Ɛpsilon

WCP4381

Letter (WCP4381.4631)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

June 5th. 1890

My dear Mr. Poulton1

Many thanks for your book on "Colours".2 I wondered what had become of it. As soon as I am through my Examination Papers & L. N. Society’s Meeting I shall read it most carefully.

Thank you so much for your last correctns. to "Darwinism".3

Have you seen Romanes’4 extraordinary attack on me in the May Nineteenth Century? I can’t make out what he means, (see pp. 831 and 832) [2] but shall not notice it publickly. Have you seen the new? book5 by Eimer6 translated by Cunningham7 on Evolution through Acquired Characters. Romanes had the best of his last discussion with Ray Lankester,8 who seems to have missed the point of "Panmixia".

Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1856-1943). British entomologist. Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College.
2
Poulton, Edward Bagnall. 1890. The colours of animals, their meaning and use, especially considered in the case of insects. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner; New York: D. Appleton and Company.
3
Wallace, A. R. 1889. Darwinism: an exposition of the theory of natural selection with some of its applications. London & New York: Macmillan & Co.
4
Romanes, George John (1848-1894). Canadian-born British evolutionary biologist and physiologist.
5
Eimer, G. H. Theodor. 1890. Organic Evolution as the result of the Inheritance of Acquired Characters, etc. Translated by J. T. Cunningham. London: Macmillan and Co.
6
Reimers, Christian (1827-1889). German musician and spiritualist.
7
Cunningham, Joseph Thomas (1859-1935). British marine biologist and zoologist known for his experiments on flatfish and his writings on neo-Lamarckism.
8
Lankester, Edwin Ray ("Ray") (1847-1929). British authority zoology. Made important contributions to comparative anatomy, embryology, parasitology, and anthropology.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4381.4631)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-07-16] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Envelope (WCP4381.4632)

Envelope addressed to "E. B. Poulton Esq. F.R.S., Wykeham House, Oxford", with stamp, postmarked "PARKSTONE | E | JU 5 | 90"; postmark on back. [Envelope (WCP4381.4632)]

Please cite as “WCP4381,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4381