WCP5994

Published letter (WCP5994.6927)

[1]

[5 May 1869]1

"As to the scooping out of lake-basins by glaciers, I have had a long, amicable, but controversial correspondence with Wallace on that subject,2 and I cannot get over (as, indeed, I have admitted in print)3 an intimate connection between the number of lakes of modern date and the glaciation of the regions containing them. But as we do not know how ice can scoop out Lago Maggiore to a depth of 2600 feet, of which all but 600 is below the level of the sea, getting rid of the rock supposed to be worn away as if it was salt that had melted, I feel that it is a dangerous causation to admit in explanation of every cavity which we have to account for, including Lake Superior."

1
For a published transcript of the full letter from which ARW is quoting (See note 2) see WCP5937_P6816, Charles Lyell to Charles Darwin, 5 May 1869, in Lyell, Mrs. (Ed.). (1881). Life Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, BART, London: John Murray, 2: [pp. 441-444].
2

Preceding this quote ARW says "The subject on which Sir Charles Lyell and myself had the longest discussions was that of the effects of the glacial period on the distribution of plants and animals, and on the origin of the lake basins ... In March, 1869, I received from him a letter of thirteen pages, and another of thirty pages ... much as he states [his reasons] in the fourth edition of 'The Antiquity of Man.' " Wallace, Alfred Russel. 1908. My Life: a Record of Events and Opinions, new edition. London Chapman & Hall.[pp. 222-225].

See WCP 2220_L2110, Charles Lyell to ARW, 16 Mar 1869, and WCP2222_L2112, Lyell to ARW, 24 Mar 1869.

3
Lyell, Charles. 1873. The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, with an Outline of Glacial and Post Tertiary Geology, and Remarks on the Origin of Species, with special reference to Man's First Appearance on the Earth, fourth edition, revised. London: John Murray. See note 2.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Published letter (WCP5994.6927)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2019-12-17] Transcription checked by Lucas, Paula [2020-08-13]

Please cite as “WCP5994,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 9 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP5994