156 Transactions of the American Institute. 



larger, and it lias three toes. So that you have a positive existing 

 type, excepting in regard to size, of a gigantic extinct form, supposed 

 to be long anterior to man. I remember that when Prof. Owen fii-st 

 described that bird to the public, he talked of its being no longer 

 in existence; that man had never seen the creature. But we 

 have now evidence that men had seen the creature and knew all about 

 it. There is incontrovertable evidence that man had seen it, and 

 eaten it ; for bones have been found near charcoal, showing that the 

 flesh had been roasted and the eggs cooked. Dr. Mantell's son brought 

 from New Zealand, and deposited in my hands at the College of 

 Surgeons, the pieces of shell, charred and presenting indubitable 

 evidence of their having been cooked, portions burned from being 

 next the fire for the purpose of cooking the soft material of the eggs 

 themselves. This will be some disturbance to the scientists, and 

 particularly to the zoologists and palseontologists who have gone so 

 positively to work to talk about man being so recent a creation, and 

 these animals so old ; and yet we find, in this case, he was very 

 familiar with them. The history of the lake villages prove to us that 

 man did live ages ago, or that the extinct animals, as they were called, 

 were much nearer om' own time than was previously supposed. And 

 here, I trust that I have established the fact, that we have an inter- 

 mediate form — a creature that must generally have walked upon his 

 hind legs, as did the ostrich, as did the moa, and the rhea, the 

 present American type of the New Zealand bird ; the African ostrich, 

 which has two toes ; and other similar birds. The structure of this 

 animal, with its two long legs and three toes, will at once remind 

 you of the footmarks which are so abundant in this country, in the 

 Connecticut valley. I have not seen the actual locality, but I have 

 seen many slabs containing the footprints. These footprints were 

 very naturally ascribed to birds by the late Prof. Hitchcock. Upon 

 examination we find that they are the marks of feet having three 

 toes ; and we sometimes find indication of a fourth. By drawing 

 a line around the toes, upon this paper, to show the form, you will at 

 once see the resemblance to the impressions upon the sandstone to 

 which I have alluded. I had prepared a slab of wet clay, in order 

 to take an actual impression before your eyes, but the warmth of the 

 hall has made it so dry that the weight of the foot will not give you 

 the impression that I had intended. But you will observe that this, 

 which is a literal outline of the two toes and the hinder part of the 

 foot called the heel, but which is not really a heel, closely resembles 



