My dear Mr. Bates,—When I received your very acceptable letter (a month ago) I had just written one to your brother, which I thought I could not do better than send to you to forward to him, as I shall thereby be able to confine myself solely to the group you are studying and to other matters touched upon in your letter. I had heard from Mr. Stevens some time ago that you had begun collecting exotic Geodephaga, but were confining yourself to one or two illustrations of each genus. I was sure, however, that you would soon find this unsatisfactory. Nature must be studied in detail, and it is the wonderful variety of the species of a group, their complicated relations and their endless modification of form, size and colours, which constitute the pre-eminent charm of the entomologist's study. It is with the greatest satisfaction, too, I hail your accession to the very limited number of collectors and students of exotic insects, and sincerely hope you may be sufficiently favoured by fortune to enable you to form an extensive collection and to devote the necessary time to its study and ultimately to the preparation of a complete and useful work. Though I cannot but be pleased that you are able to do so, I am certainly surprised to find that you indulge in the expensive luxury of from three to seven specimens of a species. I should have thought that in such a very extensive group you would have found one or, at most, a pair quite sufficient. I fancy very few collectors of exotic insects do more than this, except where they can obtain additional specimens by gift or by exchange. Your remarks on my collections are very interesting to me, especially as I have kept descriptions with many outline figures of my Malacca and Sarawak Geodephaga, so that with one or two exceptions [pg 070]I can recognise and perfectly remember every species you mention....
Now with regard to your request for notes of habits, etc. I shall be most willing to comply with it to some extent, first informing you that I look forward to undertaking on my return to England a "Coleoptera Malayana," to contain descriptions of the known species of the whole Archipelago, with an essay on their geographical distribution, and an account of the habits of the genera and species from my own observations. Of course, therefore, I do not wish any part of my notes to be published, as this will be a distinctive feature of the work, so little being known of the habits, stations and modes of collecting exotic Coleoptera, ...
You appear to consider the state of entomological literature flourishing and satisfactory: to me it seems quite the contrary. The number of unfinished works and of others with false titles is disgraceful to science....
I think ... on the whole we may say that the Archipelago is very rich, and will bear a comparison even with the richest part of South America. In the country between Ega and Peru there is work for fifty collectors for fifty years. There are hundreds and thousands of Andean valleys every one of which would bear exploring. Here it is the same with islands. I could spend twenty years here were life long enough, but feel I cannot stand it, away from home and books and collections and comforts, more than four or five, and then I shall have work to do for the rest of my life. What would be the use of accumulating materials which one could not have time to work up? I trust your brother may give us a grand and complete work on the Coleoptera of the Amazon Valley, if not of all South America....—Yours faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
TO HIS MOTHER
October 6, 1858.
My dear Mother,— ... I have just returned from a short trip, and am now about to start on a longer one, but to a place where there are some soldiers, a doctor and engineer who speak English, so if it is good for collecting I shall stay there some months. It is Batchian, an island on the south-west side of Gilolo, about three or four days' sail from Ternate. I am now quite recovered from my New Guinea voyage and am in good health.
I have received letters from Mr. Darwin and Dr. Hooker, two of the most eminent naturalists in England, which has highly gratified me. I sent Mr. Darwin an essay on a subject on which he is now writing a great work. He showed it to Dr. Hooker and Sir C. Lyell, who thought so highly of it that they immediately read it before the Linnean Society. This assures me the acquaintance and assistance of these eminent men on my return home.