1 40 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



could not have existed here previous to that. The remains of the rat 

 appeared to me to he mixed up pell-mell with those of the duck, but as the 

 surface of the floor had been disturbed by previous explorers the appearance 

 may have been deceptive. 



Whether the remains of Cnemiornis and the Moa are contemporaneous or 

 not with those of the duck there is no direct evidence to show, as each are 

 found at opposite ends of the cave ; but as many of the Moa bones were found 

 in the talus at the entrance of the cave, and others on the surface of the floor, 

 there is no reason for supposing that they are older than those of the duck, 

 while the bones of both appear to have lost an equal amount of organic matter. 

 The Moa bones mentioned by Mr. Hood as occurring above those of the duck 

 must, I think, have been moved down into that part of the cave by visitors. 

 I never saw any in that position myself, although they occur abundantly in 

 the upper part of the cave, and may, therefore, in one sense be said to lie above 

 those of the duck, which are found only in the inner or lower part of the cave. 



None of the Moa remains are marked by rats' teeth, and the only 

 that I can offer in explanation of this is, that the fleshy remains of the Moa 

 may have been covered up with sand. 



In order to ascertain whether there w^as any special quality in the earth of 

 the cave which would assist in preserving the skin and flesh of animals, 

 Professor Black has kindly had analysed for me some of the micaceous sand 

 from the floor of the cave, and a fragment of incrustation from the side, with 

 the following results : — 



The incrustation is simply a mixture of quartz-sand and carbonate of lime, 

 containing particles of earthy matter and small fragments of mica-schist. The 

 earth from the floor of the cave was a mixture of pulverised mica-schist (potash 

 mica), fragments of bone, dry powdered clay, quartz-sand, fragments of the 

 stems of plants, and portions of carbonate of lime. No soluble salt was found 

 in the earth, except phosphates, derived no doubt from the bones. Professor 

 Black adds, "I do not know of anything in the specimens analysed to account 

 for the preservation of the organic matter of the Moa remains accompanying 

 them. Tn this case there does not appear to have been an incrustation over 

 the remains, and I am not aware that the remains have been petrified by the 

 substitution of calcareous and siliceous matter for the original substance." 



On the whole, I am inclined to think, notwithstanding the fact that at least 

 three of the birds found in the cave belong to genera now extinct, that the 

 weight of the evidence goes to show that these remains are not very old, and 

 that probably they do not date further back than the commencement of the 

 present century. 



I may also mention that during the autumn the cave has been carefully 

 cleared out by Mr. Martin for the Museum Committee, and that the whole of 





