WCP1919

Letter (WCP1919.1809)

[1]

Down.

Bromley.

Kent. S.E.

March 27 [1869]1

My dear Wallace

I must send a line to thank you, but this note will require no answer.— The very morning after writing I found that Elk was used for moose in Sweden, but I had been reading lately about Elk & moose in N. America.—

As you put the case in your letter2, which I think differs somewhat from your book3, I am inclined to agree, & had thought that a feather c[oul]d. hardly be increased in length until [2] it had first grown to full length, & therefore it w[oul]d be increased late in life & transmitted to corresponding age.— But the Crossoptilon pheasant & even common pheasant shows that the tail feathers can be developed very early.

Thanks for other facts, which I will reflect on, when I go again over my M.S.

I read all that you said [3] about the Dutch Government with much interest, but I do not feel I know enough to form any opinion against yours.

I shall be intensely Curious to read the Quarterly4: I hope you have not murdered too completely your own & my child. I have lately i.e. in new Edit[ion], of Origin 5 been moderating my zeal, & attributing much more to mere useless variability.— I did think [4] I w[oul]d send you the sheet, but I daresay you w[oul]d not care to see it, in which I discuss Nägeli[']s essay6 on Nat[ural]. selection, not affecting characters of no functional importance, & which yet are of high classificatory importance. Hooker7 was is pretty well satisfied with what I have said on this head. It will be curious if we have hit on similar conclusions.— You are about the last man in England, who would [5] deviate a hair's breadth from his conviction to please any Editor in the world.—

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]

P.S. After all I have thought of one question, but if I receive no answer I shall understand that (as is probable) you have8 [6] nothing to say:— I have seen it remarked that the men & women of certain tribes differ a little in shade or tint: but have you ever seen or heard of any difference which in tint between the 2 sexes, which did not appear to follow from a difference in habits of life?—

1
ARW adds '1869' as a red pencil annotation at the upper centre margin of page 1. The Darwin Correspondence Project have confirmed 1869 as the correct dating for this letter. See DCP-LETT-6684.
2
See ARW's letter to Darwin on 24 March 1869 (WCP4089.4036).
3
Wallace, A. R. 1869. The Malay Archipelago; the Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise, 2 vols. London, UK: Macmillan.
4
[Wallace, A.R.]. 1869. Sir Charles Lyell on Geological Climates and the Origin of Species. Quarterly Review 126 (April 1869. 252): 359-394.
5
Darwin, C. R. 1869. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 5th Ed. London, John Murray.
6
Nägeli, C. W. 1865. Entstehung und Begriff der Naturhistorischen Art. Munich: Verlag der K. Akad.
7
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer.
8
'over' is added as a circled pen annotation at the bottom right-hand corner of page 5.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1919.1809)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Darwin Correspondence Project [2012-11-19] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Published letter (WCP1919.6006)

[1] [p. 240]

Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. March 27, 1869.

My dear Wallace, — I must send a line to thank you, but this note will require no answer. This very morning after writing I found that "elk" was used for "moose" Sweden, but I had been reading lately about elk and moose in North America.

As you put the case in your letter, which I think differs somewhat from your book, I am inclined to agree, and had thought that a feather could hardly be increased in length [2] [p. 241] until it had first grown to full length, and therefore it would be increased late in life and transmitted to a corresponding age. But the, Crossoptilon pheasant, and even the common pheasant, show that the tail feathers can be developed very early.

Thanks for other facts, which I will reflect on when I go again over my MS.

I read all that you said about the Dutch Government with much interest, but I do not feel I know enough to form any opinion against yours.

I shall be intensely curious to read the Quarterly: I hope you have not murdered too completely your own and my child.

I have lately, i.e. in the new edition of the "Origin,"1 been moderating my zeal, and attributing much more to mere useless variability. I did think I would send you the sheet, but I daresay you would not care to see it, in which I discuss Nägeli's essay on Natural Selection not affecting characters of no functional importance, and which yet are of high classificatory importance.

Hooker is pretty well satisfied with what I have said on this head. It will he curious if we have hit on similar conclusions. You are about the last man in England who would deviate a hair's breadth from his conviction to please any editor in the world. — Yours very sincerely, CH. DARWIN.

P.S."After all, I have thought of one question, but if I receive no answer I shall understand that (as is probable) you have nothing to say. I have seen it remarked that the men and women of certain tribes differ a little in shade or tint; but have you ever seen or heard of any difference in tint between the two sexes which did not appear to follow from a difference in habits of life?

1
A footnote here reads: "The fifth edition, pp. 150-7."

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1919.6006)]

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 “WCP1919,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 11 October 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1919