Miscellaneous. 349 



confirm my statement. This gentleman may be heard of by appli- 

 cation at the American Consulate at Liverpool. 



"I, in common with most persons, doubt that M. Du Chaillu ever 

 killed or assisted to kill a Gorilla, and also of the extent of his 

 ' travels.' At any rate, his estimate of distances, as well as the 

 direction in which he pretends to have penetrated, must be received 

 with the utmost caution, as not only was he unprovided with instru- 

 ments, but ignorant of their use. 



" As endorsing my opinions, I am authorized to mention the name 

 of M. Labeguerie, a French merchant here, and a distinguished 

 member of the Agricultural Committee ; to which I venture to add 

 that of my friend M. A. Michon, of Havre, who could furnish infor- 

 mation on the subject of his ' travels,' &c. 



" With regard to his commercial exploits, which are as mythic as 

 his sporting adventures, I beg to suggest that application be made 

 t the firm of Oppenheim and Co., of Paris, with which firm he had 

 some dealings in the year 1852, and who will be able to give every 

 desirable renseignement, not only on that point, but on others also 

 which I will not mention, when informed that M. Paul Du Chaillu, 

 the Great African explorer (?) and the lion of the season in London, 

 is identical with M. Paid Belloni. 



" Having thus, as far as time will permit, done my best to arrest a 

 career which I leave others to characterize, " I am, &c, 



'To the Editor of ' The Times: " " R. B. Walker." 



On the Height of the Gorilla. 

 By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c. 



Much difference occurs in the statements of travellers and others 

 with reference to the height of the great African Ape. Bowdich, the 

 first traveller by whom it was referred to, under the name of the 

 Ingena, states it, on the authority of the natives of the Gaboon, to be 

 generally five feet high ; but in some recent notices it has been as- 

 serted to reach a height of six feet two inches ; and the specimen ex- 

 hibited at the Meeting of German Naturalists at Vienna is said, on 

 good authority, to have measured more than six feet in height. 



The measurement of a stuffed skin without bones is necessarily de- 

 lusive, depending as it does, first, on the mode in which the skin has 

 been originally prepared, and, secondly, on the extent to which the 

 artist may be disposed to stretch it. Such measurements are not to 

 be relied on, unless they are in accordance with those of the bony 

 skeleton ; and it has therefore occurred to me that it would be de- 

 sirable to measure the long bones of the limbs of the various skeletons 

 existing in the British Museum, — the osseous structure giving the only 

 certain dimensions on which reliance can be placed. 



The skeletons in the British Museum are six in number, viz. : — ■ 



1 . A skeleton obtained from Paris by Professor Owen in 1857, and 

 mounted in the best French manner. 



2. 3. 4. Skeletons of male and female and young male, all more or 

 less imperfect. Purchased from M. Du Chaillu, 1861. 



5. A skeleton of a male, obtained at Bristol in 1858, of which we 

 have also the stuffed skin. 



