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Darwin, Wallace and the History of Natural Selection by Barbara G Beddall
Darwin, Wallace and the History of Natural Selection by Barbara G Beddall
and Attitudes
Author(s): Barbara G. Beddall
Source: Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Autumn, 1968), pp. 261-323
Published by: Springer
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INTRODUCTION
On 1 July 1908 the Linnean Society of London commemorated
the reading before the Society fifty years earlier of the Darwin-
Wallace joint papers, "On the Tendency of Species to form
Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species
by Natural Means of Selection." 1 On the first occasion only
some thirty Fellows and guests had been present at a quiet,
unheralded meeting; the authors themselves were absent. Now
there was a large and distinguished gathering celebrating the
historic event. Two of the original cast were present, the nat-
uralist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) and the botanist Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911). The other two, the biolo-
gist Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) and the geologist Sir
Charles Lyell (1797-1875) had been dead for many years.
Hooker, now a venerable nonagenarian, spoke of his "half-
century-old real or fancied memories" of that June in 1858
when his old friend Darwin received Wallace's paper on natural
selection. He based his account on Sir Francis Darwin's Life
and Letters of Charles Darwin, remarking with some uneasiness
that, beyond the letters from Darwin to himself and to Lyell,
no other documentary evidence existed of the events of those
turbulent weeks before the reading of the papers. Despite a
search, the letters to Darwin from Hooker and Lyell could not
be found, "and, most surprising of all, Mr. Wallace's letter and
its enclosure have disappeared." 2
1. Linnean Society of London, The Darwin-Wallace Celebration held on
1st July, 1908, by the Linnean Society of London (London; The Society,
1908).
2. Francis Darwin, ed., The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, in-
cluding an Autobiographical Chapter (London: Murray, 1887; reprinted
261
262
I. AN INQUIRING MIND
He who in place of reasoning, employs authority, assumes that those
to whom he addresses himself are incapable of forming a judgment of
their own. If they submit to this insult, may it not be presumed they
acknowledge the justice of it?
Wallace, "Notebook, 1855-1859," from Jeremy Bentham's Book of
Fallacies4
Not until 1841, when he was eighteen years of age, did Alfred
Russel Wallace, the eminent naturalist, begin his solitary study
of the natural world around him. As a frequently unemployed
and always impecunious surveyor, he turned to the study of
plants to fill his leisure time:
But what occupied me chiefly and became more and more
the solace and delight of my lonely rambles among the
moors and mountains, was my first introduction to the vari-
ety, the beauty, and the mystery of nature as manifested i
the vegetable kingdom.5
Wallace's early years and education were quite undistin-
guished. The eighth child of an increasingly impoverished
family, he was born on 8 January 1823 in the remote village
of Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. When he was five, the family
moved to Hertford, near London, and it was at the Hertford
Grammar School that he received his "very ordinary education."
This ended when he was almost fourteen, and after that he
was more or less on his own. Despite his commonplace upbring-
ing, however, he had received a priceless gift from his father:
a love of books and reading-a key to the world for anyone
who wants to use it.
After a few months spent with his brother John in London
in the spring of 1837, Wallace joined his oldest brother, Wil-
liam, to learn land surveying. But these were lean years for
William, just before the rush of activity brought on by the
construction of railroads, and he often had difficulty in finding
enough work for himself and his younger brother. During one
lull in 1839, Wallace spent some months learning the watch-
making trade. Fortunately, business changes brought this to
an end before Wallace was formally apprenticed, and he re-
turned to surveying with William.
4. Alfred Russel Wallace, "Notebook, 1855-1859," MS, Linnean So-
ciety of London, p. 102. This and other quotations are reproduced with
permission from the Wallace and other manuscript material in the Library
of the Linnean Society of London.
5. Alfred Russel Wallace, My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions
(New York; Dodd, Mead, 1905), I, 191.
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
Wallace began his paper "On the Law" by noting the long-
continued series of geologic changes. Then, applying the uni-
formitarian principle to organic changes, he proposed "a like
gradation and natural sequence from one geological epoch to
another." 35 (Lyell had suggested the slow and gradual extinc-
tion and creation of species, but with no hint of descent.)
From a series of propositions relating to "organic geography
and geology," Wallace then deduced his 'law," which supported
a hypothesis that might explain the past and present distribu-
tion of life upon the earth that had occurred to him, he said,
about ten years earlier.
