Part I

. of his and Dr. Melville’s book. ‘The first of these,’ writes Mr. Strickland, ‘is a rare edition of Bontekoe’s Voyage, kindly communicated to me by Dr. Bandinel, the Bodleian Librarian, entitled “Journael van de acht-jarige avontuerlijcke Reyse van Willem Ysbrantsz Bontekoe van Hoorn, gedaen nae Oost-Indien,” published in quarto at Amsterdam, by Gillis Joosten Zaagman. There is no date; but from a narrative introduced at the end, it must be subsequent (probably by a year or two) to 1646. The narrative is nearly a verbatim version of the other Dutch editions of Bontekoe; and the only variation of text which concerns us, is in the statement that the underside of the Dodo dragged along the ground, which is here qualified thus:—“sleepte haer de neers _by na_ (i. e. _almost_) langs de Aerde.” But what gives a peculiar interest to this volume is, that it contains (alone of all the editions of Bontekoe which I have seen) a figure of the Dodo, which I here present.’ Then follows the cut.

“‘This highly ludicrous representation,’ continues Mr. Strickland, ‘is more like a fighting cock than a Dodo; and the black letter of the Dutch text omits to tell us whether this design was due to the pencil of Bontekoe or his publisher Zaagman, or whether it was copied from some contemporary painting now forgotten. But there can be no doubt that this figure refers to the true Dodo of Mauritius, and not to the “Solitaire” of Bourbon, with which Bontekoe confounded it.

“‘We may regret that the rudeness of the original woodcut leaves us in the dark as to the nature of the object on which the Dodo appears about to feed. This figure would pass equally well for a testaceous mollusk, or for an arboreal fruit; so that the problem of the Dodo’s food seems as far from a solution as ever.’

“In Wolfgangh’s publication, p. 480, is the following description:—

“‘Op’t Eylandt Mauritius in Oost-Indien, als mede op sommige andere plaetsen gelijck mede in West-Indien, vindt men voegels soo groot als Swanen, die men Dodaersen of Dronten noemt, sy hebben groote hoofden, en daer op een velleken in manier van een Kapken, sy hebben geen vleugels, dan in plaetsvan dien, 3 of 4 swarte pennekens, en daer haer staert behoorde te staen, daer Zijn 4 of 5 gekrulde Pluymkens, van graeuwachtige verwe. Sy hebben een dicke ronde Naers, daer uyt het schijnt, dat haer de naem van Dodaers toe gekomen is; in de maegh hebben sy gemeenlijck een Steen van een vuyst groot, dese is bruyn, graeuw van verwe, en vol gaetkens, en hollingheydt, doch soo hart als grauwe Bentemeer-steen. Het Boots-volck van _Jacob van Neck_, noemden se Walgh-vogels, om dat se die niet recht gaer of murrruw konden koken: of om datse soo veel Tortel-duyven konden bekomen, die leckerder smaeckten, datse van dese Dod-aersen de walgh kregen. Aen 3 of 4 van dese Vogels had al’t Scheeps volck van een Schip, voor een maeltijdt genoegh t’ eeten: Dese Dod-aersen hebbense oock ingesouten en op de reys mede genomen.’

“This description may be thus rendered:—

“‘In the Island of Mauritius in the East Indies, as also in sundry other places, likewise in the West Indies, men find birds as big as swans, which they call _Dod-aerses_ or _Drontes_. They have large heads, upon the top of which is a skin (a little skin-membrane) in the shape of a cap (little cap). They have no wings, but in the place of them there are three or four black feathers; and there where the tail should be, there are instead four or five curling plumes of a greyish colour. They have a thick round rump, and from this it appears they got the name of Dod-aerses. In their stomachs they have commonly a stone as big as a fist; this stone is of a brown-grey colour, and full of little holes and hollows, but as hard as the grey Bentemer stone. The boat’s crew of _Jacob van Neck_ called them Walgh-vogels (surfeit birds), because they could not cook them till they were done, or make them tender; or because they were able to get so many turtle-doves which had a much more pleasant flavour, so that they took a disgust to these birds. Likewise it is said that three or four of these birds are enough to afford a whole ship’s company one full meal. Indeed they salted down some of them, and carried them with them on the voyage.’

“At the top of the page in which this passage commences is printed ‘_Van de Dodaersen_.’ And immediately below it and above the description is a copper-plate of the bird, superscribed ‘_Dod-aers_,’ in engraved italics.

