INTRODUCTION SF 
(p. 766) and Cartnat# (p. 76). The Sawrurex have the metacarpals well 
developed and not ancylosed, and the caudal vertebree are numerous and 
large, so that the caudal region of the spine is longer than the body, The 
furcula is complete and strong, the feet are very Passerine in appearance. 
The skull and sternum were at the time unknown, and indeed the whole 
Order, without doubt entirely extinct, rested exclusively on the celebrated 
fossil, then unique, Archxopteryx just mentioned. The Ratite comprehend 
the “Struthious” Birds, which differ from all others now extant in the com- 
bination of several peculiarities, some of which have been mentioned in the 
preceding pages. The sternum has no keel, and ossifies from lateral and 
paired centres only ; the axes of the scapula and coracoid have the same 
general direction ; certain of the cranial bones have characters very unlike 
those possessed by the next Order—the vomer, for example, being broad 
posteriorly and generally intervening between the basisphenoidal rostrum 
and the palatals and pterygoids ; the barbs of the feathers are disconnected ; 
there is no syrinx or inferior larynx ; and the diaphragm is better developed 
than in other Birds The Ratitz are divided into five groups, separated 
by very trenchant characters, principally osteological, and many of them 
afforded by the cranial bones. ‘These groups consist of (i.) Struthio 
(OstRIcH), (ii.) Ruwa, (iii.) Caswarius Cassowary, and Dromxus (EMEv), 
(iv.) Dinornis (Moa) and (v.) Apteryx (Kiwi); but no names are here 
given to them. The Carinatx comprise all other existing Birds. The 
sternum has more or less of a keel, and is said to ossify, with the possible 
exception of Stringops (KaKApo), from a median centre as well as from 
paired and lateral centres. The axes of the scapula and coracoid meet at 
an acute, or, as in Didus (Dopo) and Ocydromus (WmxKa), at a slightly 
obtuse angle, while the vomer is comparatively narrow and allows the 
pterygoids and palatals to articulate directly with the basisphenoidal 
rostrum. The Carinate are divided, according to the formation of the 
palate, into four “Suborders,” and named (i.) DrommoGNatTH”, (ii.) 
ScHizoGNaTH®, (iii.) DesmocNATH& and (iv.) MerrHoenaTHsz.? The 
Dromxognathe resemble the Ratitx, and especially Dromxus, in their 
palatal structure, and are composed of the Tinamous. The Schizognathe 
include a great many of the forms belonging to the Linnzan Orders 
Galline, Gralle and Anseres. In them the vomer, however variable, 
always tapers to a point anteriorly, while behind it includes the 
basisphenoidal rostrum between the palatals; but neither these nor the 
pterygoids are borne by its posterior divergent ends, The maxillo- 
palatals are usually elongated and lamellar, uniting with the palatals, and, 
bending backward along their inner edge, leave a cleft (whence the name 
given to the “ Suborder”) between the vomer and themselves. Six groups 
of Schizognathe are distinguished with considerable minuteness :— (1) 
CHARADRIOMORPHA; (2) GERANOMORPHE; (3) CECOMORPHH; (4) 
1 This peculiarity had’ led some zoologists to consider the “Struthious” Birds 
more nearly allied to the Mammalia than any others, 
2 These names are compounded respectively of Dromeus, the generic name applied 
to the Emeu, cxifa, a split or cleft, décua, a bond or tying, alos, a Finch, and, in 
each case, yvd0os, a jaw. The constitution of the several groups is explained in the 
body of this work under names here printed in small capitals, but is repeated for the 
convenience of the reader. 
