WCP6079

Letter (WCP6079.7029)

[1]1

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS,

KEW, SURREY.

DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

31 July 1917

Dear Mr Wallace,

I am very much obliged to you for your letter of 27th inst[ant] and for the museum specimens so kindly sent and safely received.

The exhibits are a very welcome addition to my collection for apart from their intrinsic value they will be much prized by us owing to their connection with the memory with your illustrious father.

With very warm thanks for your kind gift

Believe me | Yours sincerely | D. Prain. [signature]

W. G. Wallace Esq[uire].

Ashley Chambers

Boscombe

[2]

This relates to the two specimens of Curare poison2,3

Two specimens of Curare poison from the Amazon. One a block or thick stick with palm leaf wrapping, the other contained in a little pot [line drawing in ink inserted here] with ?palm-leaf cover.4,5

1

The page is numbered [WP16/2/56] in pencil in the top RH corner.

2.

3.

2
Faint but decipherable handwriting of the recipient, possibly an erased pencil annotation.
3
Common name for various plant extract alkaloid arrow poisons, originating from Central and Southern America, which cause muscular paralysis in victims.
4
Annotation in ink in the hand of the recipient.
5
The three main types of curare have different active agents: tube or bamboo curare, packed into hollow bamboo tubes; pot curare, originally packed in terra cotta pots, and calabash or gourd curare, originally packed into hollow gourds.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP6079.7029)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2018-08-15]

Please cite as “WCP6079,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6079