“The engraving of the bird is identical in position and accessories with the woodcut given by Mr. Strickland; but the sharpness of the work and the nature of the plate make the whole much clearer. The object at which the Dodo is looking, as if about to feed, is manifestly a testaceous mollusk with a turbinated shell, and between that and the raised foot of the bird is a half-buried spiny _Echinus_.

“The locality on which the Dodo is walking has the appearance of a strand which the tide has left dry.

“Wolfgangh’s account confirms the opinion which I hazarded in the article ‘Dodo’ in the ‘Penny Cyclopædia.’

“‘As to the stories of the disgusting quality of the flesh of the bird found and eaten by the Dutch, they will weigh but little in the scale when we take the expression to be, what it really was, indicative of a comparative preference for the turtle-doves there found, after feeding on Dodos _usque ad nauseam_. “Always partridges” has become proverbial, and we find from Lawson how a repetition of the most delicious food palls. “We cooked our supper,” says that traveller, “but having neither bread nor salt, our fat turkeys began to be loathsome to us; although we were never wanting of a good appetite, yet a continuance of one diet made us weary;” and again, “By the way our guide killed more turkeys, and two polecats, which he eat, esteeming them before fat turkeys.”’

“It does not follow that because the Dodo is represented as looking at the _frutti di mari_, he is about to devour them. But if it be granted he is, the admission would not militate against the opinion of those who would place the Dodo between the Struthious and Gallinaceous birds. It is well known that the turkeys in America come down to the shore and feed upon the ‘fiddler’ crabs; and there would be nothing extraordinary in a quisquilious feeder, such as the Dodo probably was, varying its fruit and vegetable diet occasionally by resorting to such animal substances as it might find on the strand. Common poultry eagerly pick up insects and slugs in the fields, and, in the neighbourhood of tidal rivers and estuaries, may be seen availing themselves of the smaller _mollusca_ and _crustacea_ left by the retreating tide.

“In my article ‘Struthionidæ[10]’ under the section ‘Didus,’ is inserted the following extract from a letter written to me by Professor Owen:—

“‘Whilst at the Hague in the summer of 1848, I was much struck with the minuteness and accuracy with which the exotic species of animals had been painted by Savery and Breughel, in such subjects as _Paradise_, _Orpheus charming the beasts_, &c., in which scope was allowed for grouping together a great variety of animals. Understanding that the celebrated menagerie of Prince Maurice had afforded the living models to those artists, I sat down one day before Savery’s _Orpheus and the beasts_, to make a list of the species, which the picture evinced that the artist had had the opportunity to study alive. Judge of my surprise and pleasure in detecting in a dark corner of the picture (which is badly hung between two windows), the Dodo beautifully finished, showing for example, though but three inches long, the auricular circle of feathers, the scutation of the tarsi, and the loose structure of the caudal plumes. In the number and proportions of the toes and in general form, it accords with Edwards’s oil-painting in the British Museum; and I conclude that the miniature must have been copied from the study of a living bird, which, it is most probable, formed part of the Mauritian menagerie.’

“I little thought, when, with his permission, I published this graphic product of my kind friend’s pen, what was in store for me. Not long afterwards, a friend informed me that he had seen a picture at a dealer’s painted by one of the Saverys, and that he was pretty sure there was a Dodo in one corner of it. I sent for the picture, and there, sure enough, in the right-hand corner, and consequently to the left of the spectator, was the bird, in all the beauty of its ugliness. The Dodo stands on one foot with its back to the spectator, and turning round its head, which is represented with the huge bill picking the other uplifted foot. Like all the rest of the birds in this picture, which bears the name of Roland Savery, the Dodo is highly finished. The picture is now in my possession[11].”

The figure 2 in Plate I. is a faithful copy of the bird as represented in it.

