Ɛpsilon

WCP4386

Letter (WCP4386.4639)

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

Decr. 21st. 1890

My dear Poulton1

I am sorry for your domestic disturbance. It must be very disagreeable. Pray do not trouble more about the microscope, for I find now that my daughter2 would prefer something else. The microscope may do for another year, & you may in the meantime hear what is the general opinion of Beck’s [2] Swifts cheap instruments.

Yours very faithfully| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

E. B. Poulton Esq.

P.S. If the Emerald larva stands up as represented, it can hardly imitate catkins I should think. As to Mr Swinhoe’s3 statement about Kallima "always sitting head downwards" I feel sure it must be wrong, as dead leaves usually hang down but fall off at once from the normal position. I should like [3] to know where he observed this.

A.R.W.

1
Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1856-1943). British entomologist. Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College.
2
Wallace, Violet Isabel (1869-1945). Daughter of ARW; teacher.
3
Swinhoe, Charles (1838-1923). British naturalist and lepidopterist, who served in the British Army in India. One of the eight founders of the Bombay Natural History Society. Brother of the Robert Swinhoe.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4386.4639)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-07-17] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Envelope (WCP4386.4640)

Envelope addressed to "E. B. Poulton Esq., Wykeham House, Banbury Road, Oxford", with stamp, postmarked "BOURNEMOUTH | I 22DE | 90". A note is written on front of envelope in Poulton's hand "A R. Wallace 1890"; postmark on back. [Envelope (WCP4386.4640)]

Please cite as “WCP4386,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4386