146 Letters, Anrioiinceiiients, 6^c. 



states caeca are deficient in the Ijark ; now in the Sky-Lark 

 [Alauda arvensis) I find them well developed and measuring a 

 good eighth of inch in length. At p. 171 he also states that 

 the cseca in the Peacock " measure each about one foot in 

 length;'^ I find them to measure 5i inches in length. I have 

 repeatedly found discrepancies between the measurements taken 

 by myself and those given by others, and there are many in- 

 stances in which Prof. Owen^s measurements do not agree with 

 my own ; yet I have not selected these examples to show that 

 Prof. Owen and Mr. Blyth are wrong, for I am not unmindful 

 of the case of the travellers and the Chamgeleon. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



Charles Barron. 



Mr. Edward Newton informs us that, having been unable to 

 obtain the assistance of labourers in Rodriguez, he sent thither 

 from Mauritius a party of men to dig in the caverns where the 

 Solitaires' bones had been found {cf. Ibis, 1865, p. 551). The 

 expedition proved successful, the result being that he has ob- 

 tained a very large number of the bones of Pezophaps soUtarius, 

 including all the most important parts of the skeleton, so that 

 we hope naturalists will soon be as well acquainted with the 

 osteology of this species as they now are with that of its ally 

 Didus ineptus. 



At a recent sale in London, by public auction, an unbound 

 copy of the First volume of the old series of 'The Ibis' fetched 

 upwards of Three Pounds. Our readers are aware that this 

 volume has long been out of print ; perhaps a knowledge of the 

 fact just mentioned may induce possessors of copies to offer them 

 for sale, and so enable some of our newer subscribers to com- 

 plete their sets. 



END OF NO. IX. 



