Ɛpsilon

WCP4026

Letter (WCP4026.3969)

[1]

Hurstpierpoint

March 11th. 1868

Dear Newton1

Mr. Gurney2 has sent me some notes on the Spizaeti we examined together, which I have returned & have asked him to send to you for insertion along with my note in the next "Ibis".3

I return you Blyth's4 note with thanks. I omitted to look over his lengthy notes as I ought to have done. I do not think that a bird's being in the Calcutta Museum as from Malacca, is always sufficient proof that [2] it really came from there. The name rupereus Horsf. I maintain must be sunk, the description being quite unrecognizable even though the types are in the E. I. Museum.

With regard to Huxley's5 'Classification'6 I cannot think that such a heterogeneous group as his Desmognathae, for instance, will ever be adopted by Ornithologists.

What I wish Huxley would do is to try and trace out the genealogy of Birds, and then [3] leave us to arrange our own groups, for it is evident the same genealogical tree can be divided many ways into groups, of various degrees of convenience and homogeneity.

Embryology and anatomy shd mark out for us the lines of affinity, not mass birds into great groups, which are almost sure to be at least as "irrational and unsatisfactory" — as schemes founded on external characters.

Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[4]7

1
Newton, Alfred (1829-1907). British zoologist and ornithologist. Founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union.
2
Gurney, John Henry (1819-1890). British banker, politician and ornithologist.
3
Wallace, A. R. 1868. Corrections of, and Additions to, the Catalogue of the Raptorial Birds of the Malay Archipelago. Ibis. 4(14): 215-216.
4
Blyth, Edward (1810-1873). British zoologist; Curator of the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 1841-62.
5
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895). British biologist and author, known as "Darwin's Bulldog".
6
Huxley, T. H. 1867. On the classification of birds; and on the taxonomic value of the modifications of certain of the cranial bones observable in that class. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 415-472.
7
In Newton’s handwriting, "A. R. Wallace, March 11/68." The letter has not been found.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4026.3969)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Royce, Isobel [2013-02-04] Transcription checked by Lucas, Paula J. [2014-05-06] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-06-10] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Enclosure (WCP4026.3970)

[1]

[A tree diagram appears here.]

____________________

1 2 3

A AB A

B DCE BCD

DC GF EG

E EF

F

G

Of these three arrangements of the above related groups, each might agree best with certain characters, but none could be said to be absolutely truer than the other. We should therefore choose the most convenient & that which agreed best with external characters.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Enclosure (WCP4026.3970)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Royce, Isobel [2013-01-30] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-30] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-06-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4026,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4026