Down.
Bromley.
Kent. S.E.
Ap[ril]. 9. [1868]1
My dear Wallace
You allude in y[ou]r note to several points which I sh[oul]d much enjoy discussing with you did time & strength permit. I know Dr Seeman2 is a good botanist, but I most strongly advise you to shew3 the list to Hooker4 before you make use of the materials [2] in print. Hooker seems much over worked & is now gone a tour, but I suppose you will be in town before very long, & c[oul]d see him.
The list is quite unintelligible to me; it is not pretended that the same species exist in the Sandwich I’[sland]s [Hawaiian Islands] & Arctic Regions; & as far as the genera are concerned, I know that in almost every one of them [3] species inhabit such countries as Florida, N. Africa, New Holland [Australia] &c. Therefore these genera seem to me almost mundane, & their presence in the Sandwich I[sland].s will not, as I suspect in my ignorance, shew any relation to the Arctic regions. The Sandwich I[sland].s, tho’ I have never considered them much, have long been a sore perplexity to me; they are eminently oceanic in position & productions; they [4] have long been separated from each other; & there are only slight signs of subsidence in the islets to the westward.
I remember however speculating that there must have been some immigration during the glacial period from N. America or Japan; but I cannot remember what my grounds were. Some of the plants, I think, shew an affinity with Australia.
I am very glad that you like Lyell’s5 chapter on oceanic islands,6 for I thought it one of the best in the part which I have read. If you do not receive the big photo. of me in due time, let me hear.
yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1898.1788)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 211]
Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. April 9, 1868.
My dear Wallace, — You allude in your note to several points which I should much enjoy discussing with you did time and strength permit. I know Dr. Seeman is a good botanist, but I most strongly advise you to show the list to Hooker before you make use of the materials in print. Hooker seems much overworked, and is now gone a tour, but I suppose you will be in town before very long, and could see him. The list is quite unintelligible to me; it is not pretended that the same species exist in the Sandwich Islands and Arctic regions; and as far as the genera are concerned, I know that in almost every one of them species inhabit such countries as Florida, North Africa, New Holland, etc. Therefore these genera seem to me almost mundane, and their presence in the Sandwich Islands will not, as I suspect in my ignorance, show any relation to the Arctic regions. The Sandwich Islands, though I have never considered them much, have long been a sore perplexity to me: they are eminently oceanic in position and productions; they have long been separated from each other; and there are only slight signs [2] of subsidence in the islets to the westward. I remember, however, speculating that there must have been some immigration during the glacial period from North America or Japan; but I cannot remember what my grounds were. Some of the plants, I think, show an affinity with Australia. I am very glad that you like Lyell's chapter on Oceanic Islands, for I thought it one of the best in the part which I have read. If you do not receive the big photo of me in due time, let me hear. — Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1898.5985)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1898,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1898