3 JULY 1920, Page 24

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECEATOR."1 SIR,—The late Mr.

Frank T. Millen, who had apparently some intimacy with 'whales, writes in his book, Creatures of the Sea : " I have seen the thresher shark attacking the whale (Mysti- cetus) at close quarters, so cloSe indeed that every movement of the shark' and his victim was plainly visible, and I can hardly imagine anyone mistaking the gambols of the whale for this curious attack." I should not expect you to give space for the rest of the passage, in which the simultaneous attacks of the swordfish and killer whale are referred to—the latter as being probably the most formidable and effective of all three—but as regards the thresher, I think it reasonable to oppose the testimony of this eyewitness, and my own, to the disbelief of men of science, including the writer of the interest- ing letter in your last issue, who have not happened to see him at work.—I am, Sir, &c.,