GEOLOGY. 



been frequently seen, in association with which thousands of minute black 

 hooks may be noticed by the aid of the lens. These have been supposed 

 portions of the outer skin of the Ichthyosaurus covered by the hook-shaped 

 processes referred to. It was stated by Mr. Moore that out of twenty-three 

 saurians in his museum he had traced these black patches in not less than 

 sixteen ; but that as in every instance they were connected with the stomach 

 of the saurian, the conclusion was forced upon him that they were not portions 

 of skin, but were to be accounted for by supposing that the Ichthyosauri had 

 fed upon naked cephalopods, allied to the cuttle fish. Continuing his 

 investigations on this subject, Mr. Moore proved that there were many cepha- 

 lopods existing with the Ichthyosaurus that would supply these hooks, and 

 that they were frequently to be found on the fleshy arms of the Onychothentis 

 and allied genera. Mr. Moore exhibited to the Meeting the body of a small 

 saurian, which at this distant time had its soft skin entire ; and appealed to 

 it in confirmation of his opinion, that these black patches and the hooks were 

 no portion of its outer covering. In conclusion, Mr. Moore produced some 

 of the dark matter taken from the stomach of one of his Ichthyosauri, and 

 stated that he could show to the Meeting that, although it had through so 

 many ages been lying in the stomach of this ancient creature, and had been 

 mixed with other food, it could be no other than what was once the fluid ink 

 of a cuttle fish ; a fact which was demonstrated to the Meeting by his show- 

 ing them that it retained its coloring matter almost as perfectly as if it had 

 been taken from a recent sepia. In clearing this specimen, Mr. Moore was 

 fortunate enough to make an incision into the stomach, in which, though so 

 long a period had elapsed since it had taken its last meal, there was still to 

 be seen in perfect preservation a small fish of the genus Leptolepis. 



XEW SPECIES OF DIXOEXIS. 



At a recent meeting of the London Zoological Society, Prof. Owen read a 

 description of a new species of Dinomis, the Dinornis Ekphantopus, Ow. Mr. 

 Walter Mantell having deposited in the British Museum his extensive col- 

 lection of remains of great wingless birds from New Zealand, and Professor 

 Owen having, at the request of Mr. Waterhouse, undertaken the examination 

 of the collection with a view to determine the bones and the species to which 

 they belong, the Professor had discovered a species distinct from, and more 

 extraordinary than, any that he had previously seen and described. For this 

 species, which he regarded as the most remarkable of the feathered class for 

 its prodigious strength and massive proportions, he proposed the name of 

 Dinornis elejrfiantopus. The parts of its skeleton selected for the subject of the 

 evening's discourse were the femur, tibia, fibula, metatarse, and phalanges of 

 the three toes ; the Professor having been able to recompose an entire lower 

 limb of the elephant-footed bird. Its title to that name may be judged of by 

 the proportions of some of these bones. In the Dinornis giganteus, e.g., 

 described by Professor Owen in 1843, the length of the metatarsal bone is 

 eighteen inches and a half, the breadth of its lower end being five inches and 

 a hah"; in the Dinornis elephantopus, the length of the corresponding bone is 

 nine inches and a quarter, the breadth of the lower end being five inches and 



