340 Correspondence. [May, 
accumulate at the Zoological Gardens, some of the surplus spe- 
cimens are sold off. Now I understand that the purchasers often 
declare themselves willing to pay a much higher price if they 
might have the animal a few days on trial, so as to find whether 
he was a clever monkey or a dull one. Whether we accept the 
old doCtrine of a distinction of kind between man and the lower 
animals, or whether with the modern school we admit a mere 
difference of degree, there is not, to my knowledge, a shadow of 
foundation for the mental equality which Mr. Billing ascribes to 
the members of each species.— I am, &c., 
R. N. M, 
THE WILD BIRDS PROTECTION ACT. 
To the Editor of the Journal of Science. 
Sir, — I was much struck with the article in your last number 
entitled “ Our Friends, and how we Treat them.” All that you 
say about the practical nullity of the A Cl is true. As far at least 
as the northern outskirts of London are concerned, the bird- 
catchers are now daily and successfully at work, and the author- 
ities, police, &c., take not the least notice. I hope that your 
appeal both to the humanity and the interests of the nation will 
not be ignored. — I am, &c., 
B. E. 
THE ANCESTRY OF MAN. 
To the Editor of the Journal of Science. 
Sir, — I n an article in your April number I find the following 
words : — “ the anthropomorphous apes, which our savants mark 
out as the immediate ancestors of man.” I was not aware that 
any naturalist of standing considered man as descended from 
any existing anthropoid. It has been expressly declared by the 
leading Evolutionists that they do not place man on the same 
ascending line as the gorilla, the chimpanzee, or the orang. — 
I am, &c., 
Accuracy. 
