Ɛpsilon

WCP3853

Letter (WCP3853.3772)

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

June 11th 1909

Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer,1 F. R. S &c.

Dear Sir William

As you edited the "Flora Capensis"2 and "Flora of Tropical Africa",3 you will probably remember whether you have given in either or both of these works, the total number of the species described; and if so if you can give them me the numbers. If you have not the works at hand and can tell me where the information is to be found (in the Preface or at the end) I will ask the Librarian [2] of the Linnean Society to extract the numbers for me.

If you should happen to know any works that give the number of described plants in Tropical America and Tropical Asia & Malaya I should be much obliged for the information, as I am making a general comparison of such numbers both of Plants and Animals, for a book I am preparing [3] on the subject of my Roy. Institution Lecture — "The World of Life."4

There are I think some very interesting and suggestive conclusions to be drawn from such numbers; — but, here, far away from Libraries, — I find it very difficult to get them. Pray excuse my troubling you.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[4]5

Thonner's6 census (in Blütenpflanzen Afrikas[)]

Species of Tropical Africa (exclusive of the Mascarenes and Madagascar) 18300; in the Mascarenes and Madagascar 5950; in South Africa 13300.

I am afraid there are no statistics available for Tropical America and the Indo-Malayan region, and it would take a great deal of time to work them out.

12.6.09 O.S.7

1
Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner (1843-1928). Leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
2
Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner, et al. 1859-1900. Flora capensis :being a systematic description of the plants of the Cape colony, Caffraria, & Port Natal (and neighbouring territories). Volumes 1 to 7. Various publishers.
3
Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner; Prain, David. 1868. Flora of tropical Africa. Ashford, Kent, L. Reeve.
4
Wallace, A. R. 1909. The world of life: as visualised and interpreted by Darwinism. Fortnightly Review (n.s.) 85 (507): 411-434.
5
In Stapf’s handwriting.
6
Thonner, Franz (1863-1928). Austrian botanist and taxonomist.
7
Stapf, Otto (1857-1933). British-Austrian botanist and taxonomist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3853.3772)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Shapland, Lesley [2014-04-29] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2014-04-29] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP3853,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3853