WCP1475

Letter (WCP1475.7623)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset

Decr. 7th. 1899

My dear Clement Reid

I return the papers you lent me with thanks. The paper on Spitzbergen1 is very instructive in the rapid motion of the glaciers, — the occurence of re-eddies, which Bonney2 decries the existence of because he has seen none in the Alps, — and the rising up of moraine3 matter through the ice. Almost all the difficulties in the way of the most extreme views of modern glacialists are now removed.

The paper on Skye4 is more puzzling. Why with such a great rain-fall is there so little recent erosion? Can it be that owing to [2] the great snow-fall during the glacial period the ice & snow covering lasted much longer & has only recently passed away? Otherwise it seems altogether puzzling.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

P.S. Owing to our terrible 5 months drought here — April — to August — none of the Acer seeds came up, nor seeds of a fine Californian shrub — Cornees Niettalii, that I sowed at the same time. A.R.W

Island in the Svalbard Archipelago in the Artic Ocean.
Bonney, Thomas George (1833-1923). British geologist.
An accumulation of unconsolidated glacier debris.
Largest island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

Transcription (WCP1475.1254)

[1]

To Clement Reid, Esq.

Parkstone,

Dorset.

Dec[ember]. 7th. 1899

My dear Clement Reid

I return the papers you lent me with thanks. The paper on Spitzenbergen is very interesting instructive in the rapid motions of glaciers, — the occurrence of ice-eddies, which Bonney denies the existence of because he has seen none in the Allps, — and the rising up of maraine matter through the ice. Almost all the difficulties in the way of the most extreme views of modern glacialists are now removed.

The paper on Skye is more puzzling. Why with such a great rain-fall is there so little recent erosion? Can it be that owing to the great snow-fall during the glacial period the ice & snow covering lasted much longer, & has recently passed away? Otherwise it seems altogether puzzling.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace.

P.S. Owing tom our terrible 5 months of drought here — April — to August — none of the Acer seeds came up, nor seeds of a fine Californian shrub — Cornus Nuttallii, that I sowed at the same time. A.R.W.

Transcription (WCP1475.4337)

[1]

To Clement Reid, Esq.

Parkstone, Dorset.

Dec[ember]. 7th. 1899

My dear Clement Reid

I return the papers you lent me with thanks. The paper on Spitzbergen is very interesting instructive in the rapid motion of glaciers, — the occurrence of ice-eddies, which Bonney denies the existence of because he has seen none in the Alps, — and the rising up of moraine matter through the ice. Almost all the difficulties in the way of the most extreme views of modern glacialists are now removed.

The paper on Skye is more puzzling. Why with such a great rain-fall is there so little recent erosion? Can it be that owing to the great snow-fall during the glacial period the ice & snow covering lasted much longer, & has only recently passed away? Otherwise it seems altogether puzzling.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace.

P.S. Owing tom our terrible 5 months drought here — April — to August — none of the Acer seeds came up, nor seeds of a fine Californian shrub — Cornus Nuttallii, that I sowed at the same time.

A.R.W.

Please cite as “WCP1475,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 2 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1475