LiVERSiDGE. — Analysis of Mo a Eggshell. 225 



Art. XXVI. — An Analysis of Moa Eggshell. By Prof. Liversidge, F.C.S., 

 University of Sydney. Communicated by Prof, von Haast, F.E.S. 

 [Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury 5th August, 1880.] 

 I AM indebted to the kindness of Dr. Julius von Haast, F.R.S., director of 

 the Canterbury Museum, New Zealand, for the specimen which is the sub- 

 ject of this note. The little packet of fragments was labelled " Moa-hunter 

 kitchen-midden, Sandhills near Moa Cave Point, Sumner." 



All the fragments appeared to be more or less weathered, and the edges, 

 except where freshly fractured, were smooth and rounded, and their general 

 appearance seemed to indicate that they had been subjected either to the 

 action of blown sand or to that of water charged with carbonic acid gas ; 

 both influences may, of course, have been at work together. 



The fragments were all very brittle, the fractured edges plainly showing, 

 without the aid of a lens, the presence of two distinct layers. In most of 

 the fragments the inner or concave layer, i.e. the one facing the interior of 

 the shell, possessed a pale brown colour, the middle portion being quite 

 white whilst the outer surface of the shell presented a pale tint of brown. 

 Judging from the different depths of tints, the varying thicknesses and 

 appearance, the pieces were apparently fragments of several different shells. 



It is unnecessary for me to give any account of the microscopical struc- 

 ture of the shell, since that has been so ably done by Prof. F. W. Hutton, 

 of Canterbury College, New Zealand.* 



The pores are readily seen to penetrate right through the substance of 

 the shell, on account of the brown-coloured matter which most of them con- 

 tain ; some appear to penetrate only to a certain limited distance, but this is 

 because the direction of the pores is not straight and a portion of their 

 length is cut off in the section ; their apertures can easily be seen on the 

 inside of the shell as well as on the outside, the outer openings, however, 

 are considerably larger and are funnel-shaped, — many of these pores can be 

 seen to pass through from side to side by the unassisted eye. 



The middle portions of the eggshell are shown to be of softer material 

 than the two surfaces, since most of the weathered pieces show a groove 

 running along the edges. 



On ignition all the pieces of shell experimented upon blackened and 

 emitted an ammoniacal odour, thus plainly showing that they had by no 

 means lost the whole of their organic matter, and on dissolving portions in 

 acetic acid flocculent particles of organic matter were left floating in the 

 solution. This organic residue was collected and found to be a readily com- 



* Vide "Trans. N.Z. Inst.,'' Vol. IV., p. 168. 



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