First of the four main questions illuminated by Wallace's
33. Ibid., 4th ed., III, 165-166.
34. Ibid., 12th ed. (1875), 1, 73.
35. Wallace, "On the Law," p. 184.
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
III. THE'NOTE"
. . . why should a special act of creation be required to call into existence
an organism differing only in degree from another which has been
produced by existing laws?
Wallace, "Note on the Theory of Permanent and Geographical Varieties"
280
281
60. The information that Wallace's plan for his book is on the reverse
side of the fragment about the jaguars was sent me by Sydney Smith.
61. Wallace, "Notebook," pp. 12-100. See also McKinney ("Wallace
and Natural Selection," pp. 342-347), who has also pointed out that this
is essentially a long argument with Lyell.
62. Wallace, "Notebook," p. 12.
282
283
284
are remains of real animals while those which are not like
any species now existing are special creations & not fossil
animalsat all.70
Wallace turned again to the peculiarities of distribution to
be found on the Galapagos Islands. Lyell's theories were in-
adequate to the task of explaining them, as Wallace pointed
out:
In a small group of islands not very distant from the mai
land, like the Galapagos, we find animals & plants different
from those of any other country but resembling those of the
nearest land. If they are special creations, why should they
resemble those of the nearest land? Does not that fact point
to an origin from that land? Again in these islands we find
species peculiar to each island, & not one of them containing
all the species found in the others as would be the case had
one been peopled with new creations & the others left to
become peopled by winds, currents, etc., from it. Here we
must suppose special creations in each island of peculiar
species though the islands are all exactly similar in struc-
ture, soil, & climate, & some of them within sight of each
other, a work of supererogation one would suppose, as they
must inevitably in time become peopled from each other, &
contrary to what takes place elsewhere-Ireland is peopled
from England. It may be said it is a mystery which we can-
not explain, but do we not thus make unnecessary systems
and difficulties by supposing special creations contrary to
the present course of nature? For we must conclude the
course of nature in peopling islands in the ocean to be uni-
form & that all islands distant from others should now be
stocked with animals & plants equally peculiar.
But we know this not to be the case. Volcanic islands re-
cently produced & coral islands far in the ocean contai
stragglers from the nearest land & no other, nothing peculiarl
Now we can hardly suppose that islands would be left for
ages to become stocked in this manner, & then the new &
peculiar creations be introduced just when they were not
wanted. According to Mr. Lyell's own arguments, they would
hardly be able to hold their own against the previous occu-
piers of the soil & there would have to be a special extermina-
tion of them to make room for the new & peculiar species.
We must therefore suppose that such islands as St. Helena
& the Galapagos were stocked with their peculiar species
70. Ibid., pp. 45-46; see also Lyell, Principles of Geology, 4th ed., III,
22-97.
285
286
287
288
289
290
the point, however, and left it up in the air. (Wallace had not
yet written his own "Note" on the subject, and it is not known
whether Darwin ever did see it.)
As was his usual practice, Darwin included several requests
for information, asking Wallace, among other things, to let
him know "if you should, after receiving this, stumble on any
curious domestic breed" of poultry.86 Perhaps as a result of
this inquiry, Wallace made a few notes in his "Notebook," some
time before November 1857, on unusual breeds of ducks.87
This small point will be brought up later in connection with
Wallace's recollections of the beginning of his correspondence
with Darwin.
More important at the moment is Darwin's protestation that
"it is really impossible to explain my views (in the compass
of a letter) on the causes and means of variation in a state of
nature." Was it really impossible?
Two years earlier, in April 1855, Darwin had begun to cor-
respond with the noted American botanist Asa Gray, whom he
had once met briefly at Kew, and Gray had been providing him
with many valuable comments. On 20 July 1857, not long
after receiving his first letter from Wallace, Darwin wrote
again to Gray, saying, "I should like to tell you (and I do not
think I have) how I view my work," condensing into a few
sentences the gist of his theory [12].88 A recent biographer
of Gray suggests that Darwin felt it necessary to let Gray in
on his secret to ensure the continuance of this useful cor-
respondence, but this does not seem to be a necessary assump-
tion.89 More to the point, Darwin seemed rather to fear that
Gray would despise him and his crotchets, and in his next let-
ter (5 September) he confessed that he had been afraid that
Gray might think him "worth no more notice or assistance"
because of his unorthodox views [14].90 (Even in March 1860
Darwin considered Gray to be a convert to his views only "to
some extent."))91
Along with this answer to Gray, Darwin sent a copy of an
outline that he had made of his theory, "as you seem interested
in the subject." This is the famous extract published the fol-
86. The paragraph containing this request is published in Marchant,
Wallace, p. 108, but it was omitted from the Darwin, Life and Letters, I,
454. See also note 87.
87. Wallace, "Notebook," p. 91. See also Appendix, 69, Marchant,
Wallace, p. 86, and notes 161 and 162.
