88 
Apteryx and the three species of Dinornis, as above restored, are given in the subjoined 
table. 
Ostrich. Emeu, Apteryx. D.giganteus'. D. struthoides*. D. didiformis. 
fil. F 13: f 8. 
In. Lin. In, Lin. In. Lin. Tn. Lin. Tn. Lin. In. Lin. 
Length of femur ...... ll O 9.0 3.9 16 O 11 O 8 0 
Circumference of ditto.. 5 3 3 7 1 0 7 $3 4 2 4 0 
| oh t 7. ‘4. 
Length of tibia........ 18 6 16 10 a, op 35 O 25 0 16 3 
Circumference of ditto.. 4 3 3 4 1 3 GS. 6 o 0 4 1 
m1. m 3. m 5. 
Length of metatarsus ..16 0 15 0 3 3 18 6 12 0 7 0 
Circumference of ditto.. 3 7 3 0 0 O & 6 4 3 3 6 
It will be seen that in these three species of Dinornis the united lengths of the femur 
and metatarsus equal or nearly equal that of the tibia, and that the metatarsus is rela- 
tively shorter and thicker as the species decrease in size. 
The femur f 2 and the tibia ¢ 2 of the Dinornis ingens have no metatarsus to match 
them in the present collection: such a metatarsus should be fifteen inches in length. 
Whether the Dinornis with a hind-leg of these proportions be actually a distinct species 
from the Dinornis giganteus, or a smaller individual on account of age or sex, is a 
question which, though the present evidence induces me to answer in the affirmative, I 
should be glad to see confirmed by additional specimens. 
With respect to the smaller femora, especially those numbered f 7, f 8, f 17, if they 
had belonged to the young birds of the larger species, their nonage would unquestionably 
have been indicated by the characters of the bones. The femur of a young Ostrich, 
bearing the same proportion to that of the adult which f 7 bears to f 12, has the whole 
upper surface of the proximal end and all the distal articulation covered with thick car- 
tilage, and the line of the terminal epiphysis is conspicuous, although the uniting ossifi- 
cation has commenced ; the trochanterian ridge is rounded off ; the surface of the shaft 
of the bone is smooth; the muscular ridges quite undeveloped. In the small femora 
of the Dinornis, f 7, f8,f 17, no trace of the separation of the terminal epiphyses 
remains ; the sculpturing of the articular surfaces is sharp and bold; every ridge and 
tuberosity indicative of muscular action is as strongly developed as in the largest 
femora. 
The same characters establish the maturity of the femora f 6 and f 16; f 13 has the 
muscular ridges and prominences less strongly developed. There are no tibiz or me- 
tatarsi which, upon the analogies and proportions adopted for the collocation of the 
principal bones of the leg in the Dinornithes gigunteus, ingens, struthoides and didiformis, 
can be assigned to these femora. Regarding which, therefore, it is first to be inquired 
whether they belong to immature individuals of Dinornis struthoides or to a distinct sex 
! Pl. XXX, fig. 1. ? Th. fig, 2. * Ib. fig. 4. 
