13 



crossing in opposite directions, with air-pores scattered here and there 

 and barely perceptible to the naked eye. The shell is not more than 

 ith of a line in thickness. Supposing, as is most probable, from the 

 size of the bones of the .^jyo'ww, that it did not exceed the Dinor- 

 nis giganteus in size, the egg of the JEpyornis is smaller in propor- 

 tion to the bird itself than the egg of the Apteryx is in proportion to 

 that bird. 



The embiyo Apteryx, which had been removed from its shell, had 

 nearly reached the term of its incubation, the yolk-bag being reduced 

 to a hernia-like appendage of an inch in length and half an inch in 

 breadth, protruding about two lines in advance of the cloma, and 

 covered by a continuation of the ordinary integument of the abdomen : 

 the free end of the hernia was open, and exposed the ruptured ends 

 of the allantoic vessels. 



The whole body was clothed by down-fascicles, presenting the ap- 

 pearance of moderately thick cylindrical hairs, 1^ inch in length, 

 with a smooth, mibroken exterior, gradually tapering to a fine point. 

 This smooth surface is due to an extremely delicate capsule, which 

 when torn open exposes the down-tuft, consisting of a central stem 

 with slender smooth barbs from 3 to 5 lines in length, diverging 

 loosely from each side of the stem. 



in. lin. 

 Length of the body from the base of the beak to 



the tail 4 



Length of the beak 1 7 



Length of the leg from the knee-joint 4 3 



Length of the freely projecting part of the fore- 

 limb from the elbow-joint 6 



From these dimensions it will be seen that, with the characteristic 

 large size of the unhatched young, in the genus Apteryx, the chief 

 peculiarities of the remarkable external form of the bird had been 

 acquired. The feet were very completely formed with well-developed 

 claws, the small back claw presenting its characteristic proportions, 

 and the integument of the naked part of the foot its well-marked 

 dentations. The little wing-rudiments had their terminal hook. 

 The tail presented the form of a short bifid prominence. The beak 

 being comparatively soft, had become distorted and bent in the bottle 

 of spirits in which the specimen was transmitted to the Professor, 

 but it showed its characteristic shape, the terminal nostrils, and the 

 slight terminal expansion, which forms the end of the crutch in the 

 mature bird. The eyehds, with their cilia, and the orifice of the ear 

 opening obliquely upwards, were rather larger in proportion than in 

 the adult, according to the usual law of the precocious development 

 of those organs of sense ; and the same remark appUes to the entire 

 cranium. The neck is relatively shorter and thicker. 



The young bird must be excluded unusually well developed, with 

 a complete clothing very like that of the parent, and capable of using 

 its limbs and beak for its own safety and support. 



