Dr. Wallace and the University of Colorado, by Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace : Alfred Wallace : A. R. Wallace :
Russel Wallace : Alfred Russell Wallace (sic)

Dr. Wallace and the University of Colorado
(S692: 1912)

Editor Charles H. Smith's Note: Wallace's response to a birthday greeting sent to him by biology students at the University of Colorado. First printed in the student newspaper Silver and Gold there, but transcribed here from a reprinting on page 487 of the 29 March 1912 issue of Science. To link directly to this page, connect with: http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S692.htm

January 12, 1912.

My dear Young Friends:

Thank you much for your very kind greetings. I am much pleased that so many of you are readers of my books. The wonders of nature have been the delight and solace of my life. From the day when I first saw a bee-orchis (Ophrys apifera) in ignorant astonishment, to my first view of the grand forests of the Amazon; thence to the Malay Archipelago, where every fresh island with its marvellous novelties and beauties was an additional delight--nature has afforded me an ever-increasing rapture, and the attempt to solve some of her myriad problems an ever-growing sense of mystery and awe. And now, in my wild garden and greenhouse, the endless diversities of plant life renew my enjoyments; and the ever-changing pageants of the seasons impress me more than ever in my earlier days.

I sincerely wish you all some of the delight in the mere contemplation of nature's mysteries and beauties which I have enjoyed, and still enjoy.

Yours very truly,
Alfred R. Wallace.

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