My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
i84MY LIFEIn a letter to Bates, dated January 4, 1858, writtenon board the Dutch steamer which took me fromAmboyna to Ternate, I wrote— " To persons whohave not thought much on the subject I fear mypaper on the Succession of Species ' ' will not appearso clear as it does to you. That paper is, of course,merely the announcement of the theory, not itsdevelopment. I have prepared the plan and writtenportions of a work embracing the whole subject, andhave endeavoured to prove in detail what I have asyet only indicated. It was the promulgation ofForbes's theory of * polarity ' which led me to writeand publish, for I was annoyed to see such an idealabsurdity put forth, when such a simple hypothesiswill explain all the facts. I have been much gratifiedby a letter from Darwin, in which he says that heagrees with * almost every word ' of my paper. Heis now preparing his great work on ' Species andVarieties,' for which he has been collecting materialstwenty years. He may save me the trouble ofwriting more on my hypothesis, by proving that thereis no difference in nature between the origin of speciesand of varieties ; or he may give me trouble byarriving at another conclusion ;but, at all events, hisfacts will be given for me to work upon. Yourcollections and my own will furnish most valuablematerial to illustrate and prove the universal applicabilityof the hypothesis. The connection betweenthe succession of affinities and the geographical distributionof a group, worked out species by species,has never yet been shown as we shall be able toshow it." In this archipelago there are two distinct faunasrigidly circumscribed, which differ as much as dothose of Africa and South America, and more than
THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 185those of Europe and North America, yet there isnothing on the map or on the face of the islands tomark their limits. The boundary line passes betweenislands closer together than others belonging to thesame group. I believe the western part to be aseparated portion of continental Asia, while theeastern is a fragmentary prolongation of a formerwest Pacific continent. In mammalia and birds thedistinction is marked by genera, families, and evenin insects by a numberorders confined to one region ;of genera, and little groups of peculiar species, thefamilies of insects having generally a very wide oruniversal distribution."This letter proves that at this time I had not theleast idea of the nature of Darwin's proposed work,nor of the definite conclusions he had arrived at, norhad I myself any expectation of a complete solutionof the great problem to which my paper was merelythe prelude. Yet less than two months later thatsolution flashed upon me, and to a large extent markedout a dififerent line of work from that which I had upto this time anticipated.I finished the letter after my arrival at Tern ate(January 25, 1858), and made the following observation" : If you go to the Andes I think you will bedisappointed, at least in the number of species^especially of Coleoptera. My experience here is thatthe low grounds are mitch the most productive, thoughthe mountains generally produce a few striking andbrilliant species." This rather hasty generalizationis, I am inclined still to think, a correct one, at allevents as regards the individual collector. I doubt ifthere is any mountain station in the world where somany species of butterflies can be collected withina walk as at Para, or more beetles than at my station
- Page 178 and 179: —I40MY LIFEone, and before sunris
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- Page 189 and 190: IN THE AMAZON VALLEY 149" My canoe
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- Page 206 and 207: i64MY LIFEable to begin the work wh
- Page 208 and 209: i66MY LIFEI had brought with me voc
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- Page 236 and 237: 192 MY LIFEThe effect of my paper u
- Page 238 and 239: 194 MY LIFEtherefore, that I may ha
- Page 240 and 241: —196 MY LIFEcontinued perseveranc
- Page 242 and 243: 198 MY LIFEbecause they are so much
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- Page 248 and 249: 204 MY LIFEbeetles,and land-shells,
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- Page 263 and 264: SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY WORK 217and
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- Page 267 and 268: LYELL AND DARWIN 221manners, his fu
- Page 269 and 270: —LYELL AND DARWIN 223and allied q
- Page 271 and 272: LYELL AND DARWIN 225Sir Charles quo
- Page 273 and 274: LYELL AND DARWIN 227he usually did
- Page 275 and 276: —LYELL AND DARWIN 229" My dear Wa
i84MY LIFEIn a letter to Bates, dated January 4, 1858, writtenon board the Dutch steamer which took me fromAmboyna to Ternate, I wrote— " To persons whohave not thought much on the subject I fear mypaper on the Succession <strong>of</strong> Species ' ' will not appearso clear as it does to you. That paper is, <strong>of</strong> course,merely the announcement <strong>of</strong> the theory, not itsdevelopment. I have prepared the plan <strong>and</strong> writtenportions <strong>of</strong> a work embracing the whole subject, <strong>and</strong>have endeavoured to prove in detail what I have asyet only indicated. It was the promulgation <strong>of</strong>Forbes's theory <strong>of</strong> * polarity ' which led me to write<strong>and</strong> publish, for I was annoyed to see such an idealabsurdity put forth, when such a simple hypothesiswill explain all the facts. I have been much gratifiedby a letter from Darwin, in which he says that heagrees with * almost every word ' <strong>of</strong> my paper. Heis now preparing his great work on ' Species <strong>and</strong>Varieties,' for which he has been collecting materialstwenty years. He may save me the trouble <strong>of</strong>writing more on my hypothesis, by proving that thereis no difference in nature between the origin <strong>of</strong> species<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> varieties ; or he may give me trouble byarriving at another conclusion ;but, at all <strong>events</strong>, hisfacts will be given for me to work upon. Yourcollections <strong>and</strong> my own will furnish most valuablematerial to illustrate <strong>and</strong> prove the universal applicability<strong>of</strong> the hypothesis. The connection betweenthe succession <strong>of</strong> affinities <strong>and</strong> the geographical distribution<strong>of</strong> a group, worked out species by species,has never yet been shown as we shall be able toshow it." In this archipelago there are two distinct faunasrigidly circumscribed, which differ as much as dothose <strong>of</strong> Africa <strong>and</strong> South America, <strong>and</strong> more than
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