170 M. de Quatrefages o?i 



taclied*. Mr. Millen Coughtrey, to whom the objects collected 

 by Dr. Thomson were sent, anatomized the neck, and was 

 able to recognize the different muscles ; on the right feram* he 

 found the fibres and the tendons of nine muscles ; the other 

 bones only presented traces of tendons f. 



In reply to the objections to his theory which spring from 

 the preceding facts. Dr. Haast asserts that the bones of the 

 neck, described by Dr. Hector, are in a state of semi-fossili- 

 zation, like that presented by most Moa-bones ; and he 

 explains the persistence of the muscles and integuments by' 

 their accidental position in a layer of dry sand;. But can we 

 imagine how the bones could be fossilized while the flesh 

 remained intact ? Moreover, on the first point, the learned 

 geologist is formally contradicted by Dr. Hector, who repre- 

 sents these same bones of the neck as being in a perfect state 

 of preservation, and not at all fossilized §. Mr. Low makes 

 the same assertion with respect to the specimens in his posses- 

 sion. How can we doubt the correctness of these statements 

 in presence of the fact that the muscles adhering to these 

 bones could be dissected ? 



Dr. Haast, indeed, replies to observations of this kind, that 

 in Europe bones dating from the Quaternary epoch have 

 sometimes shown a remarkable degree of preservation. He 

 cites particularly the facts ascertained by MM. de Ferry and 

 Arcelin, at the Clos-du-Charnier, where the bones and antlers 

 of the reindeer had retained the greater part of their gelatine ||; 

 but he forgets that none of these bones ever exhibited the least 

 trace of muscles or tendons. At Solutr<5, as wherever fossil 

 bones have been collected, the soft parts have totally dis- 

 appeared. 



It is precisely tlie preservation of these soft parts that gives 

 to the remains of Moas studied by Dr. Hector their great his- 

 torical significance. Moreover, it is evident that there must have 

 been some exceptionally favourable circumstances to account 

 for a portion of the muscular and cutaneous tissues having 

 escaped destruction, while the greater part of them disap- 



* Low, he, cit. 



t " Notes on the Anatomy of the Moa-remains found at Earnscleugh 

 Cave," by Millen Coughtrey ('Transactions' &c. vol. \ii. p. 141). To 

 judge from the details given by Dr. Thomson, all the material in the way 

 of muscles and skin contained in this cave was not collected (see Dr. 

 Hector's memoir, he. cit. p. 112). 



X Additional notes, p. 93 ; Third paper, p. 102. 



§ " Without being in the least degree mineralized " (/oc. cj'^. p. 114). 



II " L'age du Renne en Maconnais " (International Congress of Pre- 

 historic Archfeology, 1868), quoted by Dr. Haast, in ' Geology of Canter- 

 bury and Westland," p. 442. 