Whilst on a visit to Sion House I was unexpectedly gratified by finding, in a small oil-painting in the long gallery, an unequivocal and original representation of the Dodo, in an attitude different from that of any of the figures of the living bird by Roland Savery, and evidently by another master. I lost no time in communicating this additional evidence of the extinct bird to Mr. Broderip, and in obtaining the permission of my noble host to make such use of the painting as might best subserve the interests of Natural History. Mr. Broderip communicated to the Zoological Society the following:—

“_Notice of an Original Painting, including a Figure of the Dodo, in the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, at Sion House._

[Illustration]

“Professor Owen, at whose disposal the Duke of Northumberland placed the following additional pictorial evidence of the existence of the Dodo in the seventeenth century, has requested me to draw the attention of this Society to the highly interesting picture which the Duke has been so good as to send for the inspection of the Fellows. The size of the picture, which is in the finest preservation, is thirty-two inches by nineteen. It is executed in oil, and bears the following monogram and date. Mr. William Russell, with his usual discernment, detected in this monogram the signatures of Jean Goeimare and Jean David de Heem, and proved the correctness of his judgment by a reference to Brulliot[12]. Jean Goeimare, who is not noticed by Descamps, Bryan, Sandrart, or Houbraken, is described by Brulliot as a Flemish artist who flourished at the commencement of the seventeenth century, and painted landscapes with many animals, executed with great care, but in rather a dry manner[13]. Of De Heem, the celebrated painter of still life, it would be superfluous to say anything. We may conclude, then, that in this joint production the landscape and animals were painted by Goeimare, and the shells by De Heem.

[Illustration: Fig. 5.

Dodo (from the painting by Goeimare, 1627, in Sion House).]

“In this picture, which seems to have been intended as a record of rarities, the foreground represents a sea-shore from which the tide has retired, leaving empty shells of the following genera:—_Nautilus_, _Pteroceras_, _Strombus_, _Triton_, _Pyrula_, _Cassis_, _Cypræa_, _Conus_, _Mitra_, _Turbo_, _Nerita_, _Mytilus_, _Ostrea_, &c. Behind, on elevated ground, are two Ostriches; and below, to the right of the spectator, the Dodo is represented as in the act of picking up something from the strand” (fig. 5). “The head and body of the bird, covering an area as large as the palm of a man’s hand, are seen; but the legs are hidden. The painter of the Dodo, in _my_ picture” (Pl. I. fig. 2), “has given the only complete foreshortened back view of the bird known to me. In the Duke’s picture the head and body are presented to the spectator on a larger scale; and I have nowhere seen the hood or ridge at the base of the bill, from which the bird obtained the name of _Cygnus cucullatus_, so clearly represented. Near the Dodo are a Smew and other aquatic birds, and further off Hoopoes and Terns. In the distance is the ocean, with a sea-monster awaiting the attack of Perseus, who descends on a winged steed to the rescue of Andromeda chained to a rock. Those who have had occasion to describe and figure new species of Testacea, know how difficult it is to find a draughtsman who can give a correct design of the shell to be represented. Unless the artist, like Mr. G. B. Sowerby, jun., is aware of the internal structure of the shell, and acquainted with its organization, a lamentable failure is generally the result. In the picture before us, with one exception—and even in that the specimen may have been distorted—so accurate was the eye of the painter, that if he had been aware of the organization of each shell—knowledge which he probably had not—he could not have represented the objects more correctly. The _Nautili_[14], _Strombus gigas_, _Triton_, and _Pyrula_ are painted with great breadth and power, and all are drawn and coloured with wonderful truth; indeed a conchologist may name every species. One of the _Nautili_ is partially uncoated, to show the nacre, and the other dissected, to display the concamerations. None of the shells have the epidermis, and all are of the natural size. The artificial condition of these subjects, and especially of the _Nautili_, is, it must be allowed, rather out of place in an assemblage of testaceans left on the sands by the retired tide, unless we are to suppose that the sea-nymphs had been amusing themselves by polishing the specimens and displaying the internal structure of one of them; but this very treatment shows that the designs were accurately made from real objects then considered as rarities. With the exception of the Dodo, none of the natural objects represented are now rare. The shells, especially those whose _habitats_ are the seas of the Antilles, are at present very common; but at the date of the picture—the second year of the reign of our first Charles—the natural productions of the West Indies were not well known, and were, comparatively, very scarce. With the shells on the shore is the cranium of a carnivorous quadruped, apparently of the family _Canidæ_. The monster-cetacean in the distance has evidently no chance with the avenger who is coming down upon him mounted on a winged steed. But Pegasus, who, with other prodigies, sprang from the blood that dropped from Medusa’s head, as the conqueror who had cut it off with his harpe traversed the air with his gory trophy, immediately winged its flight to Helicon, there to become the pet of the Muses. The best version of this mythological story relates, that when Perseus afterwards killed the sea-monster and delivered Andromeda on the coast of Ethiopia, he effected his purpose by raising himself in the air through the aid of the wings and talaria given to him by Mercury, and not with the help of the winged horse on which most of the painters mount him.

