WCP7246

[1] [p. 3]

To a Cumnock gentleman, who asked for a description of the most gratifying experience of his scientific career, Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, the renowned naturalist, who is now in his 88th year, has written the following interesting letter:—

"You have asked me a very difficult thing, which, being not very well and anxious to get on with a projected (and begun) work, it is quite impossible for me to perform, however inadequately.

"If I try to think of what at the time produced the greatest mental gratification, many incidents are recalled, and it is almost impossible for me to decide which was the most gratifying.

"The following are some of those that gave me most pleasure:—

"1.—My first introduction to savage man in a state of nature.

"2.—My first king bird of paradise.

"3.—The Papuans at Ké Island.

"4.—My discovery of natural selection—a flash of light!

"5.—My first visit to Big Trees of Calaveros [sic Calaveras].

"My three works—'Theory of Bird's Nests,' 'Development of Human Races,' and 'Man's Place in the Universe'—seemed to come to me in flashes of intuition, and their working out gave me the greatest mental gratification."