1865.] Mr. Parker on the Skull of the Ostrich Tribe. 113 



from the stores of the Hunterian Museum * ; and two others also, twice as 

 perfect, from the same source ; of these, one was more advanced than the 

 other. 



Next to these, in point of growth, is a young Freckled Emu (Dromceus 

 irroratus, Scl.) ; this wanted one week of the full period. 



The young of the Nandu (Rhea) were all ready for hatching, but died 

 in the process : these chicks had the long-billed kind (R. macrorhyncha, Scl.) 

 for their sire, but their dam was of the ordinary kind, viz. JR. americana. 

 Dr. Bennett's beautiful Cassowaries, the "Mooruks," have yielded two 

 ripe pulli ; these were both hatched alive at the Society's Gardens. The 

 author has been able to give the condition of the Emu's skull at six weeks 

 old, also at two months, at half a year, and likewise in the adult state. 



The skull of the adult Dinornis is also described ; and the so-called 

 Dinornis casuarinus is shown to be a gigantic Porphyrine Rail. 



The writer is indebted to M. Blanchard's work (L'Organisation du 

 Regne Animal) for a knowledge of the condition of the skull of the im- 

 mature Apteryx. 



The Tinamous (Tinamus robustus and T. variegatus) were both old birds ; 

 but their skulls are rich in persistent sutures, and in bones which, although 

 common amongst the cold-blooded classes, are rare enough amongst birds. 

 Moreover naturalists have misplaced the Tinamous, by putting them with 

 the " Gallinacese." 



In this paper the bones formed in membrane merely, and those formed 

 by the metamorphosis of true or hyaline cartilage are carefully distin- 

 guished; moreover the relation of the parts is displayed by sections 

 made in various directions. 



The figures are nearly all magnified, and they are coloured in a map- 

 like manner, so as to display, by an exaggeration of the natural tints, the 

 histological condition of the various parts of the skull and face at each stage. 



The nomenclature of the parts is, on the whole, in harmony with that 

 adopted by Professor Huxley in his recent work on Comparative Anatomy ; 

 but there are several new terms f, for which the author is responsible ; 

 they were imperatively called for, or they would not have been coined, 

 and they are as much like the old human-anatomy names as possible. 

 In this paper it is shown that the Ostriches are, on the whole, inferior to 

 Birds generally, and yet that they come nearer to the Mammalia than the 

 higher types ; they are compared to the Cartilaginous Fishes, to the Am- 

 phibious Reptiles, and to the Marsupial and Monotrematous Mammalia. 



After a minute description of the struthious type of skull, an " Ap- 



* The young African ostriches were lent to me by the Council of the College, through 

 the intercession of my kind friend Mr. W. H. Flower, the Conservator of the Museum. 

 Most of my specimens of the other kinds I owe to Dr. Sclater and Mr. Bartlett ; they 

 came from the Gardens of the Zoological Society. W. K. P. 



t Most of these terms have already appeared in print in the author's paper on the 

 " Gallinaceaj and Tinamous" (Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. v., 18(54). 



