ROOM II. SPINAL COLUMN OF DINORNIS. 113 



are a femur, tibia, and fibula, and some cervical vertebrae of 

 the same bird, dug up by my son from the menaccanite bed at 

 the base of the inland cliff at Te Rangatapu ; though belonging 

 to a young individual, as is shown by the still incomplete union 

 of the proximal epiphysis of the tibia, they are of gigantic 

 proportions. The femur is fourteen inches long, and nine 

 inches in circumference ; the tibia, thirty inches in length, 

 six inches round the shaft, and fourteen inches in circum- 

 ference at the distal end. The entire skeleton of this bird 

 was exposed on removing the soil ; the skull and vertebra? of 

 the neck lying extended, and the spinal column, pelvis, and 

 bones of the hind limbs disposed in their natural relative 

 position ; but, owing to the sudden inroad of the natives, 

 a few bones only could be rescued from destruction, and in 

 the confusion that ensued, the identification of the bones of 

 the same individual could not with certainty be determined. 

 The femur, tibia and fibula, however, unquestionably belonged 

 to the same bird. 



As a guide to the scientific observer, or the student in 

 palaeontology, I will point out a few of the most striking 

 peculiarities of the respective parts of the skeleton contained 

 in this collection ; but without reference to specific distinc- 

 tions. It will be sufficient, for example, in reference to the 

 tarso-metatarsal bone,, to state that in the genus Dinornis it 

 has three trochlear articulations ; while in that of Palapteryx 

 there is a posterior depression for the articulation with the 

 metatarsal of the hind toe ; the birds of this genus being 

 tetradactyle, or four-toed, like the Apteryx. 



Spinal Column. Table-Case 17. The bones composing 

 the spinal column are characterized by their massive propor- 

 tions, the remarkably thick quadrate spinous processes, espe- 

 cially of the cervical vertebrae, and the small size of the neural 

 canal, indicating a very slender medullary chord. " We may 

 associate with such a condition of the spinal marrow," Pro- 

 fessor Owen remarks, "less delicate perception, and less 

 energetic muscular action ; thus the characters of the vertebrae 

 confirm the original induction from the texture of the femur, 

 that the Dinornis was a more sluggish bird than the Ostrich." 1 



1 Consult the commentary on the anatomical characters of the 

 Dinornis, &c. in " Zool. Trans." vol. iii. p. 307, and p. 345. 



I 



