ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, LL. D. 



BY E. D. COPE. 



ALFRED KUSSEL WALLACE was born at Usk, Monmouth- 

 shire, in England, in the year 1822, and he is therefore at 

 present in his sixty-ninth year. As I saw Mr. Wallace in 

 London in 1863, and in America in 1889, I can speak of his 

 appearance "from autopsy." He is above medium height, 

 not of stout build, and with a slight stoop of the shoulders. 

 His head is neither long nor short, and the face is rather 

 round than long. The forehead is fuller at the base than 

 at the summit, and prominent eyebrows overhang eyes which 

 have a vivacious twinkle. The mouth is large and amiable, 

 and is surrounded by a full beard. The complexion is pale, 

 and the expression is a combination of bonhommie and open 

 honesty of character. 



Dr. Wallace's prominence as a teacher of biology is not 

 due to original researches in paleontology or embryology, 

 or extended papers in comparative anatomy ; but it rests on 

 his extensive investigation of living beings in their mutual 

 relations in actual life. This science, which has been termed 

 hexicology, owes its most important development to his la- 

 bors, and to those of his contemporary, Charles Darwin. It 

 is only possible to pursue it on an extended scale by the 

 observation of Nature under many aspects in many regions, 

 and it is therefore desirable that its cultivators shall be trav- 

 elers. Such have been both Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace. 

 Mr. Wallace's explorations have been principally in the trop- 

 ics of both hemispheres. In 1848 he visited the Amazon 

 and some of its tributaries, where he remained four years. 

 He made extensive collections in zoology during this time, 

 but they were most unfortunately burned in the vessel in 

 which he was making the return voyage. He published an 

 account of his observations in a popular book, which I read 

 as a boy with great interest. He also published a brief 

 account of the palms of the Amazons. 



In 1854 Dr. Wallace visited the Malaysian Islands, where 

 he remained eight years. The collections and observations 

 which he made during this exploration gave him occupation 



