32 M. Cuvier's I^tice of some supposed Bones of the Dodo, 



we can scarcely discern a median process ; its anterior angle is very 

 obtuse, — a character which allies it to the sternum of the Gallince, 

 The bird to which these bones belonged, is also connected with 

 this family by the form of the cranium. The tarsus has processes 

 corresponding to three fingers and a thumb, as they are figured 

 by Clusius and Edwards. The humerus and fore-arm are short, 

 and show that the animal makes no use of its wings. M. Cuvier 

 came to the conclusion, from considerations founded on the struc- 

 ture of these parts, that the dodo must be classed with the Gallince. 



M. de Blainville remarked, after the termination of the reading 

 of M. Cuvier's memoir, that for three years he had been engaged 

 in attempting to determine to what order of birds the dodo must 

 be referred ; he had procured a drawing of the portions of this 

 bird, preserved in the Museum of Oxford, and of the head as re- 

 presented in the painting from which Clusius' figure had been 

 taken. His conclusions differ from those of M. Cuvier, as he con- 

 siders the dodo to belong to the vultures ; he remarked that this 

 bird has been found in places where there is no grain to serve for 

 its food, and offered the conjecture that it lived principally upon 

 fishes. He thought that the bad quality of the flesh is another 

 proof that it feeds upon living prey rather than upon grain ; and he 

 considered that there was no proof that the bones produced by M. 

 Cuvier had really belonged to the dodo, for the prominence of the 

 crest of the sternum indicated an animal provided with powerful 

 pectoral muscles, and it could not be supposed that such muscles 

 would have belonged to a bird that could not fly. 



M. Cuvier replied that, without entering into a discussion on the 

 general results which may be drawn from the prominence of the 

 crest of the sternum, in the determination of the genus of a bird, 

 we may rest assured, in the present case, that the dodo was unable 

 to fly, and that it nevertheless possessed very thick pectoral muscles. 

 Its absolute incapacity for flight was attested by all travellers who 

 had visited the Mauritius, and the observations of the same persons 

 inform us how the chest of this bird was covered with muscles. 

 • M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire observed that there was not so much 

 real difference between the two opinions as might be supposed ; for 

 the Gallince, by their structure and some of their habits, are con- 

 siderably related to the vultures, and it might be admitted that the 

 dodo was placed between them so as to establish the connection. 



M. de Blainville, however, on the 30th August last, read to the 

 Academy of Sciences a very detailed memoir on this subject. He 

 then stated his opinion to be that the dodo must be placed amongst 

 the Palmipeda, next to the penguin. He supposes that this doubt- 

 ful bird, which has only been found in the Isle of France, may 

 nevertheless exist in other countries. He thinks, moreover, that 

 the portions of structure which we possess, prove, by their diflTer- 

 ences, that there are many species of dodo. — Bull, des Sciences 

 Nat. xxii. 122. 



