WCP2192

Letter (WCP2192.2082)

[1]1, 2

South Laund

Chislehurst

July 21. [18]86

Dear Sir,

Your letter was forwarded to me but I have no means at present to give you the required information; as I have not my references at hand. I am very busy just now as I am leaving next week for an the West Indies on an eclipse expedition. But on my return in October I shall be very glad to look up my [2] notes and if possible send you some of the Himalaya dust. I do not know however whether they have been carried distances greater than say ten or twenty miles. A geologist might be able to tell by the nature of the dust as I have the exact locality.

It may interest you in connexion with this question that Prof. Helmholtz3 told me in conversation some time ago [3] 4 that according to some calculations he had made, dust of the size of the Krakatao dust & projected originally with a force like that of the Krakatao eruption5, would might take three or four years before it has settled dow[n] again. During that time it could of course be carried any distance.

Yours truly | Arthur Schuster [signature]

I shall stay here till next Wednesday & shall be glad to give you whatever [4] information I can, without my books. It might be worth while to write to John Murray6, Challenger Office, Edinburgh, who has I believe mo a great deal of information on dust.7

1
Manuscript text diagonally across top left hand corner reads "Answ[ere]d".
2
Manuscript text in top right hand corner reads "176".
3
von Helmholtz, Professor Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand (1821 — 1894). German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science.
4
Manuscript text in top right hand corner reads "177".
5

Krakatoa or Krakatao (Indonesian: Krakatau). The Indonesian island group situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra comprising the remnants of a much larger island of three volcanic peaks which was obliterated in a cataclysmic 1883 eruption. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history.

6.

6
Murray, Sir John KCB FRS FRSE FRSGS (1841 — 1914). Scottish oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist. In 1872 Murray assisted in preparing scientific apparatus for the Challenger Expedition and then joined the crew as a naturalist. After the expedition he was appointed Chief Assistant at the Challenger offices in Edinburgh where he managed and organised the collection.
7
A red British Museum crown stamp appears towards the bottom of the page left of centre.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2192.2082)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Coleman, David [2015-05-11] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-05-11] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP2192,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2192