646 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



I am not sufficiently conversant with the subject to discuss the difficul- 

 ties in the way of reducing the number of guns, but it seems probable 

 that but a small portion of these are needed for the protection of cultiva- 

 tion against the depredations of game, and that there is room for a large 

 reduction in the number of licenses now granted, assuming that in the 

 majority of cases the native shikari's possession of his gun is legal under 

 existing conditions. 



But the main point to which I wish to invite attention is that all or 

 nearly aU the illegal slaughter of game that goes on is for profit, whether 

 by sale of horns, skins, or flesh. Put an end to the demand and the supply 

 will cease. This is Mr. Hicks' contention, with which I for one am entirely 

 in agreement. What he would do is to prohibit by law the sale or pur- 

 chase of game in any form whether flesh, skins, horns, or feather. It does 

 not seem that there would be anything unreasonable or impracticable in 

 such a prohibition, though certain exceptions to the general rule might be 

 found advisable. 



Since writing the above I have learned that a new Bill on the subject of 

 Game Preservation, prepared after consultation with the Local Govern- 

 ments, is now under consideration by the Secretary of State. Whether 

 it contains any provisions against the traffic above mentioned is doubtful. 

 In any case, as this bill will presumably come up before the Legislative 

 Council before very long the present juncture would seem not inop- 

 portune for calling attention to the subject. Is it too late for the Society 

 to make a representation in the mat er ? If there be any doubt as to 

 the need for some action it should be possible with the Society's present 

 large membership to obtain within a short time a sufficiency of information 

 upon which to form an opinion.* 



II. — Two SPECIES OF Panther. 



I had imagined that in spite of opinions to the contrary, specially among 

 an earlier generation of Indian sportsmen, science had decided once for all 

 that there was no specific distinction between the large "panther" and 

 the smaller " leopard" of some writers. This for the reason that a large 

 series of animals shows such a number of intermediate variations between 

 two types in size, Colouring, length of tail and even shape of head that it 

 is impossible to separate them. 



In this connection Mr. Lydekker writes, however, that if the two forms 

 are, as a whole, distinguishable and restricted to particular localities, they 



* Mr. Dodsworth's interesting' article on the "Protection of Wild Birds in 

 India'" in the last number of the Journal affords evidence of the success of recent 

 legislation directed against the Indian Plumage Trade, and encourages one to hope 

 that the efforts of Mr- Hicks and others on behalf of the deer, &c., may not prove 

 unavailing. 