“Professor Owen informs me that Roland Savery’s picture containing the Dodo, in the Berlin collection, bears the date of 1626; and that the colour of the Dodo in the Duke of Northumberland’s picture resembles that of the portrait of the bird, of life size, by the same painter, now at Oxford. L’Estrange describes the hue of the back of the living Dodo which he saw exhibited in London ‘about 1638,’ as of ‘dunn or deare colour.’”

The picture of the Dodo at Berlin by R. Savery, to which Mr. Broderip refers, is copied in figure 1, Plate I. Another figure of the bird, by the same artist, is introduced into a painting in the Imperial Collection of the Belvedere at Vienna. Fig. 3, Plate I. of the present work, is from the copy of this picture, transmitted by Dr. Tschudi to Mr. Strickland, and given at p. 30 of the ‘Dodo and its Kindred.’ The date of the picture is 1628.

We have thus evidence of figures of the bird being introduced into paintings executed during the years 1626, 1627, and 1628. The different attitudes and life-like actions of the Dodo, in these representations, indicate that the artists had a living model before them. Their original studies may, indeed, have been executed at some period antecedent to the dates of the paintings into the subjects of which this rare and curious bird is introduced; but the capital fact remains, viz. that the figures given in Plate I. faithfully represent the shape, colour, and attitudes of the now extinct brevipennate bird of the Mauritius. Different conjectures have been propounded as to the time, place, and other circumstances under which Roelandt Savery and Jean Goeimare were enabled to execute their drawings or studies of the living Dodo, and I had the satisfaction to find that Mr. Strickland concurred in the conclusion at which I arrived after my researches in Holland into the history and evidences of the bird.

“As Roland Savery was born in 1576, he was twenty-three years old when Van Neck’s expedition returned to Holland, and as we are told by De Bry that the Dutch brought home a Dodo on that occasion, it is possible enough that Savery may have taken the portrait of this individual, and that the design thus made may have been copied by himself and by his nephew John in their later pictures. Or if we feel disposed to doubt the correctness of De Bry’s statement, we may yet suppose, with Professor Owen, that the menagerie of Prince Maurice supplied the living prototype for Savery’s pencil. This opinion is corroborated by the tradition recorded by Edwards, that the picture in the British Museum was drawn in Holland from the living bird. It is far more probable than the conjecture of Dr. Hamel (Bull. Ac. Petersb. vol. v. p. 317), that Savery’s pictures were copied from the Dodo exhibited in London, as this individual must in that case have lived in captivity at least twelve years, from 1626 to 1638[15].”

With the view to test the tradition recorded by Edwards as to the date and origin of the painting of the Dodo in the British Museum, I took a copy of the outline of the bird and laid upon it outlines of the bones of the Dodo subsequently to be described, as shown in Plate III., and thus obtained proof that the painting truly represented the natural size and shape of the _Didus ineptus_, and had no doubt been “drawn in Holland from the living bird[16].” From the date of the first landing of the Dutch on the Island of Mauritius, in 1598, to their colonization of it in 1644, their ships frequently, perhaps annually, visited that island, and, as recorded by most of the writers quoted by Broderip, and testified by Van der Hagen, in 1607[17], their crews feasted on Tortoises, Dodos, Doves, and other game, and also salted the Tortoises and Dodos for consumption during the voyage to the spice-islands of the Indian Archipelago. It is highly probable that more than one of the strange birds of Prince Maurice’s Island would be brought alive to Holland, and we know that a specimen was brought from that country for exhibition in London in the year 1638. It is certain that through the attacks of man, and those of the dogs, cats, and swine introduced by the Dutch into the Mauritius, the slow and heavy flightless Dodos were extirpated, probably before Leguat’s visit to the island in 1693. The French colonists, who succeeded the Dutch in 1712, seem not to have found any Dodos remaining in the island; their descendants and successors have preserved no traditions of the living bird; and Baron Grant, who resided in the Mauritius from 1740 to 1760, expressly states that no such bird was to be found there at that time[18].

Mr. Broderip refers, in his History of the Dodo, to the notice by Adam Olearius, in 1666, of the head of that bird in the museum of the Duke of Gottorp.

