Ɛpsilon

WCP1482

Letter (WCP1482.4351)

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

June 13th 1909

Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer

Dear Sir William,

Many thanks for your interesting letter. It was stupid of me not noticing that the African "Floras" were not completed.

I have been writing to Sir E. Ray Lankester, & to his successor at the B.M. suggesting that an effort should be made to issue simple lists of the species of animals in the museum, for all the larger & [2] more generally interesting groups of Vertebrates, Insects, Molluscs, etc. first; in keeping each of the six great Zoological Regions separate. I pointed out that this could be done by having one or more copying clerks, who would simply go over the drawers of specimens in the order pointed out by the Assistant Keeper of the Department, entering the bare names and each locality from which specimens existed. Such lists would be of immediate use to all collectors, students, travellers etc. and would I believe have a sale that would at least repay the cost of printing. Now, [3] with the exception, of a few groups which have been thoroughly worked up, there is no means whatever of ascertaining the number of species in the Museum, for any group and in any country. Both agreed to look into the matter, but whether anything will be done I do not know.

For naturalists who cannot study in it, the B.M. might as well not exist!1

I have not yet seen the Cambridge Darwinian Memorial volume, but I read the contents in "Nature" & saw that there were several articles I must read, yours especially. Perhaps after the "Commemoration" a copy may be sent me; if not I must get it.

I have always thought (with C. de Candolle) that all life began and became most developed in the [4] tropics; but people usually forget that throughout the greater part of Geol. Time our temperate zones, had an essentially tropical climate in the lowlands, while the highlands no doubt developed the ancestral temperate forms.

Yours very truly | Alfred R Wallace [signature]

1
This sentence is written vertically in the left hand margin of the page.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1482.4351)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Moody, Liz [2013-04-05] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-04-10]

Transcription (WCP1482.4350)

[1]1

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.2

June 13th. 1909

To Sir W.T.Thistelton-Dyer.)

Dear Sir William

Many thanks for your interesting letter. It was stupid of me not noticing that the "African "Floras"3 were not completed. I have been writing to Sir E.Ray-Lankester,4& to his successor5 at the B[ritish].M[useum]. suggesting that an effort should be made to issue simple lists of the species of animals in the Museum, for all the larger & more generally interesting groups of Vertebrates, Insects, Molluscs &c. first, keeping each of the six great Zoological Regions6 separate. I pointed out that this could be done by having one or more copying clerks, who would simply go over the drawers of specimens in the order pointed out by the Assistant Keeper of the Department, entering the bare names and each locality from which specimens existed. Such lists would be of immense use to all collectors, students, travellers &c. and would I believe have a sale that would at least repay the cost of printing. Now, with the exception of a few groups which have been thoroughly worked up, there is no means whatever of ascertaining the number of species in the museum, for any group and in any country. Both agreed to look into the matter, but whether anything will be done I do not know.

For naturalists who cannot study in it, the B[ritish].M[useum]. might as well not exist! I have not yet seen the Cambridge Darwinian Memorial volume,7 but I read the contents in "Nature"8 & saw that there were several articles I must read — yours especially. Perhaps after ther "Commemoration" a copy may be sent me, if not I must get it.

I have always thought (with C.de Candolle9) that all life began and became most developed in the tropics; but people usually forget that throughout the greater part of Geol[ogical]. time our temperate zones, had an essentially tropical climate in the lowlands, while the highlands no doubt developed the ancestral temperate forms.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace.

1
The page number (1) is typed at the top of the page in the middle.
2

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. ARW lived here from 1902 until his death in 1913. Smith, C. H. 2018. Chronology of the main events in Wallace's life. The Alfred Russel Wallace Page. <http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/chronol.htm> [accessed 11 September 2018]

3.

3
Thiselton-Dyer edited Flora Capensis (1896-1925) and Flora of Tropical Africa (1897-1913). Thomason, B. 2004. Dyer, Sir William Turner Thiselton- (1843-1928). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/36467> [accessed11 Sep. 2018]. See Wallace's letter to Dyer WCP3853_3772. The double quotation marks before "African" have been struck through.
4
Lankester, Edwin Ray ("Ray") (1847-1929). British zoologist. In 1898 Lankester was appointed director of the natural history departments and keeper of zoology at the British Museum. He retired in 1907. Bowler, P. 2004. Lankester, Sir (Edwin) Ray (1847-1929). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/34406> [accessed 11 Sep. 2018]
5
Lazarus Fletcher (1854-1921). British geologist; Keeper of Mineralogy at the British Museum (Natural History).
6
The regions are Palaearctic, Ethiopian (Africa south of the Sahara), Oriental, Australian, Nearctic, Neotropical, and Antarctic. The Palaearctic (Europe, northern Africa, and northern Asia) and the Nearctic (North America and Greenland) are often combined as the Holarctic region because of the land bridge that existed between them between linking Siberia and Alaska. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998. Faunal region. Encyclopedia Britannica. <https://www.britannica.com/science/faunal-region> [accessed 11 September 2018]
7
On 22-24 June 1909 scientists and dignitaries from over 160 countries met in Cambridge to celebrate the centenary of Darwin's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. A number of commemorative works ensued, including Seward, A.C. (ed.). 1909. Darwin and Modern Science. Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The origin of species. London: Cambridge University Press. Thiselton-Dyer contributed an essay on Geographical Distribution of Plants. van Wyhe, J. (ed.). 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. <http://darwin-online.org.uk/> [accessed 12 September 2018]
8
Nature is an international scientific journal, first published in 1869. Nature. n.d. History of the Journal. <https://www.nature.com/nature/about/> [accessed 12 September 2018]
9
Candolle, Casmir de (1836-1918). Botanist; son of Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyramus de Candolle.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP1482.4350)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2018-09-26] Transcription checked by Ghosh, Susan [2018-09-26] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Transcription (cc) (WCP1482.1261)

