THE OOLOGLST. 



25 



was held iu great estimation by them. 

 Most likely M. I )nmarele's .specimen is one 

 of those iu Paris. 



Perhaps the hiril, though probably now 

 extinct, has not been so more than two 

 hundred years, as some of the cartilages, 

 according to the French account received 

 by me with the egg, were still adhering to 

 the bones when found. The condition of 

 the shell, perhaps, can hardly be called 

 semi-fossil: it is said to be three times the 

 thickuess of the Ostrich's. Of all the bones 

 in a bird, we could scarcely have selected 

 one more valuable than the metatarsal to 

 science, as indicative of fixed ornithological 

 laws, which is so far most fortunate. 



The Malgaches, which inhabit the south 

 of Madagascar, own no allegiance to the 

 Hooah sovereignty, and that circumstance 

 I believe renders it difficult to search that 

 portion of the country. When, however, time 

 and opportunity afford, I hope that it may 

 fall to the lot of an English Gentleman — 

 one who has of late done so much towards 

 elucidating the very wonderful fauna of 

 Madagascar, Mr. Edward Newton, of 

 Mauritius — to discover and place before the 

 world such bones of this species as may de- 

 termine exactly its size and character, and 

 enlighten us as to the other particulars of 

 its habits and structure which we so much 

 desiderate. Accident, such as the plough of 

 the American boy, and modern researches, 

 rinding here a bone and there a bone, bring 

 many interesting creatures to light; doubt- 

 less Sinbad's Hoc had some origin — it is not 

 a myth without a starting point. How 

 many extraordinary forms have passed 

 away without leaving even a footstep be- 

 hind! Could we only read the roll of the 

 Inspired Ornithologist to whom 'wisdom 

 was granted and who spake of beasts and 

 fowls;' whose pages may be said to have 

 come direct from the Creator, what won- 

 ders it would not unfold — wonders which 

 would command our attention, notwith- 

 standing the late attempted depreciation of 

 the Sacred Records! Neither would a 

 volume on birds, of papyrus from Alexan- 

 dria, come down to us amiss. But as these 

 are not within our reach, we must depend 



upon our own efforts to arrest the present 

 and recover the past, the search after which 

 creates so keen an interest at this day in 

 scientific minds, and has conferred so 

 much imperishable fame upon the illustri- 

 ous names which our learned societies now 

 contain among their members, whose works 

 are a lasting proof to posterity that they 

 have not lived in vain. 



as this paper was going to press my 

 attention was called to Mr. Strickland's 

 translation of M. J. G. Saint-Hilaire's 

 pamphlet in Annals and Magazine of 

 Natural History, 2nd Series, No. 39, March 

 1851, p. 161, and also Professor Owen's 

 remaxks upon the same subject, iu the 

 above periodical, No. 75, March 1854, p. 

 229. Neither of these papers had I seen, 

 nor was I previously aware of their exis- 

 tence. I therefore append a portion of 

 Professor Owen's valuable remarks. He 

 gives the following admeasurements of 

 the Paris egge: — 



Ovoid egg Ellipsoid egg 

 ft. In. lln. ft. In. lin. 

 Greatest clr. lengthwise 2 10 9 2 9 6 

 Breadthwise -- 243 256 

 Extreme Igt. In a str't line l OS 10 5 



'The portions of bones, of which casts 



were exhibited' (at the Zoological Society,) 



'consist of the lower end of the right and 



left metatarsal bones and the upper end 



of the right fibula. These are nearly equal 



in size to the corresponding parts of the 



skeleton of the Dinornis, as the following 



dimensions demonstrate: — 



^Epyornis Din. gig. Casuarlus 

 in. lin. In. lin. In lin. 

 Ex. br'dth across the) 



trochlear condyles / 5 5 6 2 3 

 Transverse diameter i 



of shaft 6 inches' 2 9 2 3 11>£ 

 above lower end* ) 

 Antero-posterior di-j 



ameter of shaft 6 in. J " 1 3 15 07 

 above lower end ) 



*One third length of the entire bone of the 

 Dinornis giganteus. 



'In neither the Dinornis nor iEpyornis is 



the metatarsus perforated, as in Casuarius 



and many other birds, above the interspace 



between the outer condyles : that interspace 



simply deeper, or curved higher in both. 



The outer trochlea, which is entire in both 



portions of the Metatarsi in iEpyornis, is in 



a marked degree, smaller thau in Dinornis, 



as is also the inner trochlea, as far as one 



