WCP4242

Letter (WCP4242.4311)

[1]

Dec[embe]r 17th. 1911

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Dorset.

My dear Mr Cockerell1

I have received a very nice parcel of fine roots of the handsome Primula Parryi2, which I saw growing luxuriantly near Kelso’s Cabin, below Gray’s Peak3 at 11,500 feet, and which I hope to see in flower again next spring; as I have given it a place where it can get its roots in water as it did there, on the margin of the stream. [2] I am very sorry you had, apparently, to get the m from a messenger instead of gathering them, and I thank you very much for your valued present.

I have written to Mr. D. M. Andrews4 to ask him what Alpines he can send me.

About 2 months back I was much surprised and pleased to have a visit from Miss Eastwoood5, my companion in our trip to Gray’s Peak and Grizzly Gulch, in July 1887, where we saw [3] the American Alpine Flora at the snow-line in perfection. She tells me she has been all over the Sierras of California, and has many friends whom she can ask to collect seeds of Alpines for me, so I do hope to have something good next year.

I hope your negotiations with Sutton & Co[mpany]6. about the new Red Sunflower will turn out well, and lead to further profitable business with them. The "Ic[h]thyol" ointment you kindly sent me for my Eczema, was too irritating [4] for me but, I am slowly getting betting better under dry applications [of] Oxide of Zinc; but chiefly I believe under a system of "feeding-up", I now eat[illeg. crossings out] three good meals a day, chiefly of meat & fruit, and I find this makes me slowly stronger & also diminishes the Eczema.

Answering letters, reading the papers, mag[azine]s. & books with a lot of words fills up my time, with attention to my Alpines & seedling Primulas, though I have promised to write an important article, when I feel up to it, — "On the Influence of the Environment on Morals." We are having the dullest, dampest & dreariest winter I remember, after the hottest summer!

With kind regards to your wife.

Yours faithfully | Alfred R Wallace [signature]

The political and foreign situation is now most interesting with us, and I am glad to have lived to see such a hopeful dawn.7

1
Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (1866 — 1948). American zoologist.
2
Primula Parryi. Species of the genus primula, named after Charles Christopher Parry, British-American botanist 1823 — 1890.
3
Gray’s Peak (14,278ft, 4,352m). Highest mountain in the Front Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA. first climbed by Charles C Parry.
4
D. M. Andrews. American nurseryman based in Boulder, Colorado. Publisher of nursery and seed catalogues. Also known as the Alpine Nurseries and the Rockmont Nursery.
5
Alice Eastwood. Canadian-American botantist (1859 — 1953). Acted as a guide for ARW when he spent a week exploring the flora of the Rocky Mountains and gathering information for his theories on glaciation.
6
Suttons Seeds. Suppliers of bulbs, seeds and horticultural products founded in Reading, Berkshire in 1806.
7
This comment, written in the form of a postscript, is written vertically in the left-hand margin of the final page of the letter.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4242.4311)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Cooper, Rod [2012-09-21] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15]

Please cite as “WCP4242,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 13 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4242