WCP1866

Letter (WCP1866.1756)

[1]

Down.

Bromley.

Kent. S.E.

Sep 22 [1865]1

Dear Wallace

I am much obliged for your extract;2 I never heard of such a case, though such a variation is perhaps the most likely of any to occur in a state of nature & be inherited, inasmuch as all domesticated birds present races with a tuft or with reversed feathers on their heads. [2] I have sometimes thought that the progenitor of the whole class must have been a crested animal.

Do you make any progress with your journal of travels? I am the more anxious that you sh[oul]d do so as I have lately read with much interest some papers by you on the Ouran Outang &c —2 in the [3] Annals of which I have lately been reading the latter volumes. I have always thought that Journals of this nature do considerable good by advancing the taste for Natural history; I know in my own case that nothing ever stimulated my zeal so much as reading Humboldt’s Personal Narrative3.

I have not yet rec[eive]d the last part of Linn[ean]. Tran[sactions]. but your paper at present will be rather beyond my strength, for tho’ [4] somewhat better I can as yet do hardly anything but lie on the sofa & be read aloud to. By the way have you read Tyler4 & Lecky5. Both these books have interested me much. I suppose you have read Lubbock7. In the last Chap. there is a note about you in which I most cordially concur. I see you were at the Brit[ish]. Assoc[iation].7 but I have heard nothing of it except what I have picked up in the Reader.6 I have heard a rumour that the Reader is sold to the Anthrop[ological]. Soc[iety].7 If you do not begrudge the trouble of another note (for my sole channel of news thro’ Hooker8 is closed by his illness) I sh[oul]d much like to hear [5] whether the Reader is thus sold. I sh[oul]d be very sorry for it as the paper w[oul]d thus become sectional in its tendency. If you write tell me what you are doing yourself.

The only news which I have about the Origin9 is that Fritz Müller10 published a few months ago a remarkable book in its favour11 & 2ndly that a new 2nd French edition is just coming out12

[6] Believe me | dear Wallace | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]

1
An annotation in red pencil at the top right-hand corner of page 1 adds "1864?". The correct year of 1865 has been established by the Darwin Correspondence Project see DCP-LETT-4896.
2
Darwin refers to ARW three papers on orang-utans which were published in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History in 1856. See Wallace, A. R. 1856. On the Habits of the Orang-utan of Borneo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 18 (2nd s.): 26-32 (July 1856: no. 103, 2nd s.).; Wallace, A. R. 1856. On the Orang-utan or Mias of Borneo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 17 (2nd s.): 471-476 (June 1856: no. 102, 2nd s.). and Wallace, A. R. 1856. Some Account of an Infant "Orang-utan." Annals and Magazine of Natural History 17 (2nd s.): 386-390 (May 1856: no. 101, 2nd s.).
3
Humboldt, A. de, and Bonpland, A. 1821. Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, During the years 1799-1804, 7 vols. London, UK: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
4
Tylor, E. B. 1865. Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilization. London: John Murray.
5
Lecky, W. E. H. 1865. A History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe. 2 vols. London: Longmans.
6
The Reader: A Review of Literature, Science and the Arts, was a British weekly paper published from January 1863 until 1867 and edited by David Masson. During the first year of its publication, the editorial board was dominated by Christian Socialists, thereafter control shifted to the 'Young Guard' of science including Huxley, Spencer, Tyndall and Lubbock. (Byrne, John F. 1964 The Reader: A Review of Literature Science and the Arts, 1863-1867. Northwestern University: Unpublished doctoral dissertation).
7
The Anthropological Society of London was founded in 1863 by Richard F. Burton and James Hunt. The society broke away from the older Ethnological Society of London and opposed its monogenist stance and political liberalism. Members of the Anthropological Society tended to support polygenism and were skeptical of Darwinism. In 1871 the Anthropological Society merged with the British Association for the Advancement of Science to form the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. (Spencer. F. (Ed.) 1997. History of Physical Anthropology. 2 vols. London: Garland Publishing. Vol 2. pp.506-507.)
8
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer.
9
Darwin, C. R. 1861. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. 3rd edition. London, UK: John Murray.
10
Müller, Johann Friedrich Theodor ("Fritz") (1821-1897). German biologist and an early advocate of Darwinism.
11
Müller, F. 1864. Für Darwin. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann.
12
Darwin, C. R. 1866. L'origine des espèces par sélection naturelle ou des lois de transformation des êtres organisés. Traduit en Français avec l'autorisation de l'auteur par Clémence Royer avec une préface et des notes du traducteur. Deuxième édition augmentée d'après des notes de l'auteur. Paris: Victor Masson et fils; Guillaumin et Cie.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1866.1756)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2012-06-29] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Published letter (WCP1866.5948)

[1] [p. 163]

Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. September 22, 1865.

Dear Wallace,— I am much obliged for your extract; I never heard of such a case, though such a variation is perhaps the most likely of any to occur in a state of nature and be inherited, inasmuch as all domesticated birds present races with a tuft or with reversed feathers on their heads. I have sometimes thought that the progenitor of the whole class must have been a crested animal.

Do you make any progress with your Journal of travels? I am the more anxious that you should do so as I have lately read with much interest some papers by you on the ouran- [2] [p. 164] outang, etc., in the Annals, of which I have lately been reading the latter volumes. I have always thought that Journals of this nature do considerable good by advancing the taste for natural history; I know in my own case that nothing ever stimulated my zeal so much as reading Humboldt's Personal Narrative. I have not yet received the last part of Linnean Transactions, but your paper1 at present will be rather beyond my strength, for though somewhat better I can as yet do hardly anything but lie on the sofa and be read aloud to. By the way, have you read Tylor and Lecky!2 Both these books have interested me much. I suppose you have read Lubbock?3 In the last chapter there is a note about you in which I most cordially concur.4 I see you were at the British Association, but I have heard nothing of it except what I have picked up in the Reader. I have heard a rumour that the Reader is sold to the Anthropological Society. If you do not begrudge the trouble of another note (for my sole channel of news through Hooker is closed by his illness), I should much like to hear whether the Reader is thus sold. I should be very sorry for it, as the paper would thus become sectional in its tendency. If you write, tell me what you are doing yourself. The only news which I have about the "Origin" is that Fritz Müller published a few months ago a remarkable book5 in its favour, and secondly that a second French edition is just coming out. — Believe me, dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.

1
A footnote here reads: "Probably the one on the Distribution oi Malayan Butterflies, Linn. Soc. Trans., xxv."
2
A footnote here reads: "E. B. Tylor's "Early History of Mankind," and Lecky's "Rationalism.""
3
A footnote here reads: "Prehistoric Times."
4
A footnote here reads: "The note speaks of the "characteristic unselflshness" with which Wallace ascribed the theory of Natural Selection to Darwin."
5
A footnote here reads: "Für Darwin."

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1866.5948)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP1866,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 19 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1866