This specimen was most unexpectedly discovered by Professor Reinhardt in the Museum of Natural History at Copenhagen under the following circumstances:—“In the summer of 1840 I happened to search through a box wherein different natural-history objects were stored, which had been presented by the ‘Kunstkammer’ to the Royal Natural History Museum, and on this occasion I found a very large bird-cranium, which attracted my attention partly through its size, partly through its unusual and peculiar shape, and by a further examination and comparison with the authenticated representations of the Dodo, I became persuaded that it must have belonged to that remarkable bird.

“It is very well preserved, only wanting the left ‘os pterygoideum;’ and the ‘condylus occipitalis,’ together with the entire border of the ‘foramen magnum’ are broken away; otherwise it is quite perfect, so that an almost complete description of the osteology of the head of this remarkable genus may be made out from it. Although I have searched through Laurentz’s ‘Museum Regium’ and the MS. Catalogue of the ‘Kunstkammer,’ I have nowhere been able to discover any notice of such a cranium having ever been possessed by the Collection, and it is therefore clear that it has preserved the present specimen quite unwittingly, and it stands probably under one of the many numbers given as referring to heads of unknown foreign birds. I have meanwhile gradually come to the conclusion that this head is in all likelihood the one called ‘Dodo’s head’ by Olearius in the year 1666, in his description of the Gottorp Kunst-Museum, which, when that museum, at least in part, was amalgamated with the Copenhagen Museum, found its way there.” (Reinhardt, in ‘Kröyer’s Naturhist. Tidsskr.’ iv. pp. 71, 72 (1842)).

About ten years afterwards a portion of the bone of the upper beak of a Dodo was discovered in the Imperial and Royal Museum of Natural History at Prague[19].

Such, until the year 1865, was the sum of the remains of this large, flightless, extinct bird which were known to have reached Europe.

The happy perception, by the Danish Professor J. Reinhardt, in 1843[20], of the resemblance of the beak of the Dodo to that of the tropical Doves, generically separated by Cuvier under the name _Vinago_, on account of their proportionately larger, more strongly arched, and compressed beak than in other Pigeons, and the still closer resemblance, in miniature, of the beak of the Samoan Dove to that of the great Mauritian bird, which led Titian Peale to give to the former the generic name _Didunculus_, directed the ornithologist and ornithotomist to the family in which the most instructive comparisons might be made; and the results of these, so far as relates to the head and foot and the bones of those parts, published by the authors of the above-cited work (p. 4), left little doubt of the “striking affinity which exists between this extinct bird and the Pigeons”[21].

Whatever doubt, indeed, may have lingered in the minds of naturalists as to this affinity will probably be finally set at rest by the results of the comparison of the large proportion of the skeleton of the _Didus ineptus_ which has at length been transmitted from the island of Mauritius to London, under the following circumstances.

In 1863, I was favoured by Miss A. Burdett Coutts with an introduction to the Bishop of Mauritius, then in this country, and I endeavoured to interest his lordship in aiding or promoting the acquisition, by the British Museum, of the zoological rarities of Madagascar, and especially of any remains of the Dodo which might be discovered in the island of Mauritius, to which his lordship was about to return.

How speedily and successfully the Bishop has fulfilled my latter desire will be shown by the following letter, with which I was favoured in November, 1865.

“St. James, Port Louis, “October 7, 1865.

“+My dear Sir+,—when I had the pleasure of conversing with you for a short time in London two years ago, I promised to acquaint you with any facts or discoveries which might come to my knowledge, likely to interest you in connexion with Madagascar. I have not anything as yet to communicate definitely respecting that island in the way of natural history, but I have strong reasons to believe that a discovery has been made here recently which will gratify you very much. Mr. George Clark, who has for many years devoted himself to the work of teaching in this island with great success, is an ardent student of natural history, and has explored many parts of the island in search of information on the subject. From careful observation he was led to conclude that no remains of the Dodo were likely to be found in any of our watercourses, because of their steep descent and the immense rush of water which sweeps down them at times. But he had also frequently expressed his opinion that in certain marshes, with high banks of sand between them and the sea, such remains would probably be found. In one of these places he has found several of the bones of the Dodo (as he believes), and is now forwarding them home for your inspection[22].

“At his request, I write these lines to ask for your kind care of his interests in securing any reward which may accrue to him. It would be a great pleasure to me to find that his discovery was really important, and likely to be useful to himself; for he has pursued these and similar investigations with an amount of intelligence, skill, and diligence, in his vacation-times (by no means extensive), which deserves much credit and encouragement.

“The book which you kindly sent me on the Aye-Aye has been read by many, and especially by medical men, with much interest. I entrusted the other copy to Mr. John Douglas for the Society here.

