I 

 I 



Ipswich Museum. 147 



the plant a very peculiar aspect. This variety was originally intro- 

 duced from Inverness-shire, and has been cultivated nianv years in 

 the Garden at Lochar. 



A letter was read from Mr. Hailstone, mentioning that he had 

 gathered specimens of Cynosurus echinatus near Thorpe Arch, York- 

 shire. 



Mr. J. T. Syme exhibited a specimen of Melilotus arvensis picked 

 between Inverkeithing and Limekilns. This plant has been observed 

 in several spots near Edinburgh, more especially at St. David's and 

 other parts of Fife. 



Dr. Balfour exhibited a specimen of Eriophorum alpinum picked 

 by him in Durness, Sutherlandshire, 21st August 1827, when accom- 

 panying the late Professor Graham on a botanical trip. Dr. Balfour 

 stated that, at that time, he had just commenced the study of botany, 

 and that the plant v/as put by him among specimens of Scirpus cce- 

 spitosus. 



IPSWICH MUSEUM. 



" On the Gigantic Birds of New Zealand, and on the Geographical 

 Distribution of Animals :" the substance of a Lecture delivered at the 

 Anniversary Meeting of the Ipswich Museum, by Professor Owen. 



After some appropriate introductory remarks, Professor Owen en- 

 tered upon the subject of his discourse by narrating the circum- 

 stances which first brought to his knowledge the fact of the exist- 

 ence, at some former period, if not at the present time, of gigantic 

 birds, incapable of flight, in the islands of New Zealand. He exhi- 

 bited a single fragment of bone, which had been submitted to him 

 in 1839, which was affirmed to have been found in New Zealand, and 

 he defined the steps in the series of comparisons which led to the con- 

 clusion that it must have formed part of a bird as large as the Ostrich, 

 but of a heavier and less agile species. He next gave an account of 

 the different species of wingless or struthious birds which were known 

 to science at that time ; he more especially described the Apteryx of 

 New Zealand, and the Dodo of the jMauritius ; and pointed out the 

 remarkable character of their geographical position. The progressive 

 steps in the restoration of the probably extinct wingless bu'ds of New 

 Zealand were then explained and illustrated by the plates of the works 

 which Professor Owen had published on the subject, and by enlarged 

 diagrams. The importance attached to the first fragment of bone 

 stimulating the colonists to special researches, the remains of these 

 extraordinary birds, which had escaped the notice of Banks and 

 Solander, and successive naturalists, up to the year 1839, were soon 

 obtained, and in unexpected abundance and perfection. The bones 

 of the leg were first transmitted in October 1843, by the Rev. Mr. 

 Williams, a church missionaiy, now Archdeacon of the Diocese of 

 New Zealand. Casts and figures of some of the most remarkable of 

 these bones were exhibited and explained. They indicated at least 

 five distinct species, varying in height from three feet to eleven feet. 

 The average stature of the Ostrich is six feet. The absence of air- 

 cells in these bones, and their dense structure, confirmed the original 



