| RefNo | MC/17/215 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from [Walter Frank Raphael] Weldon, 30A Wimpole Street , London, to [Michael] Foster, [Secretary of The Royal Society] |
| Creator | Weldon; Walter Frank Raphael (1860-1906) |
| Date | 23 January 1899 |
| Description | Informs Foster that [Gorge Herbert] Fowler will visit him to discuss his application for a ship. However, [Sir William James Lloyd] Wharton is reluctant to approve it without the Royal Society's endorsement.The main issue arises from Murray's challenge concerning the distribution of polar animals. There is a commonality of genera in the surface faunas at both the North and South poles, but it is absent elsewhere. Climate changes have not created a continuous cold surface connecting these regions, suggesting independent evolution. Fowler's recent exploration near the Shetlands revealed surface-dwelling Arctic animals at 500 fathoms, indicating that temperature, rather than pressure, affects their distribution. Fowler plans to fish off the coast of Spain to confirm this hypothesis, with hopes of finding Arctic forms at around 1000 fathoms. Weldon believes this problem has broad implications for the theory of evolution and suggests the formation of a committee to assess it, involving himself, [Sir Edwin Ray] Lankester, [Sir William Turner Thiselton] Dyer, and [Sir William Abbott] Herdman. Rearding the Admiralty's perspective, he advises caution ibefore dismissing the importance of this work. |
| Extent | 2p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| RelatedRecord | MC/17/216 |
| MC/17/218 |
| MC/17/221 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7134 | Weldon; Walter Frank Raphael (1860 - 1906) | 1860 - 1906 |
| NA8220 | Foster; Sir; Michael (1836 - 1907); physiologist | 1836 - 1907 |
| NA6570 | Herdman; Sir; William Abbott (1858 - 1924) | 1858 - 1924 |
| NA7968 | Thiselton-Dyer; Sir; William Turner (1843 - 1928); botanist | 1843 - 1928 |
| NA8247 | Lankester; Sir; Edwin Ray (1847 - 1929); zoologist | 1847 - 1929 |