4 WARD’S nath: \t, SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
The above cut represents a group of Moas recently furnished by us to the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge. 
The separate birds in this group are each, with a few trifling exceptions, bones 
from one individual — probably to a greater extent than any other group of Moas that 
ever left New Zealand. 
The largest one ( Dinornis maximus ) , as mounted, stands 9 feet 3^ inches above its 
pedestal, and could have stretched to a height of 13 or 14 feet. The smallest (Mei- 
nornis casuarinus), stands 4 feet inches; but the most unique specimen of the 
group is the one at the right ( Palapteryx elephantopus ) , which stands 5 feet, 7 inches. 
This, so far as we are aware, is the only mounted skeleton of a Moa in which the 
bones of the trachea are preserved — here they are all present and in position, as 
shown in the cut, taken from a photograph of the group as they stood in our yard 
before shipment. 
During the present month we have shipped another fine specimen of one of these 
rare birds to Cornell University. 
Below we give some interesting facts in relation to the Moa in general. 
The Moa at Home. 
In order to secure the right kind of material, 
many things are requisite. There)must be a host 
of correspondents in all quarters of the globe, 
who must be more or less familiar with the ma- 
terial required, and these correspondents must be 
stimulated by the hope of pecuniary gain; there 
must be leisure for personal collecting trips to 
distant regionsl'not supplied with collectors; 
there must be experience to know what kind of 
specimens to get and what to reject; and there 
must be the necessary means to undertake all 
this. Furthermore, it must be followed system- 
atically — in other words — as a business. It is by 
a knowledge and observance of the foregoing, 
that we are enabled to offer to teachers and 
others a class of material not obtainable else- 
where, and we would call their attention to our 
three collections in Mineralogy, each of different 
scope, which we call — indicating their range — 
the College Collection, the Academy Col- 
lection and the Collection for Union Schools, 
respectively. Of these, the first is naturally the 
most complete, its 280 specimens, covering the 
ground evenly and fully, are further supple- 
mented by a series of 50 crystal models and a set 
of 40 imitation precious stones, showing the 
principal minerals employed in jewelry. The 
specimens are all numbered to correspond with 
a printed descriptive catalogue accompanying 
the collection, accurately labelled, and each 
specimen mounted on a black walnut block. In 
the case of single detached crystals, these are 
similarly mounted, supported on special brass 
holders; the precious stones are in a neat case by 
themselves. This collection we supply packed, 
ready for delivery, at $250. 
In the Academy Collection the specimens 
number 180, distributed as follows: 
Elements 8 
Sulphides, etc. - 14 
Chlorides and fluorides 6 
Oxides 45 
Silicates 64 
Phosphates, etc 8 
Sulphates. •_ - 10 
Carbonates 18 
Hydrocarbons 10 
The classification adopted in this, as in all our 
mineral collections, is that of Dana’s System of 
Mineralogy. This collection mounted same as 
the preceding, $100. 
Our Union School Collection contains 120 
good sized specimens of such minerals as every 
well informed person should be acquainted with, 
and is not to be confounded with the fragment 
gatherings so often passing as “School Cabinets.” 
It is mounted in the same style as the previous 
two, and supplied complete for $50. 
While these collections are primarily intended 
for use, the fact has not been overlooked that 
beauty is not necessarily incompatible with this 
object, and hence, where it was possible to have 
the latter without sacrificing the former, we have 
sought to combine both, and can safely say that 
no more attractive ornaments for a school room 
could be chosen than these series make. 
Besides the above standard collections, we 
prepare others, larger and smaller, arranged 
according to any system or author preferred, 
and at any price. Send for our catalogue, price 
20 cents. 
PHYSICAL AND STRUCTURAL 
SERIES. 
In addition to the individual Minerals and the 
Systematic Collections above mentioned, we 
have prepared various special series of specimens 
to illustrate the Physical and structural Properties 
of Minerals: 
Lustre , Color , Diaphaneity , Fusibility , Specific 
Gravity, Hardness, State of Aggregation, Fracture , 
Structure, external form. 
We also offer suites of CRYSTAL MODELS 
of various sizes, in solid glass; in plate glass with 
axes and angles shown by colored threads; in 
wood (some revolving to show combinations), 
and in plaster (white or with colored faces). 
Everyone who has written anything about 
New Zealand for the past 30 or 40 years, whether 
about its inhabitants, its archaeology, its natural 
history or its geology, has had much to tell us 
about the great wingless birds that once inhabit- 
ed that group of islands. From this great mass 
of material we have endeavored to sift out the 
leading and most important facts and present 
them to the readers of the Bulletin in a brief 
summary. 
The Rev. Richard Taylor, F. G. S., thinks he 
was the first discoverer of the Moa (the name 
given to all these great fossil birds). While jour- 
neying to Poverty Bay, in the early part of 1839, 
he found the bone of a Moa near the East Cape, 
which the natives told him was the bone of a 
large bird which they called Tarepo, and which 
lived on the top of Hikurangi, the highest moun- 
tain on the east coast. He found later that the 
natives of the west coast called the bones Moa, 
and were entirely ignorant of the name Tarepo. 
It seems probable, however, that to the Rev. 
W. Colenso, F. G. S., belongs the honor of first 
discovery of the Moa, as he was the first, also, to 
investigate the nature of the fossil remains and 
determine the struthious affinities of the birds to 
which the bones belonged. In 1842 he wrote: 
“During the summer of 1838 I accompanied the 
Rev. W. Williams on a visit to the tribes inhab- 
iting the East Cape district. While at Waiapu I 
heard from the natives of a certain monstrous 
animal, while some said it was a bird, and others 
a person. All agreed that it was called a Moa; 
that in general appearance it somewhat resem- 
bled an immense domestic cock, with the differ- 
ence, however, of its having a ‘ face like a 
man’s;” that it lived on air, and that it was at- 
tended or guarded by two immense Tuataras, 
who Argus-like, kept incessant watch while the 
Moa slept. Also, that if any one ventured to 
approach the dwelling of this wonderful crea- 
ture he would be invariably trampled on and 
killed by it.” “A mountain named Whakapun- 
aki, at least 80 miles distant, in a southerly di- 
rection, was spoken of as the residence of this 
creature; here, however, only one existed, which, 
it was generally contended, was the sole sur- 
vivor of the Moa race. Yet they could not as- 
sign any possible reason why it should have be- 
come all but extinct.” “While, however, the 
existence offlhe Moa was universally believed 
(in fact to dare to doubt of such a being amount- 
ed, in the native estimation, to a very high 
crime), no one person could be found who had 
ever seen it.” “ Many of the natives, however, 
had from time to time seen very large bones, 
larger, from their account, than those of an ox; 
these bones they cut up into small pieces for the 
purpose of fastening to their fish hooks as a 
lure, instead of the Haliotis shell.” 
Other Europeans have been told this same 
myth, and other high mountains have been des- 
ignated as the dwelling place of this strange 
creature. It is hardly necessary to add, how- 
ever, that subsequent explorations have failed 
to reveal the hiding place of “ the last Moa,” and 
that we owe our entire knowledge of the bird to 
the study of its fossil remains. These have been 
found in many places and under varying condi- 
tions. 
According to Dr. Haast, “ The oldest beds con- 
taining Moa bones are proved to belong to the great 
glacier period, where they occur in morainic 
accumulations and silt beds, as well as in 
fluvatile deposits, formed by rivers having issued 
from the terminal face of gigantic glaciers dur- 
ing that period. Here they have been traced as 
low as 100 feet below the surface. In the loess 
deposits they are also of frequent occurrence, 
where their existence has been proved to a depth 
