," 143; + on theory of flight, 145; + on Spencer's "Social Statics," 150; + on Borneo exploration and his contribution to theory of man's origin, + 152; + on his paper on Man and Natural Selection, 155; + on the Aru Islands, 161; + on a case of variation becoming hereditary, 162; + on the _Reader_, 165; + on dimorphism, 168; + suggesting "survival of the fittest" in preference to "natural + selection," 170; + on mimicry and glacier action, 176; + on expression, 180; + on "Creation by Law," 188, 192; + on superintendency of a Museum, 193; + on sterility of hybrids, 196; + on natural selection as producing sterility of hybrids, and pangenesis, + 199; + on Trimen's paper at the Linnean Society, 201; + on selective sterility, 203, 205, 210; + on Darwin's "Cross Unions of Dimorphic Plants," 218; + on protection and sexual selection, 221, 222, 227; + on the dedication of "Malayan Travels," etc., 232; + on single variations, 234; + on colouring of caterpillars, 235; + on his "unscientific" opinions on Man, 243, 250, 255; + on wing-scales of butterflies, 244; + on Dr. Meyer, 248; + on "Descent of Man," 255, 259, 284; + recommending two remarkable books, 263; + on Mivart and Chauncey Wright's critique, 265; + on Darwin's answer to Mivart, 271; + on Dr. Bree, and Bastian's "Beginnings of Life," 273; + on a Bethnal Green Museum appointment, 277; + on Darwin's "Expression of the Emotions," 279; + on invitation to undertake revision work for Darwin, 281, 282; + on "Climbing Plants," 285; + on Darwin's criticism of "Geographical Distribution," 288, 294; + on Darwin's "Crossing Plants," 296; + on Darwin's "Orchids," 297; + on Darwin's "Forms of Flowers," and glacial theory, 298; + on sufficiency of Natural Selection, 300; + on Epping Forest superintendency, 302, 303; + on "Island Life," 305, 306; + on Darwin's criticism of "Island Life," 308; + on Darwin's "Movements of Plants," 311; + on land migration of plants, 311; + on Civil List pension, 314, 315; + on "Progress and Poverty," 317; + on Darwin's "Earthworms," 320 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Sir Francis Darwin: + on Darwin's "Life and Letters," ii. 39; + on descent with modification, 78; + on mutation, 80 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. W.J. Farmer, on final cause of varying + colour of hairs, etc., ii. 101-2 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Dr. W.B. Hemsley, on insular floras, ii. 43-4 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Rev. J.B. Henderson, on Christianity, ii. 209 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Sir J. Hooker, on Natural Selection, etc., + ii. 81-2 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Huxley: + enclosing a copy of "The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural," ii. 187; + on psychical research, 188 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. J. Hyder, on land nationalisation, ii. 161 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Prof. Knight, on immortality, ii. 178 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Dr. Littledale, acknowledging birthday +congratulations, ii. 136 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Sir Oliver Lodge: + on proof of constant variability, and Lord Kelvin's calculations, + ii. 74-5; + on principle of continuity, etc., 178-9; + acknowledging Romanes' lecture and criticising lectures by Mr. + See, 179-80 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Sir C. Lyell, on colour of man, ii. 29 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mr. J.W. Marshall: + on Hudson's observations and theories, ii. 53-4; + conveying condolences, and views on a hereafter, 209; + on his autobiography, 226 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Prof. Meldola: + on physiological selection, ii. 36-8; + on Natural Selection, 41, 42-3; + on Meldola's controversy with Romanes, 50-1; + on individual adaptability, 55-6; + on "discontinuous variation," 62-3; + on Weismann's "Germinal Selection," 68-70; + on Weismann's doctrine of non-inheritance of acquired characters, 70-1; + on Weismann's "Germ Plasm," 72; + on Fisher's "Physics of the Earth's Crust," 74; + on Meldola's offer to read Wallace's paper at Royal Institute, 87-8 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. Ben. R. Miller, on Sleeper's "Shall we + have Common Sense?" ii. 98-9 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. John (Lord) Morley, on Socialism, ii. 159 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. M.J. Murphy, on Mr. Lloyd George, ii. 164-5 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Dr. Norris, on increasing weakness, ii. 136-7 + +---- letter to Miss Norris, on health and diet, ii. 136 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Prof. E.B. Poulton: + on "Protective Value of + Colour and Markings in Insects," ii. 39; + on Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity," 44, 45; + on Grant Allen's theory of origin of wheat, 46; + on Cope's "Origin of the Fittest," 47; + on Weismann's additional essays, 51-3; + on non-heredity of acquired characters, 54-5; + on maternal impression, 56-8; + on Bateson's "Material for the Study of Variation," 60-1; + on Poulton's "Theories of Evolution," 61-2; + criticising Romanes, 63-5; + on Poulton's Presidential Address to British Association, 71-2; + on denudation and deposition, 73; + on mutation, 79; + on Poulton's Presidential Address to Entomological Society, 79; + on Mendelism and mutation, 84; + on Poulton's Introduction to "Essays on Evolution," 85-6; + on invitation to lecture at Royal Institution, 87; + on Lord Rothschild's butterflies, and Royal Institution lecture, 88-9; + on an article in the _Times_, 89; + on Bergson, 98; + on Sleeper's alleged anticipation of Darwinism, 99-100; + on declining the Oxford D.C.L. degree, 217-18; + agreeing to accept the degree, 218 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Dr. Archdall Reid: + on "Present Evolution of Man," ii. 67-8; + on instinctive knowledge, 68; + on "Ancient Britain and Invasions of Cæsar," 86; + on Mendelism and Evolution, 92-3 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. Clement Reid, on discovery of Miocene + or Pliocene Man in India, ii. 62 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. H.N. Ridley, on De Rougemont, ii. 76 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. Alfred Russell, on vegetarianism, ii. 158 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mr. G. Silk: + on Alexandrian donkey-drivers, i. 45; + on forthcoming visit to Sarawak, 52; + on marriage, 87 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mrs. Sims (his sister): + on his assistant, i. 56, 60; + on missionaries, 62; + on life in Macassar, 64; + on Java and its flora, 85 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Thomas Sims: + on Singapore, i. 61; + on monocular and binocular vision, Darwin's "Descent of Species," + and belief and disbelief, 73 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mr. E. Smedley: + on Child's "Root Principles," ii. 83-4, 100-1; + on prayer, 163; + on Mars, 175; + on horoscope, 215 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Dr. Edwin Smith, on Spiritualism, ii. 210 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. C.G. Stuart-Menteith, on segregation of + the unfit, ii. 160-1 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Mr. A.C. Swinton, on suggested lecture tour + in Australia, ii. 155 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer: + on botanical distribution and migration, ii. 34-5; + on Darwin Commemoration volume, 90-1; + on "World of Life," 93-5; + on election to Royal Society, 221-2; + on Romanes' charge against Wallace of plagiarism, 235-6 + +---- ---- ---- letter to Samuel Waddington, on origin of all living + things, ii. 77-8 + +---- ---- ---- letters to Mr. A. Wiltshire: + on the Liberal Government, ii. 162; + on necessity for increased wages, 165 + +---- ---- ---- letter to an unknown correspondent, on fauna and flora + of Borneo district, and Dyaks, i. 53 + +---- Annie (A.R. Wallace's wife), ii. 115, 252 + +---- Herbert (A.R. Wallace's brother), i. 28, ii. 182, 229 + +---- John (A.R. Wallace's brother), i. 11, 13, 15 + +---- Mary Ann (A.R. Wallace's mother), i. 9 + +---- Thomas Vere (A.R. Wallace's father), i. 8; + Librarian of Hertford, 13; + straitened circumstances of, 14, 15 + +---- Violet (daughter of A.R. Wallace), reminiscences of her father, + ii. 103-38 + +---- W.G. (son of A.R. Wallace), reminiscences of his father, ii. 103-38 + +"Wallace's line," i. 43, ii. 19, 232, 233 + +War, Wallace's abhorrence of, ii. 245 + +Ward, Mr., on muscular fibres of whales, i. 145 + +Warington, Mr., and "Origin of Species," i. 191 + +Webb, Mr. W.L., ii. 179-80 + +Wedgwood, Josiah, and Darwin, i. 18 + +Weir, Jenner, on moths, i. 179; + on plumage of birds, 205; + Darwin's appreciation of, 220; + paper at the Entomological Society, 235 + +Weismann, Prof. A., receives Darwin-Wallace Medal, i. 120; + on colouring of caterpillars, 299; + "Essays upon Heredity," ii. 44 _et seq_., 51-2 + (_see also_ Non-inheritance of acquired characters) + +Wells, Dr., and Natural Selection, i. 116, 176 + +Westminster Abbey, graves and memorials of men of science in, i. 1; + petition to Dean and Chapter as to medallion to Wallace in, ii. 253; + unveiling of the medallion, 254 + +Westwood and theory of flight, i. 145; + Darwin on, 146-7 + +Whale, muscular fibres of, i. 145 + +Wilberforce, Bishop, reviews Darwin's "Origin of Species," 144 + +Williams, Dr., ii. 192 + +---- Matthieu, i. 264 + +Wilson, Mr. D.A., reminiscences of Wallace, ii. 151-2 + +Wiltshire, Mr. A., letters to, ii. 162,165 + +Wimborne, Lord, sale of land to Wallace, ii. 119 + +Wollaston, Dr., reviews "Origin of Species," i. 142; + tribute to Wallace, ii. 230 + +Wollaston's "Coleoptera Atlantidum," ii. 22-3 + +Woman, independence and future of, Wallace's views on, ii. 149-51, 245 + +"Wonderful Century," Wallace's, ii. 144, 168, 169, 238 + +"Wonders of the World," i. 13 + +Wood, J.G., book on the horse, ii. 113 + +Woodbury, Mr., researches of, i. 146 + +"World of Life," Wallace's, ii. 8, 94, 167, 172, 176, 178, 182 + +"Worms, Formation of Vegetable Mould by Action of," Darwin's, i. 320 + +Wright, Chauncey, reviews Mivart's "Genesis of Species," i. 264, 265-7 + + +Z + +Zöllner, Prof., and supernormal phenomena, ii. 198, 199 + +"Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago," Wallace's, i, 137, ii. 232 + +Zoology, lectures on, at Edinburgh, i, 16; Darwin's study of, at + Cambridge, 17 + + + + +PRINTED BY + +CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, + +LONDON, E.C. + +F 15.316 + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "It is no doubt the chief work of my life."--C. DARWIN. + +[2] "My Life," i. 396-7. + +[3] "My Life," ii. 94-5. + +[4] "My Life," pp. 97-8. + +[5] "My Life," pp. 98-9. + +[6] Dr. Henry Forbes in a note to the Editor writes: "In his 'Island +Life' Wallace extended his philosophical observations to a wider field, +and it is in philosophical biology that Wallace's name must stand +pre-eminent for all time." "In our own science of biology," say Profs. +Geddes and Thomson in a recent work, "we may recall the 'Grand Old Men,' +surely second to none in history--Darwin, Wallace, and Hooker." + +[7] "My Life," ii. 99-101. + +[8] "My Life," ii. 22. + +[9] "The Origin of the Races of Man." + +[10] "The Malay Archipelago." + +[11] Private Secretary to Sir Charles Lyell. + +[12] "The Descent of Man." + +[13] Probably refers to "The Geographical Distribution of Animals." + +[14] The book referred to is Wallace's "Island Life," published in 1880. + +[15] For the work on "Darwinism." + +[16] Printed in full as a footnote to Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity," +etc. + +[17] _See_ footnote 3, pp. 172-3, of Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity," +etc. + +[18] "The Origin of Floral Structures through Insect and Other +Agencies." Internat. Sci. Series. 1888. + +[19] "The Origin of the Fittest." London, 1887. + +[20] "Essays upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems," Vol. II. +1892. + +[21] _Trans. Ent. Soc., London_, 1892, p. 293. + +[22] As Hope Professor of Zoology in the University of Oxford. + +[23] A member of a family which has produced several eminent medical +men. + +[24] Vol. I., p. 445, a review of "A Theory of Development and +Heredity," by Henry B. Orr. 1893. + +[25] "Material for the Study of Variation, treated with especial regard +to Discontinuity in the Origin of Species." 1894. + +[26] Reprinted in "Essays on Evolution," p. 95. 1908. + +[27] "The Present Evolution of Man." 1896. + +[28] Presidential Address in Section D of British Association, 1896, +reprinted in "Essays on Evolution," p. 1. + +[29] To the British Association at Edinburgh, 1892. + +[30] Vol. ixx. (1904), p. 313, a review of T.H. Morgan's "Evolution and +Adaptation." + +[31] "The Bearing of the Study of Insects upon the Question, Are +Acquired Characters Hereditary?" The Presidential Address to the +Entomological Society of London, 1905, reprinted in "Essays on +Evolution," p. 139. + +[32] Probably "Root Principles," by Child. + +[33] "Essays on Evolution." 