DARWIN AND WALLACE (1858).
The history of Darwin’s friendship with Alfred Russel Wallace is of
quite unique interest, being brought about by the fact that both
naturalists saw in evolution and its causes the great questions of the
immediate future, and by the agreement in the interpretations which
they independently offered. Wallace was collecting and observing in
the Malay Archipelago, and wrote to Darwin as the one man most likely
to sympathise with and understand his views and to offer valuable
criticism.
In the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History” for 1855, Wallace
published a paper “On the Law that has Regulated the Introduction
of New Species,” and in this and a letter written from the Malay
Archipelago Darwin recognised the similarity of their views, although
the completeness of this agreement was to be brought before him with
startling force a year after his sympathetic reply, written May 1st,
1857. He then wrote:--
“By your letter and even still more by your paper in the Annals,
a year or more ago, I can plainly see that we have thought much
alike and to a certain extent have come to similar conclusions.
In regard to the Paper in the Annals, I agree to the truth of
almost every word of your paper; and I dare say that you will
agree with me that it is very rare to find oneself agreeing
pretty closely with any theoretical paper; for it is lamentable
how each man draws his own different conclusions from the very
same facts.”
On December 22nd he replied to another letter from Wallace, again
expressing agreement with all his conclusions except that upon the
supposed continental extension to oceanic islands, on which, alluding
to his previous discussion, he says:--
“You will be glad to hear that neither Lyell nor Hooker thought
much of my arguments. Nevertheless, for once in my life, I dare
withstand the almost preternatural sagacity of Lyell.”
And he concludes with the wish--
“May all your theories succeed, except that on Oceanic Islands,
on which subject I will do battle to the death.”
He also said, as regards Wallace’s conclusions: “I believe I go
much further than you; but it is too long a subject to enter on my
speculative notions.”
[Sidenote: WALLACE’S ESSAY.]
Finally, on June 18th, 1858, Darwin received from Wallace a manuscript
essay bearing the title “On the Tendency of Varieties to depart
indefinitely from the Original Type.” Upon this essay he wanted
Darwin’s opinion, and asked him, if he thought well of it, to forward
it to Lyell. Darwin was startled to find in the essay a complete
account of his own views. That very day he wrote to Lyell, enclosing
the essay. In the letter he said:--
“Your words have come true with a vengeance--that I should
be forestalled. You said this, when I explained to you here
very briefly my views of ‘Natural Selection’ depending on the
struggle for existence. I never saw a more striking coincidence;
if Wallace had my MS. sketch written out in 1842, he could not
have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as
heads of my chapters.”
A few days later (June 25th) he again wrote to Lyell, saying--
“I should be extremely glad now to publish a sketch of my general
views in about a dozen pages or so; but I cannot persuade
myself that I can do so honourably. Wallace says nothing about
publication, and I enclose his letter. But as I had not intended
to publish any sketch, can I do so honourably, because Wallace
has sent me an outline of his doctrine? I would far rather burn
my whole book, than that he or any other man should think that I
had behaved in a paltry spirit.”
He also asked Lyell to send the letter on to Hooker, “for then I shall
have the opinion of my two best and kindest friends.” He was so much
distressed at the idea of being unfair to Wallace that he wrote again
the next day to put the case against himself in an even stronger light.
This must have been one of the most trying times in Darwin’s life, for,
in addition to the cause of trouble and perplexity described above, one
of his children died of scarlet fever, and there was the gravest fear
lest the others should be attacked.
[Sidenote: BOTH ESSAYS PUBLISHED.]
Thus appealed to, Lyell and Hooker took an extremely wise and fair
course. They asked Darwin for an abstract of his work, and, accepting
the whole responsibility, communicated it and Wallace’s essay in
a joint paper to the Linnean Society, giving an account of the
circumstances of the case in a preface, which took the form of a
letter to the Secretary of the Society. In this letter they introduced
to the Society “the results of the investigations of the indefatigable
naturalists, Mr. Charles Darwin and Mr. Alfred Wallace.”
“These gentlemen having, independently and unknown to one
another, conceived the same very ingenious theory to account for
the appearance and perpetuation of varieties and of specific
forms on our planet, may both fairly claim the merit of being
original thinkers in this important line of enquiry; but neither
of them having published his views, though Mr. Darwin has for
many years past been repeatedly urged by us to do so, and both
authors having now unreservedly placed their papers in our hands,
we think it would best promote the interests of science that a
selection from them should be laid before the Linnean Society.”
After giving a list of these selections, they say of Wallace’s essay--
“This was written at Ternate[D] in February, 1858, for the
perusal of his friend and correspondent Mr. Darwin, and sent
to him with the expressed wish that it should be forwarded to
Sir Charles Lyell, if Mr. Darwin thought it sufficiently novel
and interesting. So highly did Mr. Darwin appreciate the value
of the views therein set forth, that he proposed, in a letter
to Sir Charles Lyell, to obtain Mr. Wallace’s consent to allow
the Essay to be published as soon as possible. Of this step we
highly approved, provided Mr. Darwin did not withhold from the
public, as he was strongly inclined to do (in favour of Mr.
Wallace), the memoir which he had himself written on the same
subject, and which, as before stated, one of us had perused in
1844, and the contents of which we had both of us been privy
to for many years. On representing this to Mr. Darwin, he gave
us permission to make what use we thought proper of his memoir,
&c.; and in adopting our present course, of presenting it to the
Linnean Society, we have explained to him that we are not solely
considering the relative claims to priority of himself and his
friend, but the interests of science generally; for we feel it to
be desirable that views founded on a wide deduction from facts,
and matured by years of reflection, should constitute at once a
goal from which others may start, and that, while the scientific
world is waiting for the appearance of Mr. Darwin’s complete
work, some of the leading results of his labours, as well as
those of his able correspondent, should together be laid before
the public.”
The title of the joint paper was “On the Tendency of Species to form
Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural
Means of Selection.” It was read July 1st, 1858.