It was thoroughly established before, and in the
early years of, his marriage, and, on his own theory his children ought
all to have inherited it. Have they? You know perhaps better than I do,
whether any of the family show any symptoms of that particular form of
illness--and if not it is a fine case!--Yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
* * * * *
Wallace was formally admitted to the Royal Society in June, 1893. The
postscript of the following letter refers to his cordial reception by
the Fellows.
TO PROF. MELDOLA
_Parkstone, Dorset. June 10, 1893._
My dear Meldola,--As we had no time to "discourse" on Thursday, I will
say a few words on the individual adaptability question. We have to deal
with facts, and facts certainly show that, in many groups, there is a
great amount of adaptable change produced in the individual by external
conditions, and that that change is not inherited. I do not see that
this places Natural Selection in any subordinate position, because this
individual adaptability is evidently advantageous to many species, and
may itself have been produced or increased by Natural Selection. When a
species is subject to great changes of conditions, either locally or at
uncertain times, it may be a decided advantage to it to become
individually adapted to that change while retaining the power to revert
instantly to its original form when the normal conditions return.
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