CELAP TER. Wt. 
Osteology of the Solitaire. 
(Plates XITI., XIV., and XV.) 
Tue osteological remains of the Solitaire, or supposed Dodo of Rodriguez, are few in number 
and imperfect, bemg either much mutilated, or thickly incrusted with stalagmite ; sufficient, 
however, exists to indicate with certainty the true affinities of that extinct bird. 
The particulars regardmg the discovery of these bones, the probable localities in which 
they were found, and the principal inferences derived from the study of them, have already 
been fully described in this work (p. 46, swpra). 
Dimensions of the Cranium of the Solitaire. 
inches. _ lines. 
1. Length from the occipital condyle to the extremity of the inter-olfactory septum 3 5 
2. Greatest breadth in front of the post-orbital processes 2 11 
3. Height in the centre : : : : 1 8 
4. From the occipital facet to the cranio-facial line 2 11 
5. —— do. do. to the anterior margin of the orbit . 2 7 
6. the occipital condyle to the optic foramen il 6 
7. —— the optic foramen to the anterior margin of the orbit 1 ] 
8. —— the anterior margin of the temporal notch to that of the orbit I 1 
No allowance is made for the thickness of the incrustation, so that two lines at least must be deducted 
from some of these measurements. 
The interesting cranial fragment is figured in Plate XIII. (Fig. 1-4), from drawings kindly furnished to 
us by M. de Blainville, the distinguished successor of Cuvier. It is most complete on the right side, but the 
paroccipital process is mutilated; inferiorly, the anterior part of the rostrum and the adjacent part of the 
inter-olfactory septum is destroyed; on the left side the prefrontal is broken away, and the parietes of 
the cerebral cavity removed ; from the posterior angle of this vacuity a fissure passes inwards through the 
temporal notch, and another transversely through the occipital facet ; but the par-occipital process is more 
perfect than on the right side. The mandible has been detached at the cranio-facial line, exposmg to 
view the projecting inter-olfactory septum, and the turbinated ale of the ethmoid, together with the entrance 
