WCP2477

Letter (WCP2477.2367)

[1]1

Telegraph & Rail2,

Shoreham, Kent.

L. C. & D. RLY.3

16 Nov[embe]r. [18]93

DARENT-HULME4,

SHOREHAM,

SEVENOAKS.

Dear Mr. Wallace,

I see you are engaged upon that ever[?]-interesting subject The Glacial phenomena — At least upon that phase of it which treats of the Erratic blocks5. You are probably aquainted with the recent researches [2] of the Danish Geologists in Greenland which give a much higher conception of the power[?] & rapidit[y] of ice work[?] than did the the earlier researches in the Alps. In case you have not seen this report I send you a copy of one of my papers which will give you a clue[?] [3]6 to the subject7. You will find it at p. 11 of the paper. The object[?] of the paper otherwise is mainly that of glacial time as regards the antiquity of Man & I am

Very truly yours | Joseph Prestwich8 [signature] [4]9,10

1
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "312".
2
The spread of the railway in Victorian Britain was closely linked to the development of the electric telegraph. The first operational telegraph system linked Euston station and Camden town, and from there it spread all over the railway network, used both to carry messages and to control signalling. BBC History <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/victorian_technology_01.shtml> [accessed 12 August 2015].
3
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company in south-east England created in 1859. Its lines ran through London and Kent and formed part of the Greater London commuter network. Wikipedia.
4
Sir Joseph Prestwich built the house Darent-Hulme, high on the downs above the village of Shoreham in Kent in 1865. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
5
A glacial erratic is a rock or boulder that differs from the surrounding rock and is believed to have been brought from a distance by glacial action. Wikipedia.
6
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "313".
7
Prestwich's paper, "Considerations on the Date, Duration, and Conditions of the Glacial Period, with reference to the Antiquity of Man", was given to the Geological Society of London on May 25, 1887. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol 43 , 1887, Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 754 pp, [pp. 393-410]. <http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/173080#page/6/mode/1up> [accessed 10 August 2015]. He discussed observations by Agassiz,Forbes, Tyndall and others on the glaciers of the Alps. [pp. 398-399], and the Danish expedition in Greenland [pp. 399-400].
8
Prestwich, Sir Joseph (1812-1896). Geologist. ODNB.
9
Text in another hand across the top of the page reads "Jos Prestwich".
10
There is a British Museum stamp in red ink on the lower half of the page.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2477.2367)]

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Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2018-08-15]

Please cite as “WCP2477,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2477