Alfred Russel Wallace 



rather nervous with strangers until he became interested in 

 what they had to say. He enjoyed witty conversation, and 

 especially a good story well told. No one laughed more 

 heartily than he when he was much amused, and he would 

 slap his hands upon his knees with delight. 



He was very accessible to anyone who might have some- 

 thing to say worth hearing, and he had a great many 

 visitors, especially during the last ten years of his life. 

 Many people distinguished in science, literature, or politics 

 called upon him, and he always enjoyed these visits, and the 

 excitement of them seemed to have no bad effect upon him, 

 even in the last year, when we sometimes feared he might be 

 fatigued by them. In consequence of his sympathy with 

 many heterodox ideas he frequently had visits from 

 "■ cranks " who wished to secure his support for some new 

 theory or *' discovery." He would listen patiently, perhaps 

 ask a few questions, and then endeavour to point out their 

 fallacies. He would amuse us afterwards by describing their 

 " preposterous ideas," and if much bored, he would speak of 

 them as '^ muffs." He was loath to hurt their feelings, but 

 he generally ended by expressing his opinion quite clearly, 

 occasionally to their discomfiture. 



Dr. Littledale has contributed some reminiscences which 

 may be introduced here. 



'' When I first met Dr. Wallace the conversation turned 

 on the types of visitors that came to see him, and he gave us 

 an amusing account of two young women who called on him 

 to read through a most ponderous treatise relating to the 

 Universe (I think it was). At all events the treatise proved, 

 amongst other things, that Kepler's laws were all wrong. 

 Dr. Wallace was very busy at the time, and politely declined 

 to undertake the task. I remember him well describing with 

 his hands the size of this enormous manuscript and laughing 

 heartily as he detailed how the writer of the manuscript, the 

 elder of the two sisters, persistently tried to persuade him 

 that her theories were all absolutely proved in the work, 

 while the younger sister acted as a sort of echo to her sister. 



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