28 OCTOBER 1871, Page 15

THE WISE CRANE.

[To TUB EDITOR OF TIIR "SFROTLTOR.1

Sin,—Pertnit me to suggest, with reference to your excessively interesting article on the " Political Crane," that the fable of King Stork and King Log may well have owed its origin to the observa- tion of similar cases by the ancients, to whom storks were very familiar. They recognized them, in short, I imagine, as forming the hereditary "Ruling Class " in the kingdom of feathered bipeds. Would to Heaven that more men of science would, like Mr. Darwin, direct their attention to a philosophical study of the marvellous intellectual and moral characteristics of animals, instead of cutting them up alive to see how God has made them 1—I am, Sir, &c.,

PniLozooisr.