Quote#Nature
He [the naturalist] looks upon every species of animal and plant now…
Quote byAlfred Russel Wallace · 1823–1913
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: (1863) "On the physical geography of the Malay Archipelago." The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 33:217-234..
English (original)
He [the naturalist] looks upon every species of animal and plant now living as the individual letters which go to make up one of the volumes of our earth's history; and, as a few lost letters may make a sentence unintelligible, so the extinction of the numerous forms of life which the progress of cultivation invariably entails will necessarily render obscure this invaluable record of the past.
— Alfred Russel Wallace
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