1908. + +[34] Of the Introduction to "Essays on Evolution." + +[35] Vol. lxxvii., p. 54, a note "On the Interpretation of Mendelian +Phenomena." + +[36] The Oxford Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of +Charles Darwin, February 12, 1809. An account of the celebration is +given in "Darwin and 'The Origin,'" by E.B. Poulton, p. 78. 1909. + +[37] The Darwin Celebration. + +[38] "The World of Life." + +[39] _Bedrock_, April, 1912, p. 48. + +[40] "Shall we have Common Sense? Some Reeeat Lectures." By George W. +Sleeper. Boston, 1849. + +[41] _See_ footnote to preceding letter. The book formed the subject of +Prof. Poulton's Presidential Addresses (May 24, 1913, and May 25, 1914) +to the Linnean Society (_Proceedings_, 1912-13, p. 26, and 1913-14, p. +23). The above letter is in part quoted in the former address. + +[42] This letter relates to evidences, favourable to Sleeper, which had +not at the time been critically examined, but broke down when carefully +scrutinised. _See_ Prof. Poulton's address to the Linnean Society, May +25, 1914 (_Proc_., 1913-14, p. 23). + +[43] For many years he was Examiner in Physiography at South Kensington. + +[44] _See_ footnote on p. 109. + +[45] For letters from Wallace describing Col. Legge's visit with the +Order, _see_ pp. 128 and 224. + +[46] The present Lord Rothschild. + +[47] On his ninetieth birthday. + +[48] See his book, "Land Nationalisation, its Necessity and its Aims" +(1882). + +[49] Although this book was his last published work, it was written +before "Social Environment and Moral Progress." He handed me the MS. a +few months before his death.--The Editor. + +[50] A full account of this scheme is given in his "Studies, Scientific +and Social," chap. xxvi. + +[51] "My Life," ii. 237-8 + +[52] Advocating Eugenics and the segregation of the unfit. + +[53] Hon. Sec. of the Federated Trades and Labour Council, Bournemouth. + +[54] At an Old Age Pension meeting. + +[55] _See_ Vol. I., p. 20. + +[56] "The World of Life," p. 374. + +[57] "Life and Letters," i. 58. + +[58] Considerable reference is made to Mrs. Hardinge in "Miracles and +Modern Spiritualism" pp. 117-21. + +[59] The "spirits" are supposed to produce the faces. + +[60] This is a strange accompaniment of most advanced spiritual +phenomena. + +[61] Against vaccination. + +[62] Psychical Research Society Report. + +[63] "The Wonderful Century." + +[64] A medium. + +[65] The lecture at the Royal Institution, when he wore the Order. + +[66] In _Nature_, Nov. 20, 1913, p. 348. + +[67] "The Wonderful Century," p. 437. + +[68] "I have been speculating last night," wrote C. Darwin to his son +Horace, "what makes a man a discoverer of undiscovered things; and a +most perplexing problem it is. Many men who are very clever--much +cleverer than the discoverers--never originate anything. As far as I can +conjecture, the art consists in habitually searching for the causes and +meaning of everything which occurs."--"Emma Darwin," p. 207. + +[69] It is interesting to compare this with Darwin's manner of writing. +Darwin confessed: "There seems to be a sort of fatality in my mind +leading me to put at first my statement or proposition in a wrong or +awkward form. Formerly I used to think about my sentences before writing +them down; but for several years I have found that it saves time to +scribble in a vile hand whole pages as quickly as I possibly can, +contracting half the words; and then correct deliberately. Sentences +thus scribbled down are often better ones than I could have written +deliberately." + +[70] See pp. 227, 234. + +[71] But see _ante_, p. 153. + +[72] Wallace's section of the Darwin-Wallace Essay entitled "On the +Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of +Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and +Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2), by James Marchant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: *** + +***** This file should be named 15998-8.txt or 15998-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/9/9/15998/ + +Produced by Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State +University Libraries., Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Josephine +Paolucci, Joshua Hutchinson and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |