Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 2

Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 2

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Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2), by James Marchant This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2)
Author: James Marchant
Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #15998]
Language: English
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[Transcriber's note: Footnotes moved to end of book]

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
LETTERS AND REMINISCENCES
[Illustration: A.R. WALLACE (1913)]

Alfred Russel Wallace
Letters and Reminiscences
By James Marchant
_With Two Photogravures and Eight Half-tone Plates_
IN TWO VOLUMES
Volume II
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1916

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

PART III
I. WALLACE'S WORKS ON BIOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
II. CORRESPONDENCE ON BIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (1864-98)
III. CORRESPONDENCE ON BIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (1894-1913)

PART IV
HOME LIFE

PART V
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS

PART VI
SOME FURTHER PROBLEMS
I. ASTRONOMY
II. SPIRITUALISM

PART VII
CHARACTERISTICS
APPENDIX: LISTS OF WALLACE'S WRITINGS
INDEX

LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME II
A.R. WALLACE (1913) Photogravure Frontispiece
MRS. A.R. WALLACE (ABOUT 1895)
THE STUDY AT "OLD ORCHARD"
A.R. WALLACE ADMIRING EREMURUS ROBUSTUS (ABOUT 1905)
GRAVE OF ALFRED RUSSEL AND ANNIE WALLACE
WALLACE AND DARWIN MEDALLIONS IN THE NORTH AISLE OF THE CHOIR OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Alfred Russel Wallace
Letters and Reminiscences

PART III

I.--Wallace's Works on Biology and Geographical Distribution
"I have long recognised how much clearer and deeper your insight into matters is than mine."
"I sometimes marvel how truth progresses, so difficult is it for one man to convince another, unless his mind is vacant."
"I grieve to differ from you, and it actually terrifies me, and makes me constantly distrust myself. I fear we shall never quite understand each other."
--DARWIN TO WALLACE.
During the period covered by the reception, exposition, and gradual acceptance of the theory of Natural Selection, both Wallace and Darwin were much occupied with closely allied scientific work.
The publication in 1859 of the "Origin of Species"[1] marked a distinct period in the course of Darwin's scientific labours; his previous publications had, in a measure, prepared the way for this, and those which immediately followed were branches growing out from the main line of thought and argument contained in the "Origin," an overflow of the "mass of facts" patiently gathered during the preceding years. With Wallace, the end of the first period of his literary work was completed by the publication of his two large volumes on "The Geographical Distribution of Animals," towards which all his previous thought and writings had tended, and from which, again, came other valuable works leading up to the publication of "Darwinism" (1889).
It will be remembered that Darwin and Wallace, on their respective returns to England, after many years spent in journeyings by land and sea and in laborious research, found the first few months fully occupied in going over their large and varied collections, sorting and arranging with scrupulous care the rare specimens they had taken, and in discovering the right men to name and classify them into correct groups.
At this point it will be useful to arrange Darwin's writings under three heads, namely: (1) His zoological and geological books, including "The Voyage of the _Beagle_" (published in 1839), "Coral Reefs" (1842), and "Geological Observations on South America" (1846). In this year he also began his work on Barnacles, which was published in 1854; and in addition to the steady work on the "Origin of Species" from 1837 onwards, his observations on "Earthworms," not published until 1881, formed a distinct phase of his study during the whole of these years (1839-59). (2) As a natural sequence we have "Variations of Animals and Plants under Domestication" (1868), "The Descent of Man" (1871), and "The Expression of the Emotions" (1872). (3) What may be termed his botanical works, largely influenced by his evolutionary ideas, which include "The Fertilisation of Orchids" (1862), "Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants" (1875), "Insectivorous Plants" (1876), "The Different Forms of Flowers and Plants of the same Species" (1877), and "The Power of Movement in Plants" (1880).
A different order, equally characteristic, is discovered in Wallace's writings, and it is to be noted that while Darwin devoted himself entirely to scientific subjects, Wallace diverged at intervals from natural science to what may be termed the scientific consideration of social conditions, in addition to his researches into spiritualistic phenomena.
The many enticing interests arising out of the classifying of his birds and insects led Wallace to the conclusion that it would be best to postpone the writing of his book on the Malay Archipelago until he could embody in it the more generally important results derived from the detailed study