490 Cabot's Remarks on 
XXXVIII.— THE DODO (DIDUS INEPTUS) A RASORIAL AND NOT A 
RAPACIOUS BIRD. By SawveL Caszor, M. D 
Cuvier took one side of this question and Prof. Owen takes 
the other. My object in this paper is to examine the merits 
of these two opinions, and also to endeavor to carry the inves- 
tigation somewhat farther, and if possible, more exactly to 
define the true position which this interesting bird occupies. 
First, I will merely state that Cuvier, after an examination 
of a head, sternum and humerus, discovered under a bed of 
lava in the Isle of France, says, that “they left no doubt in 
his mind, that this huge bird was one of the gallinaceous 
tribe." i 
Mr. Owen has, I believe, examined only the head and feet. 
His article is in No. 119, of The Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History, page 276 ; and I shall take the liberty of 
only quoting extracts here and there, as they suit my purpose. 
He says, “ the Dodo’s skull differs from any species of Vul- 
turide, or any raptorial bird, in the greater elevation of the 
frontal bones above the cerebral hemispheres, and in the sud- 
den sinking of the interorbital and nasal region of the fore- 
head; in the rapid compression of the beak anterior to the 
orbits ; in the elongation of the compressed mandibles ; and 
in the depth and direction of the sloping symphysis of the 
lower jaw. The eyes of the Dodo are very small, compared 
with those of the Vulturide or other Raptores. The nostrils 
it is true, pierce the cered, but are more advanced in position; 
this however seems essentially to depend upon the excessive 
elongation of the basal part of the upper mandible before the 
commencement of the uncinated extremity; the nostrils are 
pierced near the commencement of this uncinated part, as n 
the Vulturide, but are nearer the lower border of the man- 
dible in the Dodo.” í 
Now, in these very points in which Mr. Owen says this bird 
T Cuvier doubts the identity of the species in the Museum at Oxford with that 
represented in the painting at London. s 
