WCP4358

Letter (WCP4358.4586)

[1]

Frith Hill, Godalming

Jany. 20th. 1889

My dear Mr. Poulton

My attention has been called by Mr. Herdman, in his Inaugural Address to the Liverpool Biol[ogical] Soc[iety], & to Galton’s paper on "Heredity", which I read years ago but had forgotten. I have just read it again (in Journ[al] of Anthrop[ological] Institute Vol.V p.329,— Jan[uar]y 1876) and I find a remarkable anticipation of Weismann’s theories which I think should be noticed in a preface to the Translation of his book. He argues that [word crossed out] it is the undeveloped germs or germules of the fertilised ovum that form [2] the sexual elements of the offspring — & thus heredity and atavism are explained. He also argues that — as a corollary —"acquired modifications are barely if at all inherited in the correct sense of the word." He shows the imperfection of the evidence on this point, & admits, just as Weismann does, the heredity of changes in the parent — like alcoholism — which by permeating the whole tissues may directly affect the reproductive elements.

In fact, all the main features of Weismann’s views seem [3] to be here anticipated, — & I think he ought to have the credit for it. Being no physiologist his language is not technical, & for this reason, & the places of publication perhaps, his remarkable paper appears to have been overlooked by physiologists.

I think you will find the paper very suggestive, even supplying some points overlooked by Weismann.

Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Envelope (WCP4358.4587)

Envelope addressed to "E. B. Poulton Esq., Wykeham House, Oxford", with stamp, postmarked "GODALMING | B | JA 21 | 89". A Pencil note is written on front of envelope in Poulton's hand: "Jany. 20. 1889"; postmark on back. [Envelope (WCP4358.4587)]

Published letter (WCP4358.6410)

[1] [p. 45]

Frith Hall, Godalming.

January 20, 1889.

My dear Mr. Poulton1,— My attention has been called by Mr. Herdman2, in his Inaugural Address to the Liverpool Biological Society, to Galton's3 paper on "Heredity", which I read years ago but had forgotten. I have just read it again (in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. V., p. 329, Jan., 1876), and I find a remarkable anticipation of Weismann's4 theories which I think should be noticed in a preface to the translation of his book.5 He argues that it is the underdeveloped germs or gemmules of the fertilised ovum that form the sexual elements of the offspring, and thus heredity and atavism are explained. He [2] [p. 46] also argues that, as a corollary, "acquired modifications are barely if at all inherited in the correct sense of the word." He shows the imperfection of the evidence on this point, and admits, just as Weismann does, the heredity of changes in the parent like alcoholism, which, by permeating the whole tissues, may directly affect the reproductive elements. In fact, all the main features of Weismann's views seem to be here anticipated, and I think he ought to have the credit of it.

Being no physiologist, his language is not technical, and for this reason, and the place of publication perhaps, his remarkable paper appears to have been overlooked by physiologists.

I think you will find the paper very suggestive, even supplying some points overlooked by Weismann.—Yours faithfully,

A. R. Wallace

Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1856-1943). British Entomologist.
Herdman, William Abbott (1858-1924). British marine zoologist.
Galton, Francis (1822-1911). British biostatistician, polymath and founder of eugenics. One of the key figures in 19th Century research into heredity. Half-cousin of Charles Darwin.
Weismann, August Friedrich Leopold (1834-1914). German evolutionary biologist and founder of germ plasm theory. His work was influential in disproving the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Wallace indicates a footnote here which reads "See footnote 3, pp. 172-3, of Weismann's "Essays upon Heredity,"etc."

Please cite as “WCP4358,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4358