It is the
difference between a wild and tame animal."[12]
The last words suggest the seed-thought eventually to be enlarged in
"The Descent of Man," and there is also perhaps a subtle suggestion of
the points in which Wallace differed from Darwin when the time came for
them to discuss this important section of the theory of Evolution. It
needed, however, the further eight years spent by Wallace in the Malay
Archipelago to bring about a much wider knowledge of nature-science
before he was prepared in any way to assume the position of exponent of
theories not seriously thought of previously in the scientific world.
In the autumn of 1853, on the completion of his "Travels on the Amazon
and Rio Negro," Wallace paid his first visit to Switzerland, on a
walking tour in company with his friend George Silk. On his return, and
during the winter months, he was constant in his attendance at the
meetings of the Entomological and Zoological Societies. It was at one of
these evening gatherings that he first met Huxley, and he also had a
vague recollection of once meeting and speaking to Darwin at the British
Museum.
Pages:
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67