Alfred Russel Wallace 



own, and that my adoption of it was " unequivocal and 

 complete." This accusation he supported by such a flood 

 of words and quotations and explanations as to obscure 

 all the chief issues and render it almost impossible for the 

 ordinary reader to disentangle the facts. I told him then 

 that unless he withdrew this accusation as publicly as he 

 had made it I should decline all future correspondence 

 with him, and should avoid referring to him in any of my 

 writings. 



This is, of course, very different from any criticism of 

 my theories; that, or even ridicule, would never disturb 

 me; but when a man has made an accusation of literary 

 and scientific dishonesty, and has done all he can to 

 spread this accusation over the. whole civilised world, my 

 only answer can be — after showing, as I have done {see 

 Nature J vol. xliii., pp. 79 and 150), that his accusations 

 are wholly untrue — to ignore his existence. 



I cannot believe that he can want any sympathy from 

 a man he says has wilfully and grossly plagiarised him, 

 unless he feels that his accusations were unfounded. If 

 he does so, and will write to me to that effect (for publica- 

 tion, if I wish, after his death), I will accept it as full 

 reparation and write him such a letter as you suggest. — 

 Believe me yours very faithfully, Alfred R. Wallace. 



Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dybr to A. R. Wallace 



Kew. September 27, 1897. 



Dear Mr. Wallace, — I am afraid I have been rather guilty 

 of an impertinence which I hope you will forgive. 



Romanes is an old acquaintance of mine of many years' 

 standing. Personally, I like him very much; but for his 

 writings I confess I have no great admiration. 



Pray believe me I had no mission of any sort on his 

 part to write to you. But I feel so sorry for him that 

 when he told me how much he regretted that he did not 

 stand well with you, I could not resist writing to tell you 

 of the calamities that have befallen him. 



I must confess I was in total ignorance of what you 



