Ɛpsilon

WCP2992

Letter (WCP2992.2882)

[1]1

BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY),

CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON: S. W.

10 August 1910

Dear Sir

I am sorry that we can be of little help to you in stating the numbers you ask for.

The number of Inorganic chemical compounds known to occur in Nature may be taken roughly as 1000.

From Moissan's2 Traité de Chimie Minérale - 3 Tom. 8o Paris 1904-06 it may be inferred from this "Table alphabetique de tous les corps simples composés cités dans le Traité de Chimie Minéralé that he recognises the total number known as being about 8000 (natural & artificial). I myself [2] should not be inclined to lay any stress on this number except as an irreducible minimum.

As for Organic Compounds we have not the book you mention here and very little literature on the subject: I think you had better write to some organic chemist - say Prof. Henry Armstrong3 or Sir Henry Roscoe.4

I am | Yours faithfully | L. Fletcher5 [signature]

Dr A. R. Wallace F.R.S

[3] Fletcher6

1
In ARW’s handwriting, "Answd".
2
Moissan, Ferdinand Frédéric Henri (1852-1907). French chemist and pharmacist. Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry in 1906.
3
Armstrong, Henry Edward (1848-1937). British organic chemist and educational reformer.
4
Roscoe, Henry Enfield (1833-1915). British chemist. Professor of Chemistry at Manchester in 1857-1886. First President of the Society of Chemistry Industry.
5
Fletcher, Lazarus (1854-1921). British geologist; Keeper of Mineralogy at the British Museum (Natural History) 1880-1909 and the Director 1909-19.
6
In pencil in ARW’s handwriting, “Fletcher”.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2992.2882)]

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 “WCP2992,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2992