WCP1942

Letter (WCP1942.1832)

[1]

Down.

Beckenham Bromley

Kent. S.E.

Mar[ch] 16 1871

My dear Wallace

I have just read your grand review.1 It is in every way as kindly expressed towards myself as it is excellent in matter.

The Lyells have been here, & Sir C[harles].2 remarked that no one wrote such good scientific reviews as you, & as Miss Buckley3 added you delight in picking out all that is good, though very far from blind to the bad. In all this I most entirely agree. I shall always consider [2] your review as a great honour; & however much my book may hereafter be abused, as no doubt it will be, your review will console me, notwithstanding that we differ so greatly. I will keep your objections to my views in my mind, but I fear that the latter are almost stereotyped in my mind. I thought for long weeks about the inheritance & selection difficulty, & covered quires of paper with notes, in trying to get out of it, but c[oul]d not, tho' clearly seeing that it w[oul]d be a g[rea]t relief if I c[oul]d.

[3] I will confine myself to 2 or 3 remarks. I have been much impressed with what you urge against colour in the case of insects having been acquired thro' S[exual]. selection. I always saw that the evidence was very weak; but I still think, if it be admitted that the musical instruments of insects have been gained through S[exual]. selection, that there is not the least improbability in colour having been thus gained. Your argument under with respect to the denudation of mankind & under also to insects, that taste on the part of one sex w[oul]d have to remain nearly the same [4] during many generations, in order that S[exual]. selection sh[oul]d produce any effect, I agree &c.; & I think this argument w[oul]d be sound if used by one who denied that, for instance, the plumes of birds of Paradise had been so gained. I believe you admit this, & if so I do not see how your argument applies in other cases. I have recognised for some short time that I have made a great omission in not having discussed, as far as I could, the acquisition of taste, its inherited nature, & its permanence within pretty close limits for long periods.

[5] One other point & I have done; I see by p. 179 of y[ou]r Rev[iew]. that I must have expressed myself very badly to have led you to think that I consider the prehensile organs of males as affording evidence of the females exerting a choice.4 I have never thought so, & if you chance to remember the passage (but do not hunt for it)5 pray point it out to me— I am extremely sorry that I gave the note from Mr Stebbing6; I thought myself bound to notice his suggestion [6] of beauty as a cause of denudation, & thus I was led on to give his argument.7 I altered the final passage which seemed to me offensive, & I had misgivings about the first part. I heartily wish I had yielded to these misgivings. I will omit in any future ed[ition]— the latter half of the note.

I have heard from Miss Buckley that you have got possession of your chalk pit & I congratulate you on the tedious delay being over. I fear all our bushes are so large that there is nothing which we are at all likely to [7] grub up. Years ago we threw away loads of things.

I sh[oul]d very much like to see y[ou]r house & grounds; but I fear the journey w[oul]d be too long. Going even to Kew knocks me up, & I have almost ceased trying to do so.

Once again let me thank you warmly for y[ou]r admirable review—

My dear Wallace | yours ever very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]

Thanks about the Bugis8— What an excellent address you [8] gave about Madeira,9 but I wish you had alluded to Lyell's discussion on land-shells &c.—, not that he has said a word on subject. 10 The whole address quite delighted me. I hear Mr Crotch11 disputes some of your facts about the wingless insects; but he is a crotchety man.—

As far as I remember I did not venture to ask Mr. Appleton12 to get you to review me, but only said in answer to an enquiry that you would undoubtedly be the best, or one of the very few men who could do so effectively.—

A pencil superscript annotation adds '(Of Descent of Man)' above the text "review". See Wallace, A. R. 1871. Darwin's 'The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex'. Academy. 2: 177-83.
Lyell, Charles (1797-1875). British lawyer and geologist.
Buckley (married name Fisher), Arabella Burton (1840-1929). British writer, science educator and spiritualist.
Darwin refers to Wallace, A. R. 1871. Darwin's 'The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex'. Academy. 2: 179.
ARW adds a pencil annotation 'Vol 1. p. 421' below the text "remember the passage".
Stebbing, Thomas Roscoe Rede (1835-1926). British zoologist and Anglican clergyman.
See Darwin, C. R. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2 vols. London, UK: John Murray.Vol 2. p.376.
Darwin refers to the Buginese people, the largest of the three ethnic groups of South Sulawesi. ARW discussed the Buginese people in his 1864 paper 'On the Varieties of Man in the Malay Archipelago' read at the Ethnological Society of London and later incorporated into The Malay Archipelago. (Wallace, A. R. 1864. On the Varieties of Man in the Malay Archipelago. Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London 3: (n.s.) p.204). ARW sent Darwin a description of the Buginese people in response to Darwin's letter of 13 March [1871]. See WCP4103.4092.
ARW gave a presidential address to the Entomological Society of London on the 22 January 1871. Wallace, A. R. 1871. The President's Address. Transactions of the Entomological Society Of London. li-lxxv.
Charles Lyell discussed the distribution of terrestrial molluscs in Principles of Geology. (Lyell, C. 1867-1868. Principles of Geology. 2 Vols. 10th Edition. London, UK: John Murray. Vol 2. pp.372-377).
Crotch, George Robert (1842-1874). British entomologist and assistant at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology 1873-4.
Appleton, Charles Edward Cutts Birchall (1841-1879). British lecturer on philosophy and editor of The Academy 1869-79.

