Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/451

 WALLACE 431 plant, and these in turn form other plants; hence the common name, and the specific name, rhizophyllus ; the plant often forms dense tangled masses. It may be cultivated if its natural locality is imitated. WALLACE, a W. county of Kansas, bordering on Colorado, and drained by the Smoky Hill river and its branches; area, about 2,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 538. It is traversed by the Kansas Pacific railroad. The surface consists of elevated prairies. Capital, Wallace. WALLACE, Alfred Rnssel, an English natural- ist, born at Usk, Monmouthshire, Jan. 8, 1822. He was employed for several years in the architectural office of his brother, and then devoted himself to natural history. In 1848 he accompanied Mr. H. W. Bates in a scientific expedition to Brazil, where, after a protracted sojourn in Para, he explored the primeval for- ests of the Amazon and Kio Negro, returning to England in 1852. His valuable collections, especially rich in the departments of ornithol- ogy and botany, were in great part destroyed by shipwreck. In 1853 he published "Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro" and "Palm Trees of the Amazon and their Uses," and in 1854 undertook a journey to the East Indies, where for a period of nearly eight years he explored the greater part of the islands con- stituting the Malay archipelago, and portions of Papua. While pursuing his researches rel- ative to the fauna and flora of these regions, Mr. Wallace, unaware of Darwin's previous labors in the same direction, attempted the so- lution of the problem of the origin of species, and arrived at almost the same general conclu- sions which were simultaneously reached by that naturalist. (See EVOLUTION.) His paper " On the Tendency of Varieties to depart in- definitely from the Original Type," transmitted through Sir Charles Lyell to the Linnsean so- ciety, was read before that body on July 1, 1858, coincidently with the reading of Mr. Darwin's paper " On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties, and on the Perpetuation of Species and Varieties by means of Natural Selection." Though recognizing the efficacy of natural selection in producing most of the changes attributed to its action by Mr. Dar- win, he denies its competence to effect, with- out the joint agency of some higher cause, the transition to man from the anthropoid apes. In 1862 Mr. Wallace returned to Eng- land, where for several years he was mainly engaged in the classification of his vast collec- tion, which embraced upward of 100,000 ento- mological specimens, and more than 8,000 birds. The results of his eastern explorations were partially embodied in " The Malay Archi- pelago : the Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise" (1869). Mr. Wallace has of late been prominently associated with the believers in the so-called spiritualistic phenomena, to the examination of which he has devoted special attention. His observations were published in a series of essays in the " Fortnightly Review " 824 VOL. xvi. 28 for 1874, reprinted as " Miracles and Modern Spiritualism " (1875). In 1868 he received the royal medal from the royal society, and in 1870 the gold medal from the geographical society of Paris. In 1870 he published " Contribu- tions to the Theory of Natural Selection." His elaborate work "On the Geographical Dis- tribution of Animals" (2 vols.) appeared in 1876 in English, French, and German. WALLACE, Horace Binney, an American author, born in Philadelphia, Feb. 26, 1817, died in Paris, Dec. 16, 1852. He graduated at Prince- ton college in 1835, and studied law, but never practised. In connection with Judge Hare he edited and annotated "American Leading Cases," "Smith's Leading Cases," and "White and Tudor's Leading Cases in Equity," which have passed through numerous editions. He published anonymously "Stanley, or the Re- collections of a Man of the World," a novel (Philadelphia, 1838) ; and after his death were published "Art and Scenery in Europe, with other Papers" (1855), and "Literary Criti- cisms, and other Papers" (1856). WALLACE, Sir William, a Scottish patriot, born about 1270, executed at Smithfield, Aug. 28, 1305. He was of Anglo-Norman descent, the younger son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, knight of Ellerslie. While at the high school in Dun- dee, in an altercation he stabbed the son of the English- governor of Dundee castle, and tied. For some time he was an outlaw in the fastnesses of the southern highlands; and his accomplishments, personal prowess, and bra- very drew around him a considerable number of followers, including several men of note. After the insurrection broke out in 1297, he attacked the English justiciary holding court at Scone, took many prisoners, and killed many more. At the same time Sir William Doug- las and others of his adherents surprised and compelled the surrender of the English gar- risons in the castles of Durisdeer and San- quhar. Edward I. sent into Scotland an army of 40,000 men with a small cavalry troop, un- der Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford. The Scottish force had assembled at Lochma- ben, and on the approach of the English a night attack was made by Wallace, who was forced to fall back toward Irvine in Ayr- shire. Dissensions arose among the chiefs in the Scottish army, and a treaty was agreed upon. Wallace and Murray of Bothwell alone of the leaders protested, and retired into, the northern counties, where they speedily re- cruited a powerful force, and surprised and captured the English garrisons at Aberdeen, Dunnottar, Forfar, and Montrose. Wallace had begun the siege of Dundee, when he heard of the advance of a powerful English army toward the river- Forth in the direction of Stirling. He at once abandoned the siege, and, recruiting as he went, reached Stirling with 40,000 foot and 180 horse. The Eng- lish, 50,000 foot and 1,000 horse, were under the command of the earl of Surrey. Several