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SCIENCE 



[N. a Vol. XXXVIII. No. 990 



possibly not yet reached years of discretion, 

 but in the perspective of time I can see with 

 confusion that what I regarded as worthy zeal 

 might well have been characterized by others 

 as confounded impudence. In the face of this, 

 the tolerance and kindness of Dr. Wallace's 

 reply is wholly characteristic: 



I am very much obliged to you for your letter 

 containing so many valuable emendations and sug- 

 gestions on my "Darwinism." They will be very 

 useful to me in preparing another edition. Living 

 in the country with but few books, I have often 

 been unable to obtain the latest information, but 

 for the purpose of the argument, the facts of a few 

 years back are often as good as those of to-day — 

 which in their turn will be modified a few years 

 hence. You refer to there being five species of 

 Aquilegia in Colorado. But have they not each 

 their station, two seldom occurring together? Dur- 

 ing a week 's botanizing in July in Colorado I only 

 saw two species, caenilea and brevistyla, — each in 

 their own area. Though the Andrenidae are not 

 usually gaily colored, yet they are not incanspicu- 

 oiis. The Chrysididae are, I should think, colored 

 so brilliantly, partly, perhaps, to simulate stinging 

 species, and partly to prevent their being taken 

 for fruits or seeds when rolled up. They are very 

 hard, and like many hard beetles, are colored as a 

 warning of inedibility. In the Eocky Mountains 

 I think there is a real scarcity of Monocotyledons, 

 especially bulbous Liliaceae and Amaryllids, and 

 Orchises. This struck me as being the case. You 

 appear to have so much knowledge of details in so 

 many branches of natural history, and also to have 

 thought so much on many of the more recondite 

 problems, that I shall be much pleased to receive 

 any further remarks or corrections on any other 

 portions of my book.s 



This letter, written to a very young and 

 quite unknown man in the wilds of Colorado, 

 who had merely communicated a list of more 

 or less trifling criticisms, can only be explained 

 as an instance of Dr. Wallace's eagerness to 

 help and encourage beginners. It did not 

 occur to him to question the propriety of the 

 criticisms, he did not write as a siiperior to an 

 inferior; he only saw what seemed to him a 

 spark of biological enthusiasm, which should 

 by all means be kindled into flame. Many 

 years later, when I was at his house, he pro- 



3 Letter, February 10, 1890. 



duced with the greatest delight some letters 

 from a young- man who had gone to South 

 America and was getting his first glimpses of 

 the tropical forest. What discoveries he might 

 make! What joy he must have on seeing the 

 things described in the letters, such things as 

 Dr. Wallace himself had seen in Brazil so 

 long ago! 



It is comparatively easy for many of us to 

 teach, as we do in schools. No doubt we com- 

 municate the " essentials " of our subjects in 

 a fairly competent manner ; but would that we 

 had in this country more grand old men with 

 the will and right to bless the succeeding gen- 

 erations as they come. 



Some letters of August and September, 

 1S90, refer to a suggestion of mine that a col- 

 lection of all the recorded facts bearing on 

 evolution should be made. 



The proposal you make of a collection of all the 

 recorded facts bearing upon the various problems 

 of Darwinism is a very good one. Such a body of 

 facts would be most valuable to naturalists, but I 

 question whether it would pay for its publication. 

 I feel sure my publishers would not agree to 

 ' ' weight ' ' my book with such a mass of additional 

 matter. The only thing, therefore, would be to 

 publish the materials separately, as Darwin did 

 in his ' ' Animals and Plants under Domestication. ' ' 

 I hope you will do this yourself, as you have evi- 

 dently a taste for this kind of work. ... It would, 

 however, be a tremendous task, as it would in- 

 volve wading through the lohole literature of nat- 

 ural history for the last twenty years. 



In a second letter : 



If half a dozen workers could be found to under- 

 take the work of collection I should think the 

 Eoyal Society would give funds for the publica- 

 tion, as the work would be really a supplement to 

 Darwin's worhs, and might be suggested as a 

 Literary Memorial to him. 



The project was never even on the way to 

 be carried out, owing to various circumstances. 

 I believe it might even now be begun, and that 

 it would be well worth while. For example, 

 we have no good collection of data concerning 

 the relations between specific characters and 

 locality, or on the relative frequency of varia- 

 tion in different species, and a number of other 



