Down,
Beckenham, Kent.
(Railway Station
Orpington. S.E.R.)
Jan[uary] 2[n]d 1881
My dear Wallace.
The case which you give is a very striking one, & I had overlooked it in Nature.— But I remain as great a heretic as ever. Any supposition seems to me more probable than that the seeds of plants sh[oul]d have been blown from the [one word illegible crossed out] Mountains of Abyssinia or other central mountains of Africa to the Mountains of Madagascar.— It seems to [2] me almost infinitely more probable that Madagascar extended far to the South during the Glacial period & that the S.[outhern] Hemisphere was according to Croll then more temperate; & that the whole of Africa was then peopled with some temperate forms, which crossed chiefly by agency of Birds & sea-[3] currents, & some few by the wind from the shores of Africa to Madagascar, subsequently ascending to the mountains.
How lamentable it is that two men sh[oul]d take such widely different views, with the same facts before [one word illegible crossed out] them; but this seems to be almost regularly our case, & much do I regret it.—
I am fairly well, but [4] always feel half dead with fatigue.— I heard but an indifferent account of your health some time ago, but trust that you are now somewhat stronger.—
Believe me, | my dear Wallace | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin [signature]
[5]1
C. Darwin to A. R. Wallace
January 2nd 1881
One of the last letters on general subjects I received from him. It states his difference from me on the subject of distribution of plants from N. to S. hemisphere.
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP1987.1877)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 312]
Down, Beckenham, Kent. January 2, 1881.
My dear Wallace, — The case which you give is a very striking one, and I had overlooked it in Nature.1,2 But I remain as great a heretic as ever. Any supposition seems to me more probable than that the seeds of plants should have been blown from the mountains of Abyssinia or other central mountains of Africa to the mountains of Madagascar. It seems to me almost infinitely more probable [2] [p. 313] that Madagascar extended far to the south during the Glacial period, and that the southern hemisphere was, according to Croll,3 then more temperate; and that the whole of Africa was then peopled with some temperate forms, which crossed chiefly by agency of birds and seacurrents; and some few by the wind from the shores of Africa to Madagascar, subsequently ascending to the mountains.
How lamentable it is that two men should take such widely different views, with the same facts before them; but this seems to be almost regularly our case, and much do I regret it.
I am fairly well, but always feel half dead with fatigue. I heard but an indifferent account of your health some time ago, but trust that you are now somewhat stronger. — Believe me, my dear Wallace, | yours very sincerely, | Ch. DARWIN.
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1987.6242)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 233]
"Down,1 January 2, 1881.
"MY DEAR WALLACE,
"The case which you give is a very striking one, and I had overlooked it in Nature;2 but I remain as great a heretic as ever. Any supposition seems to me more probable than that the seeds of plants should have been blown from the mountains of Abyssinia, or other central mountains of Africa, to the mountains of Madagascar. It seems to me almost infinitely more probable that Madagascar extended far to the south during the glacial period, and that the S. hemisphere was, according to Croll,3then more temperate; and that the whole of Africa was then peopled with some temperate forms, which crossed chiefly by agency of birds and sea-currents, and some few by the wind, from the shores of Africa to Madagascar subsequently ascending to the mountains.
"How lamentable it is that two men should take such widely different views, with the same facts before them; but this seems to be almost regularly our case, and much do I regret it. I am fairly well, but always feel half dead with fatigue. I heard but an indifferent account of your health some time ago, but trust that you are now somewhat stronger.
"Believe me, my dear Wallace, | "Yours very sincerely, | "CH. DARWIN."
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP1987.6934)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP1987,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1987