Correspondence on Biology, etc. 



To Prof. Poulton 

 Frith Hill, Cfodalming. October 20, 1887. 



My dear Poulton,— It is very interesting to me to see 

 how very generally the facts are in accordance with theory, 

 and I am only surprised that the exceptions and irregu- 

 larities are not more numerous than they are found to be. 

 The only difficult case, that of D. euphorhicc^ is due prob- 

 ably to incomplete knowledge. Are lizards and sea-birds 

 the only, or even the chief, possible enemies of the species ? 

 They evidently do not prevent its coming to maturity in 

 considerable abundance, and it is therefore no doubt pre- 

 served from its chief enemies during its various stages of 

 growth. 



The only point on which I differ from you — as you know 

 — is your acceptance, as proved, of the theory of sexual 

 colour selection, and your speaking of insects as having a 

 sense of " the beautiful " in colour, as if that were a known 

 fact. But that is a wide question, requiring full discussion. 

 —Yours very faithfully, Alfred E. Wallace. 



To Sir Francis Darwin 



Frith Hill, Godalming. November 20, 1887. 



Dear Mr. Darwin, — Many thanks for the copy of your 

 father's " Life and Letters," which I shall read with very 

 great interest (as will all the world). I was not aware 

 before that your father had been so distressed — or rather 

 disturbed — by my sending him my essay from Ternate, and 

 I am very glad to feel that his exaggerated sense of honour 

 was quite needless so far as I was concerned, and that the 

 incident did not in any way disturb our friendly relations. 

 I always felt, and feel still, that people generally give me 

 far too much credit for my mere sketch of the theory — so 



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