208 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. vn. 



of my scientific predictions relative to the existence 

 or former existence — though within the memory of 

 man — of a huge bird in New Zealand. I had a 

 fragment of one of its bones three years ago and 

 ventured to build it up into " a heavier bird than 

 the ostrich but as big ; " it turns out, however, to 

 have been much bigger, and has excited, I think, 

 more interest than anything that has occurred in 

 my line. Dr. Buckland, to whom the bones of 

 said bird were sent, and who has made them over 

 to me, partly attributes his recovery to them. 

 He sent me a note this morning which he had 

 received from the Queen's Master of the House- 

 hold (Hon. Charles A. Murray), who says, after a 

 compliment to me : " The Prince has read your 

 letter with the greatest interest ; he desires me to 

 thank you in his name, and if any further dis- 

 coveries should be made in elucidation of the 

 mystery of this feathered monster, pray let me 

 again have the pleasure of hearing from you and 

 of communicating the information to His Royal 

 Highness." ' 



In this month Darwin wrote on the subject of 

 his work on ' Coral Reefs ' to Owen. In this letter 

 he refers to some preliminary papers of Owen's 

 on the 'Archetype,' afterwards developed into 

 his classic on the ' Archetype and Homologies 

 of the Vertebrate Skeleton,' which appeared in 

 1848:— 



