WCP5004

Published letter (WCP5004.5442)

[1]1 [p. 42]

The Dell, Grays, Essex,

July 27, 1873.

To "Parallax."

Sir,—I have just received a note from Mr. Coulcher, saying he will act for me; but he adds, "I consider the time of year most unfavourable for the telescope, on account of vapours and the flickering of the air, especially when the telescope is so near the surface. I am quite positive that the bridge from either end, could not be defined. Late in October or early in November would be the best time."

As Mr. Coulcher is a resident on the spot and thoroughly practiced in the use of the telescope, of which he has several excellent ones, I think you would do well not to risk seeing nothing and proving nothing by going now.

I think it right to send you this information at once.

Yours truly,

ALFRED A. WALLACE.

1
. Editor Charles H. Smith's Note: Some three years after the Bedford Canal "flat earth" experiment was carried out in 1870, it was proposed that the experiment be repeated, albeit with a certain difference of approach. Wallace was agreeable, but the arrangements became complicated and the effort bogged down. Related correspondence was published as part of a summary of the discussion in the August/September 1873 issue of The Zetetic and Anti-Theorist (a "cosmography" journal edited by one of the chief flat-earth proponents, known as "Parallax"). Some twenty-three letters were printed; following are Wallace's five contributions to the discussion, written over a period of about two weeks in July 1873.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP5004.5442)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Smith, Charles Hyde [2013-02-06] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-02-08]

Please cite as “WCP5004,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5004