WCP4063

[1]

Frith Hill, Godalming

March 15th. 85/

My dear Newton¹

Many thanks for the copy of your art. Ornithology from Enc. Britt. I have look through it with much interest and find an admirable resumé both of the progress of Bird study & especially of Bird Classification.

Only on one point will I make any remark. I do not think your arguments in favour of the Ratite as the earliest type of Birds are very strong, while I feel pretty sure that existing Ratite are ^{(some of them)}[illeg.] almost certainly descended from Carinatae. In fact [2] the absence of the keel is simply the result of the very long continued disuse of wings & the almost complete loss — hence it cannot be the characteristic ^mark of a fundamental division of Birds.

I have now almost wholly given up Nat. Hist. for Political & Social Science, but I still take the greatest interest in all the principles & important advances of [3] Natural History.

Believe me | yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[4]²