Broadstone, Wimborne
Nov[embe]r. 25th. 1907
My dear Poulton
Many thanks for letting me see the proofs, which I return, in case you want them. I enclose 2 ~ 3 short notes on details of expression: but the whole reads very clearly, and I am delighted with the way you expose the Mendelian & Mutational absurd claims. That ought really to open the eyes of the Newspaper men [2] to the fact that Nat[ural] Select[io]n & Darwinism are not only holding their ground but are becoming more firmly established than ever by every fresh research into the ways and workings of living nature. I shall look forward to great pleasure in reading the whole book. I was greatly pleased with Archdall Reid’s view of [3] Mendelism in "Nature". He is a very clear & original thinker.
I see in Essay X[?]. you use in the Title the term — "Defensive Colouration". Why this instead of the usual "Protective"? Surely the whole function of such Colours & Markings is to protect from attack — not to defend when attacked. The latter is the function of stings spines & hard coats. I only mention this because using different terms may lead to some misconception.
[4]1 Your illustration of Mutation by throwing colours at a screen[?] & the argument founded on it I liked much. That reminds me that H[erbert] Spencer’s argument for inheritance of acq[uire]d var[iatio]ns — that coordination of many parts at once, required for adaptation, would be impossible by chance variations of those parts — applies with a hundredfold force to mutations, which are admittedly so much less frequent both in their numbers and the repetitions of them.
With best wishes| Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4434.4720)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Memoranda on Proof
Slip.
3. End of third par[agraph] should not it be — "long" intervals?
5. Would it not be better to omit the words "(so fully discussed &c." as they break & weaken the sentence — or if kept insert them after "Mimicry".
__________________________________
5. In 5th par[agraph]
"great things with small" —
This is obscure — I at first thought it was intended to apply to Nat[ural] Select[ion] & Gravitation — & I read it as meaning that Nat[ural] Select[ion] is the "great". Or does it refer to N[atural] Select[ion] & Mimicry? and if so — they are not sufficiently "great" and "small".
Status: Draft transcription [Enclosure (WCP4434.4721)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1] [p. 85]
Broadstone, Wimborne
November 26, 1907
My dear Poulton,- Many thanks for letting me see the proofs1. . . . The whole reads very clearly, and I am delighted with the way you expose the Mendelian and Mutational absurd claims. That ought to really open the eyes of the newspaper men to the fact that Natural Selection and Darwinism are not only holding their ground but are becoming more firmly established than ever by every fresh research into the ways and workings of living nature. I shall look forward to great pleasure in reading the whole book. I was greatly pleased with Archdall Reid's2 view of Mendelism in Nature.3 He is a very clear and original thinker.
I see in Essay X. you use in the title the term "defensive coloration." Why this instead of the usual "protective"? Surely the whole function of such colours and markings is to protect from attack- not to defend when attacked. The latter is the function of stings, spines and hard coats. I only mention this because using different terms may lead to some misconception.
Your illustration of mutation by throwing colours on a screen, and the argument founded on it, I liked much. That reminds me that H. Spencer's4 argument for inheritance of acquired variations- that co-ordination of many parts at once, required for adaptations, would be impossible by chance variations of those parts- applies with a hundredfold force of mutation, which are admittedly so much less frequent both in their numbers and the repetitions of them. Yours very truly,
Alfred R. Wallace
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP4434.6453)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP4434,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4434