WCP1411

Letter (WCP1411.1190)

[1]1

PINEWOOD GRANGE.

CAMBERLEY.

June 15. 1908

My dear Wallace

I should have sent you the enclosed before, but I mislaid your address and only came across it yesterday. The notes are from Mr Hose,2 formerly of the Sarawak Service. You will notice that Dr Duckworth3 quite confirms your measurements of the Orang Utan.

[2]

I have just edited a book called "Essays on Shakespeare and his works3; it was published by Smith & Elder on May 26th. I am afraid it is a last literary venture, as my eyesight is failing fast, and I can only write for a few minutes at a time.

Hoping you are well | Ever sincerely yours | Spenser St. John3 [signature]

In ARW’s hand “Answd”
Hose, Charles (1863-1929). British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist.
St. John, Spenser Buckingham (1825-1910). British private secretary to Rajah James Brooke 1848-54.

Enclosure (WCP1411.1435)

[1]

"Marudi,"

Queens Park Road,

Bournemouth.

April 28th 1908

Dear Sir Spencer St. John1

I enclose a letter from Dr. Duckworth2 of Cambridge giving the measurements of the largest Orang-Utans which I have obtained, and also that of Fick's3 specimen. you will see that he estimates the height [2] of the largest specimen to be about 4 ft. 3 in.

I hope these measurements may be of use to you.

Yours sincerely | Charles Hose4 [signature]

St. John, Spenser Buckingham (1825-1910). British private secretary to Rajah James Brooke 1848-54.
Duckworth, Wynfrid Lawrence Henry (1870-1956). British anatomist and former Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Fick, Rudolph (1866-1939). Professor of Anatomy at the University of Leipzig.
Hose, Charles (1863-1929). British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist.

Enclosure (WCP1411.1436)

[1]

Jesus College

April 25.1908

Dear Hose1

Here are some measurements of the Mias skeletons

Humerus Radius Femur Os Innominatum Rt. Clavicle
♂ No. 1 358 mm 365 270 254 190
<♂> No. 6 400 <mm> 390 (?) 305 390
Fick’s specn (♂) 380 <mm> 410 295
♀ No. 4 362 376 293 270

Nos 1, 6 are males from your Collections No. 6 the large male of which the head is measured entire. No. 4 a female has the Hose Colln. Fick's2 specimen is described fully in the "Archiv für Anatomie" 1895. It measured 1m 250 in stature with a span of 2m 050. I think your No. 6 was rather larger, say 1m 300stature or about 4ft 3. I don't believe they have ever been found much taller, but I daresay a 4ft 3 Mias corpse might be laid out so as to give 5ft or so. I can find no record of weights of adults at present, but I thought you would be chiefly interested in estimates of height.

Yours very truly | W. L. H. Duckworth3 [signature]

Hose, Charles (1863-1929). British colonial administrator, zoologist, and ethnologist.
Fick, Rudolph (1866-1939). Professor of Anatomy at the University of Leipzig.
Duckworth, Wynfrid Lawrence Henry (1870-1956). British anatomist and former Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Enclosure (WCP1411.1437)

[1]

"Marudi,"

Queens Park Road,

Bournemouth.

April 23rd 1908

Dear Sir Spenser St John1

Thank you for your letter of the 20th. I will write to Dr Duckworth2 at Cambridge and ask him to send me the measurements of some Orang Utans which I obtained and which are now at Cambridge.

I have not read your [2] book "The Earlier Adventures of a Naval Officer"3 nor anything that Wallace has written recently on the Orang Utan, but I think I can give you the measurements of two very large specimens.

I enclose a photograph I took of a fairly large male, about two hours after it had been killed, which you may perhaps like to have. [3] I have retired from the Sarawak Service and have settled down in Bournemouth. I am writing a book on the people of Sarawak.

Believe me | Yours sincerely | Charles Hose4 [signature]

St. John, Spenser Buckingham (1825-1910). British private secretary to Rajah James Brooke 1848-54.
Duckworth, Wynfrid Lawrence Henry (1870-1956). British anatomist and former Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.
St. John, Spenser Buckingham. 1906. The earlier adventures of a naval officer. London: Digby, Longman.
Hose, Charles (1863-1929). British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist.

Envelope (WCP1411.1434)

Envelope addressed "Professor Alfred Wallace, Broadstone, Wimborne" with stamp, postmarked "JU 15 08". Note on front in ARW's hand "Sir Spencer [sic] St. John | About Orangs — measurements, none bigger than mine." Embossed on seal flap "Pinewood Grange, Camberley". Illegible partial postmark on back. [Envelope (WCP1411.1434)]

Please cite as “WCP1411,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1411