Ɛpsilon

WCP4506

Letter (WCP4506.4813)

[1]

Frith Hill, Godalming

March 20th. 1888

My dear Meldola1

I enclose you 4 ½d in stamp postage of my umbrella you were so good as to return.

I have been working away at my hybridity chapter,2 and am almost disposed to cry — "Eureka"! for I have got light on the problem. When almost in despair of making it clear that Nat. Select. could act one way or the other I luckily routed out an old paper that I wrote 20 years ago, giving a demonstration of the action of Nat. Select. It did not convince Darwin3 then, but it has convinced me now, and I think [2] it can be proved that in some cases, (& those I think most probable) – nat. select. will accumulate variations in infertility between incipient species. Many other causes of infertility cooperate, & I really think I have overcome the fundamental difficulties of the question & made it a good deal clearer than Darwin left it. During your Easter Holidays, when you are free from pressure of work I shd. much like you to read this whole [3] chapter & let me know if you can find any fallacies in it or suggest any further improvement in the argument.

It I think also it completely smashes up Romanes.4

What fearful Arctic weather!

Kind regards to Mrs. Meldola senior & junior5 —

Yours faithfully| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Meldola, Raphael (1849-1915). British chemist and entomologist.
2
Wallace, A. R. 1889. Darwinism: an exposition of the theory of natural selection with some of its applications. London & New York: Macmillan & Co.
3
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).
4
Romanes, George John (1848-1894). Canadian-born British evolutionary biologist and physiologist.
5
Meldola (née Davis), Ella Frederica (1863-1932). Wife of Raphael Meldola.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4506.4813)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lord, Annette [2012-07-20] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Published letter (WCP4506.6404)

[1] [p. 41]

TO PROF. MELDOLA

Frith Hill, Godalming. March 20, 1888.

My dear Meldola, — I have been working away at my hybridity chapters, and am almost disposed to cry "Eureka!" for I have got light on the problem. When almost in despair of making it clear that Natural Selection could act one way or the other, I luckily routed out an old paper that I wrote twenty years ago, giving a demonstration of the action of Natural Selection. It did not convince Darwin then, but it has convinced me now, and I think it can be proved that in some cases (and those I think most probable) Natural Selection will accumulate variations in infertility between incipient species. Many other causes of infertility co-operate, and I really think I have overcome the fundamental difficulties of the question and made it a good deal clearer than Darwin left it.... I think also it completely smashes up Romanes.

— Yours faithfully, | ALFRED R. WALLACE.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP4506.6404)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Lo, Yen-Nyuk [2020-07-28] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP4506,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4506