RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 2.1854. Abstract of Wallace, Narrative of travels on the Amazon, 1853. CUL-DAR205.3.156-157. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Kees Rookmaaker, corrected and edited by John van Wyhe, corrections by Gordon Chancellor 11.2011. RN3
NOTE: Wallace, A. R. 1853. Narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an account of the native tribes, and observations on the climate, geology, and natural history of the Amazon valley. London: Reeve & Co. http://wallace-online.org/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=S714
Darwin cited this information in Natural selection, pp. 379-380: "Mr. Wallace in his interesting Travels seems to doubt the strict adaptation even of very differently constructed birds; for he lays much stress on the fact of having repeatedly seen the ibis, spoon‐bill & heron feeding together on precisely the same food; & so with pigeons, parrots, toucans &c. But until it can be shown that these birds feed throughout the year on exactly the same food, & are throughout their lives from the nest upwards exposed to the same dangers,—for to want or danger each must be sometimes exposed, otherwise each would increase inordinately—the fact of their feeding together for a time or even for the whole year, seems to me to tell as nothing against the strictest adaptation of their whole structure to their conditions of existence."
Reproduced with the permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volume CUL-DAR205.3 contains notes on distribution of animals.
156
Narrative of Travels on the Amazon by A. Wallace 1853. —
p. 84 & 85. Remarks on birds with very different structure feeding on same food. Thus "the ibis, spoon-bill & heron may be seen side by side picking up the same food from the shallow waters on the beach; & on opening their stomachs, we find the same little crustacea & shell-fish in them all/" 10 pigeons, parrots, toucans & chatterers may often be seen feeding all together on the same tree. — But all this goes for nothing without food shown to be same throughout the year: no doubt different tribes (as goatsuckers & swallows may be adapted to the same food; but then they are exposed to different dangers &c.
version utilitarian section Difficulty on selection Kingsley & Huxley idea [illeg] existence
Q [written over other entries on the page, meaning 'Quoted'.]
157
p. 469 within day's journey of Peru, 600 diurnal Lepidoptera may be obtained. He obtained them. Mr Bates in the Amazonian valley has obtained 1000 species, & yet no variation of climate or in physical features of country. —
p. 471 gives several cases of the great branches of the Amazon & Amazon itself forming boundaries to the range of many monkeys, which do not swim.
p. 310 gives case of first appearance of the Rio Negro of swarms of "Piums" a biting fly.—
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 25 September, 2022