109 



Palmųteds surpass the Ostrich in the number of cervicsJ verttbr^, yet 

 tbese staud out rather as exceptioas in their paiticular order ; \rhile 

 au exce&s o\-er the aveiage number of cervical ivrtebrėc iu birds is 

 constant iu ihe striUkums or BrevipeitMiUe order. Thus in the Cas- 

 so\rary 19 vertebne precede that which supports a rib connected vrith 

 the slemmm, and of these 19 vre niay fairly reckon 16 as analc^us 

 to the cervical t^rtebrs in other birds. In the Rhea there are also 

 16 cervical vertebne, and not 14, as Cuvier statės. In the Ostrich 

 there are 18, in the Emeu 19 cerrical vertebra. Iu the Jpleryjc ve 

 should reckon 16 cervical vertebrs if we iucluded that vrhich sup- 

 ports the short rudimentai but moreahle pair of ribs. Of the 22 

 true grallatoriai birds cited in Cuvier's Table of the Number of Ver- 

 tebne. only 9 have more than 14 cervical vertebr«; while the Ap- 

 teryjr xrith 15 cervical vertebra, considered as a struthious bird, has 

 the fevrest of its order. The &ee bony appendages of the libs, and 

 the luiiversal absence of air-cells in the skeleton, are conditions in 

 vrhich the .4ptaryjc resembles the Apteiiodiles, but here all resemhlance 

 ceases : the position in ■vvhich the Apteryx \ras originally figured* is 

 iucompatible with its organization. 



" The modificatious of the skuU of the Aptergjt, in couformity xnih 

 tlie structure of the beak reąuisite for obtaining its appropriate food, 

 are uudoubtedly estreme ; yet we i>erceiTe m the cere whicii covers 

 the kise of the bill in the eutire Apieryjc a structure vrhich exists in 

 all the struthious birds ; and the anterior ĮX>sitiou of the uostrils in 

 the sulmttenuated beak of the Cassovrary is an evident approach to 

 that very singular one which peculiarly characterizes the Apteryt, 

 With regnrd to the digestive orgaus, it is interesting to remark. that 

 the thickened muscular parietcs of tlie stomach of tlie most strictly 

 grani\-orous of the struthious birds do not exhibit that apparatus of 

 distinct MhschH digastrici and lalerales vrhich fonus the characteristic 

 structure of the gizzard of the gallinaceous onier : the Apterjfx, in 

 the form and structure of its stomach, adheres to tlie struthious type. 

 It diffiers again in a marked degree from tlie Gn///»Kf , in the absence of 

 a crop. ^Vitli respect to the ctecal ajipeudages of the iutestiue, though 

 gencrally long iu the GalliM/e, tliey are subject to great \Tmety iu 

 both tlie strutliious and grallatoriai onlers : their extreme lengtli aud 

 complicated structure iu the Ostrich and Rhea fonn a peculiarity only 

 met \vith in these birds. In the Cassovan,-, on the other haud, the 

 ctecti are described by the French acadeniiciaus as entirely absent. 

 Cuviert spejiks of " uu csecum unique " iii tlie Emeu. In my dissec- 

 tions of theso struthious birds I have alvvays found the twt> normai 

 cttca present. but small ; ui the Emeu measuring about five iuches 

 long and half au inch iu diiimetcr : iu the Cassovrarj' measuriug 

 about four iuches iu leugth. The preseuce of two moderately de- 

 veloiK-d cacn in the Aptcrj/x affords tlierefore no indicatiou of its re- 

 cessiou frvim the strutliious tyjvc : these r<ecn correspoiid iu their 

 couditiou, as tliey do iu the other struthious birds, \vitli the nature 



• Slia\v"s Nfiscella:»y, xxiv. \A. 1075. 



t Lcctuis ifAmii. Comp. 1S36. iv. p. 291. 