88. See also note 146.
89. A. Hunter Dupree, Asa Gray, 1810-1888 (Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 1959), p. 244.
90. See also note 146. 91. Darwin, Life and Letters, II, 87.
291
292
293
294
101. Wallace, "Notebook," pp. 49-50; some commas added. See also
Lyell, Principles of Geology, 4th ed., III, 98-120, where he discusses the
"checks and counter-checks which nature has appointed to preserve the
balance of power amongst species."
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
Esq., to Prof. Asa Gray, Boston, U.S., dated Down, September 5th,
1857," the outline of his theory of natural selection that Dar-
win had sent to Gray. Francis Darwin was later of the opinion
that the reason for the inclusion of this note was the discussion
of the "principle of divergence," an important part of Darwin's
theory not included in the 1844 essay.125 Hooker was aware
that Darwin gave divergence equal prominence with natural
selection as "the keystone of my book [21]," although he appar-
ently did not understand the connection between them. In his
own essay, "On the Flora of Australia," published at almost
the same time as Darwin's Origin of Species, Hooker wrote
that "the tendency of varieties, both in nature and under culti-
vation, when further varying, is rather to depart more and
more widely from the original type than to revert to it." 126
Darwin objected that this was "without selection doubtful." 127
Third and last was Wallace's paper, "On the Tendency of
Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original Type." But
no note was added to indicate that Wallace had not written
for publication either.
It was Hooker's recollection twenty-eight years later (whether
accurately or no; certainly public reaction to the publication of
the papers was almost nil) that the interest was intense, al-
though there was no discussion. Thomas Bell, the President,
though a personal friend of Darwin's, "was hostile to the end
of his life." Neither of the Secretaries, George Busk and John
J. Bennett, said anything, nor did the botanist George Bent-
ham [67]. (Thomas Huxley, later to be "Darwin's bulldog," was
not present, not being elected a Fellow until December 1858.)
Bentham may have been silent, but his feelings were those
of "severe pain and disappointment." His was the only one
of the six previously scheduled papers that was not read. Many
years later he recalled the events in a letter to Francis Darwin:
On the day that his [C. Darwin's] celebrated paper was read
at the Linnean Society, July 1st, 1858, a long paper of mine
had been set down for reading, in which, in commenting
on the British Flora, I had collected a number of observa-
tions and facts illustrating what I then believed to be a
fixity in species, however difficult it might be to assign their
limits, and showing a tendency of abnormal forms produced
by cultivation or otherwise, to withdraw within those orig-
125. Darwin and Wallace, Evolution, p. 34. See also note 37.
126. Quoted in Francis Darwin, ed., More Letters of Charles Darwin: a
Record of his Work in a Series of Hitherto Unpublished Letters (New
York: Appleton, 1903), I, 134.
127. Ibid.
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
VI. EPILOGUE
I feel much satisfaction in having thus aided in bringing about the
publication of this celebrated book, and with the ample recognition by
Darwin himself of my independent discovery of "natural selection."
Wallace, Natural Selection and Tropical Nature
311
312
313
314
quest for his memories had come from Meyer in 1869. But
now the circumstances of that week so long ago assumed a
new interest. Alfred Newton, ornithologist and zoologist, wrote
inquiring for details to incorporate in his review of the Life
and Letters of Charles Darwin, and Wallace obligingly re-
sponded.
But the letter to Newton [69], written in 1887, contains a
number of questionable statements. Wallace was now uncer-
tain whether he had even read Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle
at the time, when he had in fact read both editions and had
the second one with him in the Malay Archipelago; scattered
references to Darwin in his own early published works also
show that he had read him with some care. He thought he
had started the correspondence over some peculiar varieties
of ducks. However, the letter itself shows that he was con-
sulting the Life and Letters of Charles Darwin to refresh his
memory, and the paragraph containing the request for "any
curious breed" in Darwin's first letter to him was omitted
there. Evidence from Wallace's "Notebook" also indicates that
Darwin brought the subject up first [11].161 Notices in the
Athenaeum that Darwin was interested in species and varieties
seem improbable.162 Wallace again paid his respects to Mal-
thus, further enshrining him in the annals of science. And
finally, he referred to a "hot fit" of intermittent fever, although
he later said the idea had come to him during a "cold fit."