[1]1

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.2

June 13th. 1909

To Sir W.T.Thistelton-Dyer.)

Dear Sir William

Many thanks for your interesting letter. It was stupid of me not noticing that the "African "Floras"3 were not completed. I have been writing to Sir E.Ray-Lankester,4& to his successor5 at the B[ritish].M[useum]. suggesting that an effort should be made to issue simple lists of the species of animals in the Museum, for all the larger & more generally interesting groups of Vertebrates, Insects, Molluscs &c. first, keeping each of the six great Zoological Regions6 separate. I pointed out that this could be done by having one or more copying clerks, who would simply go over the drawers of specimens in the order pointed out by the Assistant Keeper of the Department, entering the bare names and each locality from which specimens existed. Such lists would be of immense use to all collectors, students, travellers &c. and would I believe have a sale that would at least repay the cost of printing. Now, with the exception of a few groups which have been thoroughly worked up, there is no means whatever of ascertaining the number of species in the museum, for any group and in any country. Both agreed to look into the matter, but whether anything will be done I do not know.

For naturalists who cannot study in it, the B[ritish].M[useum]. might as well not exist! I have not yet seen the Cambridge Darwinian Memorial volume,7 but I read the contents in "Nature"8 & saw that there were several articles I must read — yours especially. Perhaps after ther "Commemoration" a copy may be sent me, if not I must get it.

I have always thought (with C.de Candolle9) that all life began and became most developed in the tropics; but people usually forget that throughout the greater part of Geol[ogical]. time our temperate zones, had an essentially tropical climate in the lowlands, while the highlands no doubt developed the ancestral temperate forms.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
The page number (1) is typed at the top of the page in the middle.
2

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. ARW lived here from 1902 until his death in 1913. Smith, C. H. 2018. Chronology of the main events in Wallace's life. The Alfred Russel Wallace Page. <http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/chronol.htm> [accessed 11 September 2018]

3.

3
Thiselton-Dyer edited Flora Capensis (1896-1925) and Flora of Tropical Africa (1897-1913). Thomason, B. 2004. Dyer, Sir William Turner Thiselton- (1843-1928). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/36467> [accessed11 Sep. 2018]. See ARW's letter to Dyer WCP3853_L3772.
4
Lankester, Edwin Ray ("Ray") (1847-1929). British zoologist. In 1898 Lankester was appointed director of the natural history departments and keeper of zoology at the British Museum. He retired in 1907. Bowler, P. 2004. Lankester, Sir (Edwin) Ray (1847-1929). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/34406> [accessed 11 Sep. 2018]
5
Lazarus Fletcher (1854-1921). British geologist; Keeper of Mineralogy at the British Museum (Natural History).
6
The regions are Palaearctic, Ethiopian (Africa south of the Sahara), Oriental, Australian, Nearctic, Neotropical, and Antarctic. The Palaearctic (Europe, northern Africa, and northern Asia) and the Nearctic (North America and Greenland) are often combined as the Holarctic region because of the land bridge that existed between them between linking Siberia and Alaska. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998. Faunal region. Encyclopedia Britannica. <https://www.britannica.com/science/faunal-region> [accessed 11 September 2018]
7
On 22-24 June 1909 scientists and dignitaries from over 160 countries met in Cambridge to celebrate the centenary of Darwin's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. A number of commemorative works ensued, including Seward, A.C. (ed.). 1909. Darwin and Modern Science. Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The origin of species. London: Cambridge University Press. Thiselton Dyer contributed an essay on Geographical Distribution of Plants. van Wyhe, J. (ed.). 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. <http://darwin-online.org.uk/> [accessed 12 September 2018]
8
Nature is an international scientific journal, first published in 1869. Nature. n.d. History of the Journal. <https://www.nature.com/nature/about/> [accessed 12 September 2018]
9
Candolle, Casmir de (1836-1918). Botanist; son of Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyramus de Candolle.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (cc) (WCP1482.1261)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2018-09-26] Transcription checked by Ghosh, Susan [2018-09-26] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP1482,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1482