155 



It referred to the statement raade by Mr. Martin at the Meetinc 

 on February 10 1835 (page 17), that in the Adjutant. Cicont 

 srgala, Vig. and Childr., and in the common Heron, Ardea cinerea 

 Unn., no less than m the Pelicans, the os f urentum is united bv bone 

 to the anterior apex of the keel of the stermm. After remarking 

 that this statement is at variance with his experience, Mr. AUis pro- 

 ceeds thus :— " I have prepared a skeleton of the Adjutant; two of 

 the purple Heron; tv,o Storks ; three of the common Heron- one 

 comnonBittern ; one little Bittern ; one American small green Heron ■ 

 a Bntish Cra«e: and aPolish Crune. Among all these the Crancs are 

 the only birds where there is true osseous union between the furcu- 

 lum and the keel: and in the Cranes the furculum is rather a forked 

 elongation of the keel than a distinct bone. Out of more than two 

 hundredbirds skeletons which I have mounted, \hePelican is the 

 only other bird where the furculum and sternum form one bone 

 Ihe Cormorant and the Gannet have the furculum resting on the 

 apex of the keel like the Adjutant and the Herons, but there is no 

 bonyjunction. I think the specimens of Mr. Martin mušt have 

 been extremely old birds, or that the bone mušt have been iniured 

 at the pomt of union, and that the osseous union was formed in con- 

 seąuenceof that injury. The Heron' s skeletons which I have my- 

 i^\i prepared are by no means young birds; but I suppose extreme 

 old age would be very likely to form a bonyjunction between bones 

 pressmg so close to each other as they do in this case 



"It may be thought singular that I shonld prepare duplicates of 

 the skeleton of so common a bird as the common Heron. The reason 

 is, that two of the skeletons exhibit curious specimens of nature's 

 reparation of brd^en limbs, and the third is a singular instance of 

 malformation. The sternum of the Heron is united to the vertebral 

 column by four short ribs which are attached to four of the largest 

 ot the long ribs : this specimen has the usual number of short ribs • 

 but one of them is placed so far forward on the sternum as to be 

 quite out of the reach of any of the vertebral or long ribs ; and the 

 lašt of the four long nbs which is usuaUy attached to one of the short 

 or stemal nbs, wanting its usual support, is attached by cartilage to 

 the nb immediately preceding it." T. A. •- t> 



read ^°'^ ^""^ ^^' ^^'^' °° *^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ct, was subseąuently 

 Mr Martin admits the incorrectness of his previous statement as 

 regards the Adjutant and the common Heron ; but remarks that the 

 union. although not effected by bone. is yet so close as probably to 

 have nearly the šame physiological conseąuence as if anchylosis had 

 actually taken place. When considering the sternum and os furcatum 

 ot the Felican as structurally bearing upon the bird's powers of fli^ht 

 he looked for analogies of the structural point in ąuestion among 



