WARD’S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
5 
of more than 50 feet. Advancing to the quatern- 
ary period, Moa bones are found in turb- 
ary deposits or in silt or loess on the plains or 
lower hills, in caves and in fissures of rocks, in 
fact, everywhere where favorable conditions for 
their preservation prevailed. ” 
“ From the observations we were thus ablb to 
make the conclusion has been forced upon us 
that these gigantic birds must have been able to 
sustain life over a long period, because the same 
species which occur in the lower lacustine and 
fluviatile deposits are again found in the bogs 
and swamps, in the fissures of rocks, and in the 
kitchen middens of the Moa-hunting race, which 
latter evidently marks the end of the Dinornis 
age.” 
Dr. Hector mentions heaps of bones with stone 
implements, on the top of Corrio mountains 
(Sohth Island), 5,000 feet above sea level. 
Mr. B. 8. Booth (Transactions of New Zeland 
Institute, 1874), gives a very interesting descrip- 
tion of a Moa swamp at Hamilton.” 
Mr. Booth says: “The surface lagoon, before 
being disturbed, was rather higher than the sur- 
rounding surface, and consisted of from one to 
two feet of black peat mixed with a blackish silt 
which rested on and was mixed with the bones to 
the very bottom.” Below the bones there was one 
foot of a fine whitish, very soft, and somewhat 
elastic clay. “The bones were deposited prin- 
cipally in the northeast part of the lagoon, in a 
space exactly the shape of a half moon, 40 feet 
from point to point, and 18 feet across the cen- 
ter, and varying from 2 to 4 feet deep.” 
He estimates that nearly 7 tons of bones were 
taken out of this space, most of which were 
badly decomposed, and that the number of indi- 
vidual birds could not have been less than 400. 
The bones “lay in every imaginable complica- 
tion of tangle,” with “ no bone on top.” 
“A great quantity of quartz gravel and smooth 
pebbles occurred among the bones, and in the 
shallowest parts of the deposit, under pelves or 
breast bones which had not been disturbed, they 
lay in bunches.” “ There was no gravel in the 
lagoon except amongst the bones, and no small 
gutter or water course could be found by which 
it might have come in.” 
The only explanation apparently which can 
be given for the presence of the pebbles is that 
they were brought there in the gizzards of the 
birds. This theory is supported by numerous in- 
stances where similar pebbles have been found 
connected with Moa bones in such a way as to 
admit of no other explanation than that they 
were connected with the birds. The bones on 
the top were in a much better state of preserva- 
tion than those at the bottom. There were a 
large number of bones that had been broken 
and healed. “A disease of the foot appeared 
to have been very prevalent amongst them, as a 
great number of the joints presented unmistaka- 
ble indications of rot, so much so that some of 
the toe joints had even grown together.” 
There were no bones of young birds near the 
top, and no fragments of eggs were found any- 
where in the deposit, although careful search was 
made for them. 
After stating these and other facts, Mr. Booth 
goes on to discuss the different theories to ac- 
count for this wonderful accumulation of bones. 
He shows that they could not have been deposited 
by running water, neither could the Moas have 
been surrounded and driven in there in such 
great numbers by sweeping fires, the birds could 
not have been bogged, certainly not the later 
ones, with 2 or 3 feet of solid bones under them. 
And that the bones were not thrown there bv 
savages seems proven by the fact that not a trace 
of their work could be found, not a hacked or 
scratched bone nor an implement or trinket of 
any kind. 
Mr. Booth thinks that a true explanation of the 
deposit explains the extinction of the Moa, at 
least in that section, and that that time was much 
earlier than the date generally accepted, and was 
caused by the gradual lowering of the tem- 
perature until the warmth of the earth and air 
was not sufficient to hatch the eggs of these 
birds, from which time they gradually declined, 
until they finally all disappeared. “ When the 
frost and snow of winter began to set in, though 
far milder than now, it would have distressed 
the Moa, as on account of its great size it could 
not find shelter like smaller birds, hence it would 
select places where it found the most warmth. 
The spring water in the bone pit being of the 
same temperature as the earth, and far above 
freezing point (in fact, it may have been a ther- 
mal spring), when all round the bird could not 
put down his foot without being bitten with 
frost, or without placing it in snow and ice, 
what would be more natural for them than to 
step into this comparatively warm water, which, 
to some extent, would relieve their suffering 
from cold in their lower extremities. Thus, the 
period when frost and snow began to set in I 
place as the commencement of the deposit of 
bones in this pit. The accumulation would have 
been very gradual, perhaps for centuries, and the 
periodical deposits would only have increased at 
the same rate as the frost and snow. This pro- 
cess continuing, until not even in the most 
favored places would their eggs hatch, and the 
last of their race were, therefore doomed to an- 
nihilation, a period would arrive which must 
have been with the poor birds a time of inde- 
scribable suffering. Thus afflicted with pain, 
famishing with hunger (as whatever their food 
was it lay deep under the snow-mantle of the 
earth), and finding cruel nature arrayed against 
them, pinching their bodies with piercing winds, 
from which they had no shelter, and cutting 
their feet with ice and frost, were it only as an 
alleviation of pain when dying, I can see nothing 
more natural than for them to have plunged into 
this spring. The water being of the same tem- 
perature as the earth, would feel quite warm to 
them, and there being no inducement for them 
to get out, as their food was cut off, they would 
settle in deeper and deeper, and remain till 
numbness and hunger put an end to their suf- 
fering. 
