Ɛpsilon

WCP2834

Letter (WCP2834.2724)

[1]1

CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE.

Technical College Finsbury

Leonard Street. City Road.

London E.C.

June 28th 1904

My dear Wallace,

Your approbation of my review2 is extremely gratifying because the book is a mixture of such very diverse opinions. Also in a "Nature" review one is limited to a few columns & I have already exceeded the usual Editorial allowance. It is astonishing to see the great hold upon the Cambridge school obtained by de Vries3 v. Bateson.4 Even Francis Darwin5 is more or less under their dominion! I dare say you noticed that his Presidential Address to the Brit. Assoc. in Dublin last year was distinctly Lamarckian. But I for one feel like that in a few years us shall see “Mutationism” defunct & "Mendelism" assigned to its proper place. Among the speeches delivered in the Senate House, Ray Lankaster’s6 was the only one which really reaffirmed the true Darwin7-Wallace position - which he did (like E.R.L.!)8 somewhat aggressively in view of the fact that do de Vreis himself was present. I cannot [2] make out why I was not asked to contribute to the Memorial volume. I suppose I am too "Darwinian" for that school! Hooker9was there & seemed quite vigorous.

I am rejoiced to hear that your work is ongoing & we shall look forward to a further vindication of the only workable theory of the Origin of Species.

The Cambridge people have printed Darwin's original rough draft of the "Species Theory" (1842). F. Darwin has edited it & it is a very interesting historical contribution to Organic Evolution. But no doubt they have sent you a copy.

With kindest regards to you & yours, | yours very sincerely, | R. Mendola.10[signature]

1
In pencil in unknown handwriting, “Meldola”
2
Meldola, R. 1904. Colouring matters, artificial and natural: [Review of] A systematic survey of the organic colouring matters. Founded on the German of Drs. G. Schultz and P. Julius. By Arthur G. Green, F.I.C., &c., Professor of Tinctorial Chemistry at the Yorkshire College, Leeds. Second edition. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
3
de Vries, Hugo (1848-1935). Dutch botanist and geneticist, best known for his rediscovery of the work of Gregor Mendel (along with Carl Correns and Erich von Tschermak) in the late 1890’s.
4
Bateson, William (1861-1926). Pioneering British geneticist and supporter of the work of Gregor Mendel. One of the key figures behind the modern synthesis in evolutionary biology.
5
Darwin, Francis ("Frank") (1848-1925). British botanist; 3rd son of Charles Robert and Emma Darwin.
6
Lankester, Edwin Ray ("Ray") (1847-1929). British authority zoology. Made important contributions to comparative anatomy, embryology, parasitology, and anthropology.
7
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
8
See note 6.
9
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer. Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1865-85. President of the Royal Society 1873-78.
10
Meldola, Raphael (1849-1915). British chemist and entomologist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2834.2724)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Sherwood, Danni [2020-06-09] Transcription checked by Lo, Yen [2020-10-30] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP2834,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2834