Alfred Russel Wallace 



has designed a very picturesque yet unpretentious house. — 

 Yours very truly, Alfred E. Wallace. 



To Mr. W. G. Wallace 



Parkstone, Dorset. March 2, 1902. 



My dear Will, — This week's progress has been fairly good 

 although the wet after the frost has caused two falls in the 

 cellar excavations, and we have had to put drain pipes to 

 carry water out, though not much accumulated. . . . During 

 the week some horses in the field have not only eaten off the 

 tops of the privet hedge, but have torn up some dozens of 

 the plants by the roots, by putting their heads over the 4-foot 

 wire fence. I am therefore obliged in self-defence to raise 

 the post a foot higher and put barbed wire along the top of 

 it. Some cows also got in our ground one day and ate off 

 the tops of the newly planted laurels, which I am told they 

 are very fond of, so I have got a chain and padlock for our 

 gate. , . . 



We moved into the new house at Broadstone at the end 

 of November, 1902, before it was quite finished, and here 

 Dr. Wallace lived till the end of his life. The garden was 

 an endless source of interest and occupation, being much 

 larger than any he had had since leaving Grays. 



When writing he was not easily disturbed and never 

 showed any impatience or annoyance at any interruption. 

 If interrupted by a question he would pause, pen in hand, 

 and reply or discuss the matter and then resume his un- 

 finished sentence. 



He seemed to have the substance of his writing in his 

 mind before he commenced, and did not often refer to books 

 or to notes, though he usually had one or two books or papers 

 on the table at hand, and sometimes he would jump up to get 

 a book from the shelves to verify some fact or figure. When 

 preparing for a new book or article he read a great many 

 works and papers bearing on the subject. These were marked 



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