ALFRED R. WALLACE.

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The next letter relates to Wallace’s Friday evening Discourse at the Royal Institution.  His friends were afraid whether his voice could be sustained throughout the hour—­fears which were abundantly dispelled by the actual performance.  This was his last public lecture.

TO PROF.  MELDOLA

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne.  December 20, 1908.

My dear Meldola,—­Thanks for your kind offer to read for me if necessary.  But when Sir Wm. Crookes first wrote to me about it, he offered to read all, or any parts of the lecture, if my voice did not hold out.  I am very much afraid I cannot stand the strain of speaking beyond my natural tone for an hour, or even for half that time—­but I may be able to do the opening and conclusion....

I am glad that you see, as I do, the utter futility of the claims of the Mutationists.  I may just mention them in the lecture, but I hope I have put the subject in such a way that even “the meanest capacity” will suffice to see the absurdity of their claims.—­Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

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TO PROF.  POULTON

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne.  January 26, 1909.

My dear Poulton,—­I had a delightful two hours at the Museum on Saturday morning, as Mr. Rothschild brought from Tring several of his glass-bottomed drawers with his finest new New Guinea butterflies.  They were a treat!  I never saw anything more lovely and interesting!...

As to your very kind and pressing invitation,[36] I am sorry to be obliged to decline it.  I cannot remain more than one day or night away from home, without considerable discomfort, and all the attractions of your celebration are, to me, repulsions....

My lecture, even as it will be published in the Fortnightly, will be far too short for exposition of all the points I wish to discuss, and I hope to occupy myself during this year in saying all I want to say in a book (of a wider scope) which is already arranged for.  One of the great points, which I just touched on in the lecture, is to show that all that is usually considered the waste of Nature—­the enormous number produced in proportion to the few that survive—­was absolutely essential in order to secure the variety and continuity of life through all the ages, and especially of that one line of descent which culminated in man.  That, I think, is a subject no one has yet dealt with.—­Yours very faithfully,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

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TO PROF.  POULTON

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne.  March 1, 1909.