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development into something else, or had been wings and became 

 vedviced through disuse, or had been always stunted. 



Darwin's belief in the secmd alternative was alluded to by Mr 

 Wonfor ; but in opposition to this, Mr Moore gave the result of his 

 practical experience in New Zealand. There he had found that 

 brevipennate birds existed priucipaUy on soil roots, and consequently 

 had no use for wings. 



Mr DowsETT would not allow that there were so great 

 modifications in nature as Darwin suggested, although he admitted 

 that there were great modifications, the result of human agency. 

 Why were the birds mentioned not specially created in a form 

 adapted to the spheres they occupied ? 



Another difficulty in believing Darwin's theoiy was referred to 

 by the Chairman ; this was the density of the bone in the 

 brevipennate birds, in contrast with the animals themselves. 



To meet Darwin half-way, Mr Wonfor suggested that, instead 

 of admitting that aU forms of birds had been developed from a few 

 types, some acquiring greater powers of flight, and some ceasing to 

 fly altogether, they might concede that brevipennate birds had all 

 developed from one type, of which, perhaps, the ostrich or dinornis 

 was the original. 



January 28th. 



MICROSCOPICAL MEETING.—" ROCK SECTIONS." 



The subject was to have beenintroducedby another gentleman, 

 but was in his absence introduced by Mr. T. W. Wonfor, the hon, 

 sec, who, since the last meeting of the society, had been elected 

 Curator of the Free Library, Museum, and Picture Gallery 



After referring to the barrenness of scientific literature upon 

 the subject, Mr Wonfor proceeded to give a brief but comprehensive 

 sketch of the rock systems, constituting the crust of the earth, and 

 explained the characteristics of the three groups, the igneous, the 

 aqueous, and the organic. Dealing with the latter first, he showed 

 how at the present time rocks were being built up in the beds of 



