Frith Hill, Godalming
April 12th, 1888
My Dear Meldola1
Many thanks for your criticism. It is a perfectly sound one as against my view being a complete explanation of the phenomena,— but that I do not claim. And I do not see any chance of the required facts being forthcoming in for many years to come. Experiments in the hybridization of animals are so difficult & tedious that even Darwin never undertook any, & the only people who could & ought to have done it— the Zool.[ogical] Soc.[iety]— will not. There is one point however [2] I think you have overlooked. You urge the improbability of the required infertility being correlated with the particular variations which characterised each incipient species. But the whole point of my argument is that the physiological adjustments producing fertility are so delicate that they are disturbed by almost any variation or div change of conditions— except in the case of domestic animals which have been domesticated, because they are not subject to this disturbance. The whole first half of the chapter is to bring out this fact, which Darwin has dwelt upon, and [3] it certainly does afford a foundation for the assumption that actually & in some considerable number of individuals, variation in nature, under accompanied by somewhat changed conditions of life,— is accompanied by, & probably correlated with, some amounts of infertility. No doubt this assumption wants proving,— but in the mean time I am glad you think that, granting the assumption, I have above that natural selection is able to accumulate sterility variations.
That is certainly a step in advance, and we cannot expect to do [4] more than take very short theoretical steps till we get more facts to rest upon. If you should happen to come across any facts which seem to hear upon it pray let me know, I can find more but those I have referred to.
I have just finished a chapter on male ornament & display, which I trust will help clean up that point.
You must have had a delightful walk. Is not Corfe Castle grand? I trust we are going to have fine weather at last. With kind remembrances to your mother & wife.
Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R.Wallace [signature]
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3984.3925)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 42]
TO PROF. MELDOLA
Frith Hill, Godalming. April 12, 1888.
My dear Meldola, — Many thanks for your criticism. It is a perfectly sound one as against my view being a complete explanation of the phenomena, but that I do not claim. And I do not see any chance of the required facts being forthcoming for many years to come. Experiments in the hybridisation of animals are so difficult and tedious that even Darwin never undertook any, and the only people who could and ought to have done it — the Zoological Society — will not. There is one point, however, I think you have overlooked. You urge the improbability of the required infertility being correlated with the particular variations which characterised each incipient species. But the whole point of my argument is, that the physiological adjustments producing fertility are so delicate that they are disturbed by almost any variation or change of conditions — except in the case of domestic animals, which have been domesticated because they are not subject to this disturbance. The whole first half of the chapter is to bring out this fact, which Darwin has dwelt upin, and it certainly does afford a foundation for the assumption that usually, and in some considerable number of individuals, variation in nature, accompanies by somewhat changed conditions of life, is accompanied by, and probably correlated with, some amount of infertility. No doubt this assumtion wants proving, but in the meantime I am glad you think that, granting the assumption, I have shown that Natural Selection is able to accumulate sterility varitations.
That is certainly a step in advance, and we cannot expect [2] to do more than take very short theoretical steps till we get more facts to rest upon. If you should happen to come across any facts which seem to bear upon it, pray let me know. I can find none but those I have referred to.
I have just finished a chapter on male ornament and display, which I trust will help to clear up that point. — Believe me yours very faithfully, ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP3984.6405)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP3984,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 12 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3984