Parkstone, Dorset.
March 8th. 1896
My dear Poulton
I have just been reading with great interest your notice of Romanes’ "Post Darwinian Questions". As I see that he criticises me very fully, & in particular that he discusses again the question of the utility — or as he says inutility — of specific characters, I should like to see the book. Perhaps therefore you would kindly lend it me for a week or two & I will return it, as I should like [2] to write a short statement of the grounds on which I believe "all specific characters" to be or once to have been useful. The more I consider the subject the more convinced I am of the fundamental truth of this position.
I rather wonder, as I am so much discussed in the volume, that Mrs. Romanes did not order a copy to be sent to me.
[3] I have just sent off to the Editor of "Nature" a review of Cope’s new book, which, though full of facts, is about as illogical and as full of astounding omissions, misconceptions & misstatements as any book by a biologist, I have ever seen. With it I review Archdall Reid’s book The Present Evolution of Man, which is very clever & well worth reading.
Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]
Prof. E.B. Poulton
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4400.4664)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Envelope addressed to "Prof. E. B. Poulton F.R.S., Banbury Road, Oxford", with stamp, postmarked "PARKSTONE | A | MR 8 | 96". A note is written on front of envelope in Poulton's hand "A. R. Wallace 1896"; postmark on back. [Envelope (WCP4400.4665)]
Please cite as “WCP4400,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4400