WCP645

Letter (WCP645.817)

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

Octr. 9th. 1909

E. G. Baker1 Esq.

Dear Sir

My friend Revd E. F. Linton,2 has suggested my applying to you for a few figures I am in want of.

They are — the numbers of the phanerograms in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Lapland, or in these countries separately). Also in Denmark, if available.

As they are requested for [2] comparison with those of other European areas, & also other parts of the World of various dates, I do not wish require to have the latest estimates, as they are apt to be swollen by the inclusion of members of sub-species, varieties, & local forms. I should prefer therefore to have the numbers from books of 30 — 40 — or 50 years ago — or if the numbers are only to be had in very recent works [3] I should be obliged if you would accompany them by a general indication of what amount per cent shd be deducted to approximate the scale of species of Hooker3 or Bentham.4

With apologies for troubling you,

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Baker, Edmund Gilbert (1864-1949). Pharmacist, botanist and assistant keeper of Botany at the British Museum (Natural History).
Linton, Edward Francis (1848-1928). Studied at University College, Oxford. Ordained minister. He was an active member of the Botanical Exchange Club.
Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). British botanist and explorer. Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1865-85. President of the Royal Society 1873-78.
Bentham, George (1800-1884). British botanist. President of the Linnean Society 1861-74.

Please cite as “WCP645,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP645