572 



PEOFESSOE OWEN ON THE EOSSIL MAMMALS OF AUSTEALIA. 



I subjoin the analysis of bones and teeth of Dip'otodon ausfralis, from the beds of the 

 creeks, Darling Downs, by Waltee Flight, D.Sc, Assistant in the Department of 

 Mineralogy of the British Museum. 



" Laboratory, Mineral Department, British Museum, 

 21st January, 1870. 



" Dear Sib, — I hare the honour to lay before you a Report on the chemical examination of a portion of a 

 jaw-bone of the Diprotodon, -which was received fi'om Professor Owen at the end of last year. 



" The method, devised by M. Scheukee-Kestnee, and described by him in the ' Comptes Eendus,' vol. Lxix. 

 p. 1207, was employed in this inquiry, and the following analytical determinations were made. 



" 1-2462 gramme of bone, treated with 108 cub. centims. of hydrogen chloride, of specific gravity 1*04 (from 

 5° to 6° Baume), for twenty-two hours at ordinary temperatures, left a residue which, after having been dried 

 at 100° C. tin it ceased to lose weight, amounted to 0-1953 gramme, and, after ignition, to 0-1772 gramme. 

 By this treatment the calcium phosphate, carbonate, and fluoride iron phosphate, &c., as well as the ' soluble 

 osseine ' of Scheuree-Kestnee, are taken up by the acid, and there remain 14-259 per cent, of insoluble mineral 

 matter (chiefly silica coloured red with iron peroxide) and 1*452 per cent, loss of weight by ignition, which in 

 the memoir alluded to is taken to be insoluble osseine. 



" The pounded bone, however, when heated did not change in colour to any great degree, nor emit the expected 

 characteristic odour. A nitrogen detennination was next made with the following result. 0-541 gramme of bone, 

 heated with soda-lime, and the resulting platinum ammonium chloride ignited, gave 0-002 gramme of platinum. 

 This amount of the metal corresponds with 0-00028 gxamme of nitrogen. Assuming that gelatine contains 17-5 

 per cent, of nitrogen, the above nitrogen corresponds with 0-0016 gramme of osseine, or 0-295 per cent. 



" The bone therefore contains about | per cent, of osseine altogether ; and the loss of weight, amounting to 

 1-452 per cent., and regarded by Scheueer-Kestnee as due to insoluble osseine, must be ascribed to a further 

 loss of water which was not expelled at the temperature of 100° C. 



" As the amount of matter insoluble in hydrogen chloride appeared unusually large (14-259 per cent.), it was 

 thought that the action of the acid might not have been complete. In spite of my failing to detect phosphoric 

 acid in this portion, I nevertheless thought it advisable to subject a further quantity of the bone to the action of 

 a corresponding amount of acid of the same strength for a longer period. 1-0468 gramme of bone digested 

 with 90-5 cub. centims. of hydrogen chloride for sixty-eight hours at ordinary temperatures left a residue 

 weighing 0-1418 gramme, which, when ignited, was reduced to 0-1341 gramme. In this case, then, 12-81 per 

 cent, of mineral matter remained undissolved, whilst the loss by ignition amomited to 0-735 per cent. 



" With a view to determine the water present in this bone, 2-5046 grammes were heated for several hours, 

 first at 100° C. and after at 120° C. ; the water lost amounted to 0-0932 gramme, or 3-721 per cent. After 

 ignition and treatment with ammonium carbonate, the total loss was 0-1446, or 5-774 per cent. Subtracting 



scarcely be the cause of their disappearing, as flocks of sheep and cattle pasture over their fossil remains. But 

 as such an herbivore must have required a large body of water for his sustenance, the drainage of these plains, 

 or the failing of those springs, the calcareous waters of which formed the concretions in the banks of the creeks, 

 has been probably the cause of their retiring to more favourable localities, and I should not be surprised if I 

 found them in the tropical interior, through which I am going to find my way to Pt. Essington." — Letter dated 

 " Sydney, 10th July, 1844." 



II " Found about 6 feet below the surface in sinking a well.'' — Note by Mr. Mayne. 

 if " In the ' red bank' of this [Isaac's] creek." — Note by Mr. Isaac. 



** Found about 8 feet below the surface in sinking a well, lat. 137' 50" S., long. 39' 35" E. — Note by Mr. 

 F. G. Waterhouse. 



tt " From 100 feet below the surface, in digging a well, in the valley of the Condamine River." — Note by 

 Mr. Hood. 



Xi " They were taken from a bed of sand and quartz conglomerate, at a depth of about 5 feet." — Note by 



Mr. BURRETT. 