Hence I account for the bones being soundest 
on the top, as they would have been deposited 
so much later. Hence, also, I account for there 
being no bones of young birds on top, as it was 
long after incubation ceased that the old family 
was gathered to its resting place. Hence I ac- 
count for the absence of egg-shells, as these de- 
posits only took place in the winter season, 
which was never the breeding season with the 
birds. And by the trampling round of the birds 
when in the spring, I account for the equal dis- 
tribution generally of the gravel amongst the 
bones; the trampling being the disturbing cause 
from which alone some bunches of gravel from 
the gizzards escaped by being covered with a 
breast bone or pelvis. 
Mr. Booth further adds: “If it is asked, why 
are there no bones in the surrounding lagoons"? 
my answer is, that as they are all (as far as I have 
examined) surface lagoons, they would have 
been frozen over when the cold drove the birds 
into the spring water which never froze.” 
This theory of Mr. Booth has much to recom- 
mend it, and we agree with him that the theory 
of cold seems more plausible to account for the 
heaps of bones at Lake Wakalipu, described by 
Dr. Hector, than the theory of fire which the 
Doctor advances. The Moas would certainly 
have been quite as likely to have sought shelter 
under a precipitous ledge of rocks to protect 
them from cold snow storms as from sweeping 
fires, and would have been much more likely to 
have reached such shelter. “Notwithstanding, 
they perished in clusters. This occurring peri- 
odically, perhaps for many years, would natural- 
ly account for the many distinct skeleton heaps 
found by the Doctor in that place. 
Many many pages have been written in rela- 
tion to the time when the Moa became extinct. 
That it was contemporary with man, and owes 
its final extinction to him, is a fact accepted by 
all, but whether the old Moa hunters were the 
ancestors of the present New Zealanders, or, if 
not, whether the ancestors of the Maories hunted 
the Moa at all, or inhabited the. islands before the 
Moas were all gone, is still a disputed question, 
with competent observers on each side. 
As bearing on the time when the Moa became 
extinct in that part of the South Island, we quote 
again from Mr. Booth’s paper, “I find below a 
certain level that would leave the whole Manio- 
toto plains under water; there are no Moa bones 
Continued on page 7. 
GEOLOGY. 
Under this heading we invite attention in the 
first place to our extensive series of ROCKS — 
IGNEOUS, METAMORPHIC, and SEDIMEN- 
TARY — in which all the noted foriegn localities 
from the giant’s Causeway to the Islands of New 
Zealand are represented as well as other collect- 
ing-grounds nearer home. These are in speci- 
mens of a uniform size, with fresh surfaces and 
well marked characters. For those who are not 
specialists, and whom this wealth of material 
would puzzle to select from, we have carefully 
prepared several general COLLECTIONS OF 
TYPICAL ROCKS to facilitate the teaching of 
this subject. Briefly these collections are: 
The UNION SCHOOL COLLECTION of 50 
specimens, price $20. 
The ACADEMY COLLECTION of 100 speci- 
mens, price $45. 
The COLLEGE COLLECTION of 275 speci- 
mens (many of large size), price $200. 
These collections are arranged according to 
mineral composition. We have also two in 
stratigraphical order: 
A GENERAL STRATIGRAPHICAL COL- 
LECTION of 100 specimens, including Chart of 
Geological Time, price $50. 
ROCKS OF THE NEW YORK SYSTEM, 
110 specimens, with diagrams giving thickness 
of the different strata on the bottom of each block 
and with chart of Geological time, $80. 
The respective prices affixed include all labels 
and mountings , and printed catalogues. (For fur- 
ther details see our General Catalogue of Geology, 
price 20 cents.) 
Besides these trimmed rocks for collections we 
have a varied assortment of material illustrating 
special points in PHENOMENAL GEOLOGY 
(faults, veins, etc.) and as adjuncts in teaching 
GEOLOGICAL MODELS in wood showing 
graphically the effects of erosion, faults, out- 
crops, etc. Also, RELIEF MAPS of interesting 
regions (Vesuvius, Etna, Mont Blanc, Colorado 
Canon and others), and GEOLOGICAL CHARTS 
and LANDSCAPES, for information concerning 
which consult our Catalogue of Geology and Lith- 
ology. 
“Hell Fire Rock.” 
We are now able to supply good specimens of 
this interesting rock for 50 cts. to $1. Many 
minerals are more or less phosphorescent, some 
of them beautifully so, but this is doubtless the 
most wonderful yet discovered, on being scratch- 
ed with a knife-blade or key, in a dark place, it 
glows like red-hot iron, wdience the name, given 
by the miners who first came upon it with their 
picks in running a tunnel, and so fearful were 
they of encroaching on Satan’s claim that the 
mine was deserted, and no miners could be found 
to work in it for a long time. 
The rock is mostly of a yellowish gray color, 
and in general appearance closely resembles the 
Nova Scotia free stone or Berea Grit of Ohio. 
Closer examination however proves it to be not 
a sandstone at all but a nearly pure carbonate of 
lime and magnesia. 
[See fuller description, page 8.] 
Since the last issue of The Bulletin we 
have received only one new Meteorite, this is the 
one known as the Mocs Meteorite which fell 
Feb. 3, of the present year near Hausenberg in 
the Siebengebirge, of this we have secured a 
number of fine specimens, ranging in price from 
$3, to $50. We have finished sawing our Vir- 
ginia meteorite and have a few of the finest slabs 
we have ever seen, some with nodules of Troilite 
over two inches in diameter. 
