WCP2757

Letter (WCP2757.2647)

[1]1

H.M.S. GRAFTON.

China Station

4th August, 1896.

Dear Sir,

In your "Island Life"2 in many places you state that the a other animals (but mammals and birds) of various islands are not sufficiently well known to be able to draw any conclusions from them — e.g. at p. 400 in speaking of Japan. As I take a great interest in questions zöological and shall probably be out here (though whether on the North or the South part of the station I know not) for the next three years, I wish to do as much zöological research in that time as possible, but, to do this, it is necessary to know what to investigate.

Can you therefore advise me of any [2] 2/. particular group which requires working out?

At present I am working at the Lycaenidae and Micro-Lepidoptera (the Incomplete of our modern systematists), but if there be other groups which require investigation more than these, I should be very pleased indeed if you could give me any information on the subject.

Apologising for thus trespassing on your time,

Believe me to be | yours very truly | T. B. Fletcher.3 [signature]

A. R. Wallace, Esquire,

Parkstone,

Dorset.

In ARW’s handwriting, "Asked for orchids! Sept 6th 1896".
Wallace, A. R. 1895. Island life: or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates. Second and revised edition. London and New York: Macmillan and Co.
Fletcher, Thomas Bainbrigge Walter Campbell (1878-?). Paymaster, Royal Navy. Entomologist to the Indian Government.

Please cite as “WCP2757,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2757