166 Prof. Owen on a Relic of an unknown Struthious Bird. 



C€(S with Aroideae ; Lindley subsequently separated them, and 

 as it appears*, chiefly on account of the pendent ovules. Not 

 to mention that the ovules are not unfrequently pendent in 

 Aroidece, which Lindley has forgotten ; it is also to be ob- 

 served that the ovules in Typhacem are only spuria pendula, 

 for in them also we meet with the rapJie aversa, 



DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES. 



Fig. 1. Adonis vernalis. Longitudinal section of the ovarium ]\\^i before the 

 expansion of the flower. 

 a. Placenta. In the fully developed flower, the form of the ovulum 

 scarcely changed. 

 Fig. 2. Ranunculus repens. The same. 

 Fig. 3. Ranunculus repens. Just after the expansion of the flower. 



a. Placenta ; — h. Raphe, 

 Fig. 4. Anemone nemorosa. Just after the expansion of the flower. 

 a. and h. As in the preceding figure. 



XVIII. — On the Bone of an unknown Struthious Bird of large 

 Size from New Zealand, By Richard Owen, Esq., F.R.S. 



The bone of an unknown Struthious bird of large size, presumed 

 to be extinct, has been placed by Mr. Rule, in the hands of Pro- 

 fessor Owen for examination, with the statement that it was found 

 in New Zealand, where the natives have a tradition that it belonged 

 to a bird of the Eagle kind, but which has become extinct, and to 

 which they give the name " Movie." Similar bones it is said are 

 found buried in the banks of the rivers. 



The following is an abstract of Profesor Owen's account of this 

 bone, communicated to the Zoological Society, Nov. 12. 



"The fragment is the shaft of a femur, with both extremities 

 broken off. The length of the fragment is six inches, and its small- 

 est circumference is five inches and a half. The exterior surface of 

 the bone is not perfectly smooth, but is sculptured with very shallow 

 reticulate indentations : it also presents several intermuscular ridges. 

 One of these extends down the middle of the anterior surface of the 

 shaft to about one-third from the lower end, where it bifurcates ; two 



* Upon a reference to Lindley 's ' Natural System of Botany,' ed. ii. p. 365, 

 it will be found that this is not an exact statement. That author's words 

 are, " They {Typhacece) are generally regarded as a distinct tribe by most 

 writers, and are surely sufficiently characterized by their calyx being 3- 

 sepalled and half glumaceous, or a mere bundle of long hairs, long lax fila- 

 ments, clavate anthers, solitary pendulous ovules, and peculiar habit." — Ed. 



