114. OSTEOLOGY [Parr IT. 
to the olfactory fossee, as would be the case under similar circumstances in the Dodo. The fragment is so 
thickly covered with stalagmite as to render a minute description impossible, the deposit is thickest on the 
anterior and posterior parts of the upper surface, and the central tract hence appears depressed ; an exami- 
nation of the interior of the cranium has, however, convinced us, that this appearance is not due to any 
depression of the cranial roof. 
A careful examination and contrast of the figures of the cranium of the Solitaire with those of the 
corresponding part in the Dodo, will prove the family affinity of these extinct forms, as well as their 
specific distinctness. 
The cranium in the Solitaire is narrower and longer than in the Dodo, and is entirely destitute of the 
peculiar frontal protuberance ; the individual elements, also, are less ventricose : its greatest breadth, as in 
the Dodo, is a little in front of the post-orbital processes ; it probably decreased in width more rapidly 
forwards to the cranio-facial line. The orbits are more excavated, and the inter-orbital septum thimner, as 
im the more common forms of the Codwmbide; the prefrontal, especially below, is much less tumid than in 
the Dodo, and the rostrum is narrower. It resembles the cranium of the Dodo, and differs from that of the 
other known Pigeons, in the position of the olfactory fossa, which are placed immediately in front of the 
cerebral cavity ; the olfactory foramen, on each side, opening directly ito the base of its respective fossa. 
The anchylosis of the prefrontal with the other elements of the cranium, may be regarded as one of the 
best proofs of the family affinity of the Solitaire and Dodo, 
The occipital facet is vertical as in the Dodo ; there is a cecal excavation of the calcareous merustation 
above the foramen magnum; does this indicate the mesial supra-occipital orifice im the Dodo and other 
Pigeons? ‘The minute configuration of this aspect, as far as can be judged, closely resembles that in the 
Dodo, and the same may be said of the lateral and inferior facets; but the posterior angles of the upper 
surface are bent downwards, so as to encroach on the temporal segments of the orbito-temporal fosse ; 
hence the temporal notches are less apparent when viewed from above, and the surfaces bearmg the 
muscular impressions, slope more rapidly downwards than in the Dodo, but to a less extent than in the 
common Pigeons. The prefronto-ethmoidal fissure is not so completely obliterated as in the Dodo ; 
and the evasation of the turbinated ala is less marked, and more resembling that in Gowra. The profile line 
would sweep, gently convex, downwards from the vertex to the cranio-facial lme. The cranial cavity in its 
form corresponds to that in the Dodo. 
Although we have ventured to differ from the illustrious Cuvier, who regarded this cranium as 
belonging to a gallinaceous bird, we trust we shall be excused; since a careful comparison of it with the 
skull of the Dodo at Oxford, has left no doubt on our minds of its affinity with that bird, and consequently 
with the Columlide. Unfortunately no portion of the upper mandible is yet known, but we may conjec- 
ture that it was less robust and more depressed than in the Dodo, and that it was only a little longer than 
the cranium. Judging from the figure given by Leguat, the caruncular ridge forming the line of demarca- 
tion between the peculiar columbine cere and the feathered skin of the head, was placed at the proximal 
extremity of the beak, and not on the forehead.as in the Dodo. 
We may hence suppose that the Solitaire is less remote from the Zreronime than the Dodo, with which, 
however, it is inseparably united in the family Didine; the absence of the frontal protuberance and the 
other dissimilarities previously mentioned, establish provisionally its generic distinction, and the discovery 
of the beak will settle this question. 
Less satisfactory evidence is deducible from the mutilated sternwn (Plate XIII. Fig. 5 & 6), which 
is similarly incrusted with stalagmite. It is most perfect on the left side, the left costal process remaining, 
with the costal margin ; but the external lateral processes are removed, and probably, also, a considerable 
