WCP4237

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

July 26th 1909

Dear Mr Cockerell¹,

Many thanks for your letter. I see that we think very much alike on the various points in the theory of evolution you refer to.

There is one more enquiry I should wish you to make when in sSwitzerland as to the aggregation of species in limited areas.

The term "blumen-alp" is applied to many localities [2] 2/² where there is a rich display of alpine flowers consisting largely of a densely matted growth of small shrubs and herbaceous plants. These are spoken of by Swiss botanists as the glory of the alpine flora.

I should much like to know if any local botanists have determined the total number of species growing on any of these "blumen-alps"; as I think they may prove to be ^nearly as rich in this respect as any other [incomplete word illeg. and crossed out] localities in the world.

You might also make enquiry of botanical friends [3] as to whether any similar small area of the equatorial forests has ever been thoroughly explored for several ^{a series of} years and the results stated. The parts best adapted for this enumeration would be any of the great forest regions of S. America, Africa, or Eastern Asia within a few degrees of the equator at not more than a thousand feet or so above the sea; as I believe, theoretically, these should be the richest portions of the earth’s surface; and though the facts as yet known are [4] very imperfect they seem to point to this conclusion.

As you seem interested in this subject I venture to hope that you will be able to obtain some definite information upon it.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]