“I remain, my dear Sir, “Your very faithful Servant, (Signed) “+Vincent N. Mauritius+.” “_Professor Owen._”

This letter was accompanied with the following “Statement” by Mr. George Clark, Master of the Government School at Mahébourg, Island of Mauritius:—

“On the estate called ‘Plaisance,’ about three miles from Mahébourg, in the island of Mauritius, there is a ravine of no great depth or steepness, which, apparently, once conveyed to the sea the drainings of a considerable extent of circumjacent land, but which has been stopped to seaward, most likely for ages, by an accumulation of sand extending all along the shore. The outlet from this ravine having been thus impeded, a sort of bog has been formed, called ‘La Mare aux Songes,’ in which is a deposit of alluvium, varying in depth, on account of the inequalities of the bottom, which is formed of large masses of basalt, from three to ten or twelve feet. The proprietor of the estate a few weeks ago conceived the idea of employing this alluvium as manure; and shortly after, the men began digging in it; when they had got to a depth of three or four feet they found numerous bones of large tortoises, among which were a carapace and a plastron pretty nearly entire, as also several crania.

“When I heard of this, it immediately struck me that the spot was one of the most likely possible to contain bones of the Dodo, and I gave directions to the men working there to look out for any bones they might find. Nothing, however, was turned up but a fragment of what I supposed to be the humerus of a large bird. This encouraged me to look further; and my search was rewarded by the discovery of several tibiæ, more or less perfect, two tarsi, one nearly perfect pelvis, and fragments of three others.

“These were found imbedded in a black vegetable mould, the lighter-coloured specimens being near the springs. My reasons for believing these to be remains of the Dodo are:—the certainty that that bird once existed in Mauritius; the similarity of these bones to what the representations of the Dodo which I have seen would lead one to expect, particularly the breadth of the pelvis, the stoutness of the tibiæ and tarsi, and the shortness of the latter; the favourable nature of the spot in which they were found for the haunts of such birds when living—a sheltered hollow with two springs in it; the non-existence, actual or traditional, in Mauritius of any bird to which bones such as these could have belonged; the indubitable antiquity of these bones, proved by the deposit of alluvium which covered them.

“During nearly thirty years that I have inhabited this colony, I have made frequent inquiries of old people as to the finding of the bones of large birds, and have offered liberal rewards for such; and I have consulted with the late Dr. Ayres as to the spots most likely to contain them. We agreed that the floods which sweep the hill-sides and the ravines in the rainy season would be most likely to carry any remains into the sea; and this would doubtless have been the case here, but for the stoppage occasioned by the sand-down.

(Signed) “+George Clark.+ 1865.”

The above “Statement” was authenticated by the following testimony:—

“Having visited the place with Mr. Clark, I can vouch for the truth of the facts herein mentioned. (Signed) “+William Thomas Banks+, “Civil Chaplain, Mauritius.”

“The Rev. W. T. Banks, Civil Chaplain at Mahébourg, in this diocese, and Mr. George Clark, Master of the Government School at Mahébourg, are well known to me, and deserving implicit credit for their statements as to matters of fact.

(Signed) “+Vincent N. Mauritius.+ Oct. 6, 1865.”

§ 2. _Description of the Skeleton._ (Plate III.)

The bones of the Dodo (_Didus ineptus_, Linn.) discovered by Mr. Clark, under the above circumstances, which have reached me up to the present date (December 20th, 1865) are the following:—

Name. Number of bones or parts.

Cranium and lower jaw, in parts 14 Vertebræ and pelvis 30 Ribs 22 Sternum 2 Scapular arch, in parts 7 Humerus, ulna, radius 6 Femora 5 Tibiæ 6 Fibulæ 4 Metatarsals 4 ——— Total number of parts of skeleton of the Dodo 100 ===

The known characters of the skull and metatarsus of the _Didus ineptus_ served to identify those bones as belonging to that species: the agreement in relative size, colour, condition, and locality left no room for hesitation in referring the other bones in the above list to the same species[23]. They belong, however, to four or five individuals varying somewhat in size. With the bones of the Dodo were the end of the lower jaw of a broad-billed Parrot, two bones (radius) of a small Mammal, and part of the skull of a large Tortoise[24].

To the description of the Dodo’s bones I now proceed.

_Vertebræ._ (Plates III., IV., V., VIII., XI.)

