WCP2330

[1]¹

Cambridge,

[Massachusetts]

May 14, 1876

My dear Sir

I have delayed replying to your favour of April 12 until I could give you some sort of an answer — I fear you will be disappointed at the little aid I can render — I know almost nothing of — I may as well say absolutely nothing of the entomological fauna of the Pacific Islands — Indeed I am very confident that it is better known in England than here, for the British Museum² at least has been the final resting place of many a collection from there — as witness M^r Butler’s³ recent paper on the Lepidoptera of the South Seas⁴ &c[.]

The only information we have in America is through ^{the visits of} occasional [2] collectors in the Hawaiian Islands⁵ (which, by the way, those who visit them generally say should never be called the Sandwich Islands, lest they be confounded with two other Pacific islands of that name)⁶ and from such knowledge as we may obtain from American missionaries — They have only been however to the Hawaiian Islands and to Micronesia⁷ or the Caroline,⁸ Marshall⁹ and Kingsmill¹⁰ groups — your enquiry is concerning the Eastern islands — Should you also wish any information concerning the Micronesian islands, you would best address Rev[erend]. L. H. Gulick,¹¹ Care Rev[erend]. D. C. Greene¹² Yokohama Japan. He is a brother of the Gulick¹³ who gave some years ago in Nature an account of the distribution of the terrestrial molluscks [sic] in the Hawaiian Islands.¹⁴

I do not know a single person in this country who can give you any information concerning the Society¹⁵ & Marquesas Islands¹⁶ or the Galapagos¹⁷ [3]¹⁸ based on personal experience excepting D[octo]^r Charles Pickering¹⁹ (11, Beacon St[reet] Boston) who visited them or some of them while attached to Wilkes’ Exploring Exp[edition].²⁰ Whether Prof[essor]. J D Dana²¹ (N[ew]. Haven, C[onnecticu]t.) who was also attached to the expedition was in the vessel that visited these islands I do not recollect[.] [T]he narrative of the voyage²² would show.

Nothing whatever has been published on the plants of these islands ^{as D[octo]r Gray informs me 23} excepting one volume of the Botany of Wilkes’ Expedition issued by the Government²⁴ — An account of the flora of Guadalupe²⁵ (off Lower California) is given in the 11^th volume of the Proceedings of the American Academy (Boston)²⁶ to be issued in just one fortnight — A general introduction to it you will find in the current volume of the American Naturalist for April²⁷ —

Should you write [to] M^r W[illia]^m T. Brigham²⁸ (S[ain]t. James Ave[nue], Boston) I think he might give you some general information concerning the Hawaiian Islands — he spent about a year there making collections, mostly in Botany; He is not strictly speaking [4] a scientific man, but ought to assist you somewhat — Unfortunately my personal relations with him are not now of such a nature as to admit of my writing [to] him in [sic] your behalf, or I would save you the trouble or delay.

I put your question concerning the humming birds²⁹ to several parties, but can get no satisfactory answer — A slight consideration, however, will show that there is no great probability that of finding a flower fertilized exclusively by them. We have a large number of long-tongued Sphingidae³⁰ wherever Humming Birds occur, and to answer the requirements there should be some flower with a long and slender tubular flower blossom, open only in broad daylight³¹— D[octo]^r Gray suggested the trumpet-creeper, but that does not go close and M^r Gentry³² of Pennsylvania who has been studying the fertilization of flowers says that it is fertilized by species of Bombus³³ as often as by Humming Birds.³⁴ M^r Gentry says he [5]³⁵ can give you ^{the names of} a number of flowers "often occasionally" fertilized by these birds[.]³⁶

To return[?] to what your request concerning the Galapagos I may remark that I have just written a paper on the geographical distribution of Vanessa cardui³⁷ (taking ground that it originated in the New World) and hunted everywhere, but without success to find a record of its occurrence in the Galapagos — I do not recollect noticing a single mention of any butterfly on that island — D[octo]^r Edward Palmer,³⁷ whose collection in Guadalupe formed the basis of Mr Watson’s³⁹ article on the botany of that island,³⁷ collected also insects as assiduously as [6] possible and sent me "the only butterfly found on the islands" which was Vanessa carye[.]

I have also been looking up the question of Vanessa cardui at the Hawaiian Islands and Tahiti³⁸ while I can see no way of explaining the statement of their presence of this insect in the former, other than by careless transposition of labels in the British Museum years ago, it still seems to me very unlikely that it ever occurred there — The only other butterflies known on the islands are Vanessa Kamehameha³⁹ [sic] (indigenous speciation) and Danaida Plexippus⁴⁰ [sic] (introduced from America)[.]

[7]⁴¹

I take the liberty of sending you a copy of my paper on the distribution of the latter insect in the Pacific Ocean,⁴² and when it appears will send you that on V[anessa]. cardui[.]

Regretting that I have been able to respond so poorly to your desire, I remain

Very faithfully yours | Sam. H. Scudder⁴³ [signature]

A. R. Wallace Esq[uire]

P[ost]. S[criptum]. I will also add another number of "Psyche",⁴⁴ containing Mr Jones[’s]⁴⁵ account of the introduction of Terias Lisa⁴⁶ into the Bermudas.⁴⁷

D[octo]r Palmer collected also four Orthoptera⁴⁸ at Guadalupe — one that winged Gryllus,⁴⁹ allied to G[ryllus]. Peruviana, and apparently indigenous, Anacridium,⁵⁰ found also on [the] opposite coast, and [8]⁵¹ two species of Oedipodidae⁵² of the genus Trimerotropis,⁵³ one found on the opposite coast, and the other not yet known from there but which I presume will be — For brief account of Diptera⁵⁴ see Proc[eedings]. [of the] Bost[on]. Soc[iety]. [of] Nat[ural]. Hist[ory]., XVIII, 133-4.⁵⁵ S[amuel]. H[ubbard]. S[cudder].

Very many thanks for your Coute[?].