Characteristics 



him) were the forerunners of his monumental " Geographical 

 Distribution of Animals," elaborated in England after his 

 return. " To the publication of the ' Geographical Distri- 

 bution of Animals ' we owe the first scientific study of the 

 distribution of organic life on the globe, which has broadened 

 ever since, and continues to interest students daily ; his bril- 

 liant work in Natural History and Geography ... is uni- 

 versally honoured," are the opinions of Dr. Scott speaking 

 as President of the Linnean Society of London. 



One of Wallace's most important contributions to the 

 physical geography of the Malay region was his discovery 

 of the physical differences between the western and the 

 eastern portions of the Archipelago; i.e. that the islands 

 lying to the east of a line running north from the middle 

 of the Straits of Bali and outside Celebes were fragments 

 of an ancient and larger Australian continent, while those 

 to the western side were fragments of an Asiatic continent. 

 This he elucidated by recognising that the flora and fauna 

 on the two sides of the line, close though these islands 

 approached each other, were absolutely different and had 

 remained for ages uncommingled. This line wa« denomi- 

 nated ^' Wallace's Line " by Huxley, and this discovery 

 alone would have been sufficient to associate his name in- 

 separably with this region of the globe. — H. O. F. 



Like Darwin, Wallace gave excessive attention to the 

 suggestions and criticisms of people who were obviously 

 ignorant of the subjects about which they wrote. He wa« 

 never impatient with honest ignorance or considered the 

 lowly position of his correspondents. He replied to all 

 letters of inquiry (and he received many from working men), 

 and always gave his best knowledge and advice to anyone 

 who desired it. There was not the faintest suggestion of the 

 despicable sense of superiority about him. 



" I had, of course, revelled in ' The Malay Archipelago ' 

 when a boy," says Prof. Cockerell, " but my first personal 

 relations with Dr. Wallace arose from a letter I wrote him 



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