Parkstone, Dorset.
Decr.. 31st. 1895
My dear Meldola
I am glad you are going to stir up the Entomologists with some general principles. I do not think species-describing is of any special use to the philosophical generaliser, but I do think the collecting, naming, & classifying, some extensive group of organisms is of great use, is, in fact, almost essential to any thorough grasp of the whole subject of the Evolution of species through variation & nat[ural] selection — I had described nothing when I wrote my papers on variation &c. [2] (except a few fishes & palms from the Amazon) but I had collected, & made out species, very largely, & had seen, to some extent, how curiously useful & protective their forms & colours often were, & all this was of great use to me. I think the errors (as I consider them) of Galton & Bateson, are to a great extent due to a want of such training.
I hope you are not killing yourself with overwork. I am fairly well. I had a delightful trip to Switzerland in the summer with Mr. Mitten, & we spent 10 continuous days of fine weather among the high [3] Alps collecting flowers & observing the effects of ice-action.
Will was out of his time with Mssrs. Holmes last July, but they have kept him on, & he has been now almost a year in Scotland, the last 6 months superintending the fitting up of Electric lights in houses & ships. He seems very well & to thoroughly enjoy his work. I hope they will keep him on another year so that he may I get experience & confidence.
Remember me to Poulton, & with best wishes for the New Year
Believe me| Yours very truly| Alfred R. Wallace [signature]
Poor Riley’s death in the prime of life — & just as he had given up official work in order to devote himself to research, was very sad.1
Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4531.4838)]
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Please cite as “WCP4531,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4531