The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIONMy readers willnaturally ask why I have delayed writingthis book for six years after my return ; and I feel bound togive them full satisfaction on this point.Wlien I reached England in the spring of 1862, I found myselfsurrounded by a room full of packing-cases, containing the collectionstliat I had from time to time sent home for my privateuse.These comprised nearly three thousand bird-skins, of abouta thousand species ;and at least twenty thousand beetles andbutterflies, of about seven thousand species ; besides some quadrupedsand land-siiells. A large proportion of these I had notseen for years ; and in my then weak state of health, the unpacking,sorting, and arranging of such a mass ofoccupied a long time.specimensI very soon decided, that until I had done something towardsnaming and describing the most important groups in my collection,and had worked out some of the more interestingproblems ofvariation and geographical distribution, of whichI had had glimpses while collecting them, I would not attemptto publish my travels. I could, indeed, at once have printedmy notes and joui'nals, leaving all reference to questions ofnatural history for a future work ; but I felt that this wouldbe as unsatisfactory to myself as it would be disappointing tomy friends, and uninstructive to the public.Since my return, up to 18G8, I have published eighteenpapers, in the Transactions or Proceedings of the LinnseanZoological and Entomological Societies, describing or cataloguingportions of my collections ; besides twelve others