188 MR. H. E. STRICKLAND ON SOME BONES OF 



had become incrusted with stalagmite. Five of these are in the Museum of the Jardin 

 des Plantes at Paris, and one is in my own collection. 



Secondly, we have the series of bones, twelve in number, procured in 183] by the 

 exertions of the late Mr. Telfair. These were found in a cavern, probably the same 

 one in which the former series were found ; but instead of being exposed, on the floor of 

 the cave, to stalagmitic incrustations, they were buried in the alluvial soil at the entrance 

 (see Proceedings of Zool. Soc. Part i. p. 31). They are consequently in much better 

 preservation than the bones of the former series, and are wholly free from incrustation. 

 Of these bones, six are in the Andersonian Museum at Glasgow, one is in my possession, 

 and five are the property of the Zoological Society, and form the especial subject of 

 this memoir. 



The bones of the first series, or those procured in 1789, consist of — 



1. A portion of the cranium, figured in ' Dodo and its Kindred,' pi. xiii. figs. 1, 2, 3, 4. 



2. Part of the sternum, figured in the same work, pi. xiii. figs. 5, 6. 



3. A left humerus, figured I. c. pi. xiv. figs. 1, 2, 3. 



4. A left femur, figured I. c. pi. xiv. figs, 8, 9, 10. 



5. A right tarso-metatarsus, figured I. c. pi. xv. fig. 3. 



6. A left tarso-metatarsus, mentioned in ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' 

 2nd Series, vol. iv. p. 335. 



From the similarity in appearance of the above six bones, and the uniform thickness 

 of their stalagmitic covering, it is evident that they have all been found near together 

 in the same part of the cavern ; and from the agreement in their proportions and the 

 absence of duplicate bones, I infer that they all belong to the same individual. This is 

 further confirmed by the following label attached to the bone No. 6 by Prof. Bojer, 

 Curator of the Mauritius Museum, when he sent it to me in 1849 : — "Tarsus of the 

 Dronte, being a remaining fragment of a more perfect skeleton sent by M. J. Desjardins 

 to the Baron G. Cuvier. The said skeleton was found in a cave at the island Rodrigue 

 by M. Roquefeuille, inhabitant of Mauritius." This proof of the individuality of the 

 above six bones enables us to draw some important conclusions regarding those of the 

 second, or Mr. Telfair's series. 



The latter consist of twelve bones, belonging to at least four different individuals. 

 They are all evidently adult, but difier considerably in size, and may be accordingly 

 divided into two sets. 



A. Bones of the larger dimensions. 



7. Proximal portion of a right humerus, belonging to the Zoological Society. See 

 PI. LV. figs. 1, 2. 



8. An imperfect right femur in the Andersonian Museum, wanting both extremities, 

 described in ' Dodo and its Kindred,' p. 117 (but erroneously said to be a left, not a 

 right femur). 



