34G 



rior cervicals. The upper transverse processes are continued, as in the 

 first and second dorsals of the Apteryx, from the anterior part of the 

 whole side of the neural arch, not, as in the Ostrich, from near the sum- 

 mit ; these processes also, as well as the spinous process, are consider- 

 ably thicker and stronger than in the Ostrich. In regard to the spinous 

 process, the Dinornis, in the squareness of that part, differs as much from 

 the Apteryx, in which the dorsal spines are compressed laterally and ex- 

 tended antero-posteriorly, as from the Ostrich. 



The original of the present cast was brought from New Zealand by the 

 officers of the Antarctic Expedition, and is preserved in the Museum of 

 Haslar Hospital. Presented by Dr. Richardson, F.JR.S. 



1557. A dorsal vertebra of a smaller species of Dinornis, probably Dinornis di- 

 diformis, Owen. It is from about the middle of the dorsal region. The 

 body is laterally compressed, and terminates below in a median carina, 

 which has a concave outline : it has the characteristic shortness as com- 

 pared with the breadth of the vertebrae in this genus ; the anterior arti- 

 cular surface is more concave from side to side, and the posterior surface 

 more convex in the same direction than in the corresponding vertebrae 

 of the Ostrich or Apteryx : both these surfaces have an unusual vertical 

 diameter in proportion to their breadth. The spinous process of this 

 vertebra is strong and square-shaped, and shows, like the preceding dorsal, 

 that there was no blending together of the spines, nor any union by con- 

 tinuous splint-like ossifications, as in many birds, and especially in those 

 that fly. The dorsal region in the skeleton of the Dinornis, by the in- 

 tervals separating the spinous processes, must have resembled that in the 

 large existing Struthionidce , and have differed from the same part in the 

 Apteryx, in which the dorsal spines are contiguous though not confluent ; 

 but the Dinornis surpassed all known birds in the thickness and square- 

 ness of its upright spinous processes. Of the length of these processes 

 none of the five vertebrae afford an exact idea, all being more or less 

 fractured. The spinal canal is proportionally more contracted than in 

 the Ostrich, or even in the Apteryx, where it is rather smaller than usual. 

 This character in the Dinornis indicates, of course, a more slender spinal 

 chord, in which respect it betrays a closer approach to the Reptilia. We 