Wallace had returned only a few months before from a
speaking tour of the United States. Interestingly enough, he
had met Asa Gray during a month-long stay in Boston, and
Gray had invited him to attend a meeting of the Cambridge
Scientific Club. There, Gray showed his correspondence
with Darwin before the publication of the Origin of Species,
161. See also notes 86 and 87.
162. No such notices located. Although it is possible that Wallace
heard of Darwin's interest through his agent, Stevens (who had been a
member with Darwin since 1837 of the Entomological Society), and he
could have used them as an opening for his first letter in 1856 (8), this
still would not account for the range of subjects he apparently discussed.
Darwin answered: "By your letter and even still more by your paper in
the Annals . . . ," indicating that the letter itself must have contained
some related remarks (11).
Sydney Smith has suggested (personal communication) that two letters
from Darwin to W. B. Tegetmeier, dated 21 Nov. and 29 Nov. 1857, show
that it was about the second date that Darwin received some poultry speci-
mens collected by Wallace. Since Wallace received Darwin's letter (11)
with this request in July (see 19), the shipment could have been in
response to that request. This would leave unaffected the first letter
Wallace wrote to Darwin in October 1856 (8), and the reason for it would
then remain an open question.
315
316
317
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Ernst Mayr
for critically reading the manuscript, and to Dr. Everett Men-
delsohn for editorial help in preparing it for publication. I
would also like to thank Miss Sandra Raphael, Librarian of
the Linnean Society of London, for her kind assistance. Fi-
nally, I would like to acknowledge my husband's encourage-
ment and financial support,without which this would not have
been done.
173. Marchant, Wallace, p. 106.
174. Ibid., p. 105.
318
12. C. Darwin- 20 July [1857] DLL, 1, 437-438; See also 14 and 17.
A. Gray DLLE, 2, 78-80; For dating, see
Du, 244-245,458 note 146.
n22.
319
14. C. Darwin- 5 Sept. [1857] JLZ, 3, 50-53; See also 12 and 17.
A. Gray DLL, 1, 477-482; Many differences in
DLLE, 2, 122-125; texts between JLZ
Du, 246,458-459 and DLL. For dating,
n23. see note 146;
see also note 92.
*15. A. Gray- [Autumn 1857] See 17.
C. Darwin
16. A. R. Wallace- [27 Sept. 1857] CUL Unpublished frag-
C. Darwin ment of answer to 11.
Received Dec. 1857;
see 18. See also notes
60, 95, 142, and 143.
17. C. Darwin- 29 Nov [1857] DML, 1, 126-127; Not published undl
A. Gray Du, 247,459 n24. 1903. See also 12 and
14. For dating,
see note 146.
18. C. Darwin- 22 Dec. 1857 DLL, 1,465-467; Answer to 16.
A. R. Wallace DLLE, 2, 108-110; Omission in DLL.
M, 109-111.
19. A. R. Wallace- 4 & 25 Jan. 1858 W, 1, 358-359; Answer to 9.
H. W. Bates M, 53-55. Omissions in W, and
texts differ slightly;
here quoted from M.
See also note 94.
*20. A. R. Wallace- [Feb. 1858] Received 18 June
C. Darwin 1858; see 22.
See also note 116.
21. C. Darwin- 8 June [1858] DML, 1, 109. Not published
J. D. Hooker until 1903.
22. C. Darwin- 18 June [1858] DLL, 1, 473;
C. Lyell DLLE, 2, 116-117.
23. C. Darwin- [25 June 1858] DLL, 1, 474-475;
C. Lyell DLLE, 2, 117-118.
24. C. Darwin- 26 [June 1858] DLL, 1, 475;
C. Lyell DLLE, 2, 118-119.
25. C. Darwin- [29 June 1858] DLL, 1, 476;
J. D. Hooker DLLE, 2,119.
26. C. Darwin- [29 June 1858] DLL, 1, 476-477;
J. D. Hooker DLLE, 2, 119-120.
*27. C. Lyell- [June 1858] See 25 and notes
C. Darwin 3, 139-143, and 171.
*28. J. D. Hooker- [June 1858] See 25 and 26, and
C. Darwin notes 3, 139-143,
and 171.
320
321
322
323