Thomson was wrong,
and that the earth _has_ a molten interior and a very thin crust, and in
no other way can the phenomena of geology be explained....--Yours very
truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
* * * * *
TO SIR OLIVER LODGE
_Parkstone, Dorset. March 8, 1898._
My dear Sir,--My own opinion has long been--and I have many times given
reasons for it--that there is always an ample amount of variation in all
directions to allow any useful modification to be produced, very
rapidly, as compared with the rate of those secular changes (climate and
geography) which necessitate adaptation; hence no guidance of variation
in certain lines is necessary. For proof of this I would ask you to look
at the diagrams in Chapter III. of my "Darwinism," reading the
explanation in the text. The proof of such constant indefinite
variability has been much increased of late years, and if you consider
that instead of tens or hundreds of individuals, Nature has as many
thousands or millions to be selected from, every year or two, it will be
clear that the materials for adaptation are ample.
Again, I believe that the time, even as limited by Lord Kelvin's
calculations, is ample, for reasons given in Chapter X., "On the Earth's
Age," in my "Island Life," and summed up on p. 236. I therefore consider
the difficulty set forth on p. 2 of the leaflet you send is not a real
one.
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