Published letter (WCP1942.6026)

[1] [p. 260]

Down, Beckenham, Kent, S.E. March 16, 1871.

My dear Wallace, — I have just read your grand review.1 It is in every way as kindly expressed towards myself as it is excellent in matter. The Lyells have been here and Sir C.2 remarked that no one wrote such good scientific reviews as you, and as Miss Buckley3 added, you delight in picking out all that is good, though very far from blind to the bad. In all this I most entirely agree. I shall always consider your review as a great honour, and however much my book may hereafter be abused, as no doubt it will be, your review will console me, notwithstanding that we differ so greatly.

I will keep your objections to my views in my mind, but I fear that the latter are almost stereotyped in my mind. I thought for long weeks about the inheritance and selection difficulty, and covered quires of paper with notes, in trying to get out of it, but could not, though clearly seeing that it would be a great relief if I could. I will confine myself to two or three remarks. I have been much impressed with what you urge against colour4 in the case [2] of insects having been acquired through sexual selection. I always saw that the evidence was very weak; but I still think, if it be admitted that the musical instruments of insects have been gained through sexual selection, that there is not the least improbability in colour having been thus gained. Your argument with respect to the denudation of mankind, and also to insects, that taste on the part of one sex would have to remain nearly the same during many generations, in order that sexual selection should produce any effect, I agree to, and I think this argument would be sound if used by one who denied that, for instance, the plumes of birds of paradise had been so gained.

I believe that you admit this, and if so I do not see how your argument applies in other cases. I have recognised for some short time that I have made a great omission in not having discussed, as far as I could, the acquisition of taste, its inherited nature, and its permanence within pretty close limits for long periods.

One other point and I have done: I see by p. 179 of your review that I must have expressed myself very badly to have led you to think that I consider the prehensile organs of males as affording evidence to the females exerting a choice. I have never thought so, and if you chance to remember the passage (but do not hunt for it), pray point it out to me.

I am extremely sorry that I gave the note from Mr. Stebbing; I thought myself bound to notice his suggestion of beauty as a cause of denudation, and thus I was led on to give hie argument. I altered the final passage which seemed to me offensive, and I had misgivings about the first part.

I heartily wish I had yielded to these misgivings. I will omit in any future edition the latter half of the note.

[3] I have heard from Miss Buckley that you have got possession of your chalk pit, and I congratulate you on the tedious delay being over. I fear all our bushes are so large that there is nothing which we are at all likely to grub up.

Years ago we threw away loads of things. I should very much like to see your house and grounds; but I fear the journey would be too long. Going even to Kew knocks me up, and I have almost ceased trying to do so.

Once again let me thank you warmly for your admirable review. — My dear Wallace, yours ever very sincerely, | C. Darwin.

What an excellent address you gave about Madeira, but I wish you had alluded to Lyell's discussion on land shells, etc. — not that he has said a word on the subject. The whole address quite delighted me. I hear Mr Crotch5 disputed some of your facts about the wingless insects, but he is a crotchety man. As far as I remember, I did not venture to ask Mr. Appleton to get you to review me, but only said, in answer to an inquiry, that you would undoubtedly be the best, or one of the very few men who would do so effectively.

A footnote inserted here reads, "In the Academy, March 15, 1871."
Lyell, Sir Charles (1797-1875). British lawyer and geologist.
Buckley (married name Fisher), Arabella Burton (1840-1929). British writer, science educator and spiritualist.
A footnote inserted here reads, "Mr. Wallace says that the pairing of butterflies is probably determined by the fact that one male is stronger-winged or more pertinacious than the rest, rather than by the choice of the females. He quotes the case of caterpillars which are brightly coloured and yet sexless. Mr. Wallace also makes the good criticism that 'The Decent of Man' consists of two books mixed together." — "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," iii. 137.
Crotch, Mr. George Robert (1842-1874). Entomologist.

Please cite as “WCP1942,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1942