4 Chester Place
Regents Park.
N.W.
(address for next 14 days)
17th [March 1868]1
My dear Wallace
Many thanks about Pieridae. I have no photographs up here, but will remember to send one from Down.— Should you care to have a large one, of treble or quadruple common size, I will with pleasure send you one under glass cover, to any address you like in London, either now or hereafter.— I grieve to say we shall not be [2] here on April 2d. as we return home on 31st.— In summer I hope that Mrs Wallace2 & yourself will pay us a visit at Down, soon after your return to London; for I am sure you will allow me the freedom of an invalid.—
My paper tomorrow at Linn[ean]. Soc[iety]. is simply to prove alas! that Primrose & Cowslip are as good species as any in the world, & that there is no trustworthy evidence of one [3] producing the other.3 The only interesting point is the frequency of the production of natural hybrids, i.e. oxlips & the existence of one kind of oxslip, which constitute a third good & distinct species. I do not I [one illeg. word crossed out] suppose that I shall be able to attend at Linn[ean]. Soc[iety]. tomorrow.—
I have been working hard in collecting facts on sexual selection every morning in London, & have done a good deal; but the subject grows more & more complex & in [4] many respects more difficult & doubtful.— I have had grand success this morning in tracing gradational steps by which Peacock tail has been developed: I quite feel as if I had seen a long line of its progenitors.—
I do not feel that I shall grapple with the sterility argument till my return home; I have tried once or twice & it has made my stomach feel as if it had been [5]4 placed in a vice.— Your paper5 has driven 3 of my children half-mad— One sat up to 12 oclock over it— My second son6, the mathematician, thinks that you have omitted one almost inevitable deduction which apparently could modify the result. He has written out what he thinks, but I have not tried fully to understand him. I suppose that you7 [6] do not care enough about [the] subject to like to see what he has written.—
I hope your Book progresses. I am intensely curious to see your paper in Murray’s8 Journal.9
My dear Wallace | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1891.1781)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 201]
4 Chester Place, Regent's Park, N.W. March 17, 1868.
My dear Wallace, — Many thanks about Pieridae. I have no photographs up here, but will remember to send one from Down. Should you care to have a large one, of treble or quadruple common size, I will with pleasure send you one under glass cover, to any address you like in London, either now or hereafter. I grieve to say we shall not be here on April 2nd, as we return home on the 31st. In [2] [p. 202] summer I hope that Mrs. Wallace and yourself will pay us a visit at Down, soon after you return to London; for I am sure you will allow me the freedom of an invalid.
My paper to morrow at the Linnean Society is simply to prove, alas! that primrose and cowslip are as good species as any in the world, and that there is no trustworthy evidence of one producing the other. The only interesting point is the frequency of the production of natural hybrids, i.e. oxlips, and the existence of one kind of oxlip which constitutes a third good and distinct species. I do not suppose that I shall be able to attend the Linnean Society to-morrow.
I have been working hard in collecting facts on sexual selection every morning in London, and have done a good deal; but the subject grows more and more complex, and in many respects more difficult and doubtful. I have had grand success this morning in tracing gradational steps by which the peacock tail has been developed: I quite feel as if I had seen a long line of its progenitors.
I do not feel that I shall grapple with the sterility argument till my return home; I have tried once or twice and it has made my stomach feel as if it had been placed in a vice. Your paper has driven three of my children half-mad — one sat up to twelve o'clock over it. My second son, the mathematician, thinks that you have omitted one almost inevitable deduction which apparently would modify the result. He has written out what he thinks, but I have not tried fully to understand him. I suppose that you do not care enough about the subject to like to see what he has written?
I hope your book progresses.
I am intensely anxious to see your paper in Murray's Journal. — My dear Wallace, yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1891.5978)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1891,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1891