The dorsal vertebræ are chiefly represented, in this series of bones, by three which are anchylosed together by their bodies and neural arches (Pl. V. figs. 1–5): the posterior articular surface of the body of the last of these vertebræ (ib., fig. 4, _c_) is subquadrate, longer in the vertical than the transverse direction, concave vertically, convex transversely, almost fitting, but being rather too small for, the anterior articular surface of the body of the first of the sacral series (Pl. VII. fig. 1, _c_). The difference is such as to indicate that only one dorsal vertebra may have intervened; and I conclude that the last of the three coalesced vertebræ is the penultimate dorsal. The anterior articular surface of the foremost of the three (Pl. IV. fig. 1, _c_) is 11 lines in transverse, and 4 to 5 lines in vertical diameter: it is concave transversely for the middle three-fifths, and convex transversely at the two outer fifths of its extent: it is more or less convex vertically throughout its extent. The bodies of these vertebræ are compressed and wedged-shaped, slightly expanded at their coalesced ends, produced below into subquadrate hypapophyses in the first and second (Pl. V. fig. 1, _hy_); while this process is restricted to the fore part (ib. _hy_ 3), or may be represented only by a slight anterior production of the lower edge of the wedge, in the third (ib. fig. 5, _hy_ 3).

The hypapophysis of the first of the three expands at its termination (Pl. IV. fig. 1, _hy_), with the hinder angle bent back to coalesce with the front one of the next hypapophysis, which is somewhat longer, and bent forward with a similar terminal expansion: a full elliptical space is intercepted by this terminal confluence of these hypapophyses (Pl. V. figs. 1 & 5, _hy_). Each vertebra shows an elliptical articular cavity (ib. figs. 1 & 5, _p_, _p_ 3) for the head of the rib, near to the anterior articular surface; the long axis of this costal surface is directed from above obliquely downward and forward. The surface of the rib’s tubercle cuts obliquely the lower part of the free end of the diapophysis (Pl. IV. fig. 1, _d_).

The neural arch circumscribes a canal the anterior outlet of which (ib. fig. 1, _n_) is oval with the small end downward, 5 lines in vertical, and 3½ in transverse diameter: the sides of the neural canal slightly project inward above the lower third: the posterior outlet (Pl. V. fig. 4, _n_) is more regularly elliptical in form, and rather narrower in proportion to its vertical diameter. The neurapophysis sends off from the outer and fore part of its base a stout process, which expands and divides into zygapophyses (Pl. IV. fig. 1, _z_) and diapophyses (ib. _d_); the articular surface of the former is of a full oval shape, flat, looking obliquely upward and inward; the diapophyses extend outward and a little backward: the articular surface for the tubercle of the rib is transversely elliptical and nearly flat. The hinder part of the neurapophysis expands into the postzygapophyses: these have coalesced with the præzygapophyses in the succeeding vertebra (Pl. V. fig. 2, _z_), as has happened also between this and the third vertebra. In the last of the three vertebræ the postzygapophyses are entire (ib. _z_ 3), and show very slightly concave, oval articular surfaces, looking obliquely downward and outward (ib. fig. 4, _z_). The conjugational foramina, continuously surrounded by bone, are a full ellipse, and large, the anterior one (ib. figs. 1 & 5, _f_) being 5½ lines in vertical diameter; the second (ib. _f′_) is somewhat less: these foramina are also rather larger in one of the specimens than in the other. The length of the three coalesced dorsals is the same in both, viz. 2 inches 3 lines. The neural spines have run together into a continuous ridge in fig. 1, _ns_; in fig. 5 the summit is broken off in both, leaving only the anterior angle of the foremost entire; in both this inclines forward; the hinder border of the third vertebra (fig. 1, _ns_) has the same vertical parallel as the back part of the centrum. The anterior margin of the base of the spine shows a rough surface for the attachment of ligament (Pl. IV. fig. 1, _ns_). A small foramen behind the base of each of the coalesced zygapophyses (Pl. V. fig. 2, _z_ _z_) leads to a canal descending to the neural one, and indicates superiorly the limits of the otherwise continuously ossified neural arches.

In the series of detached vertebræ, one (Pl. V. figs. 6 & 7) indicates by its neural spine and hypapophysis a position at the base of the neck. The centrum is barely an inch in length; its anterior surface (ib. fig. 7, _c_) is narrow vertically, broad transversely; both fore and hind surfaces indicate freedom and extent of flexure. The hypapophysis has a broad, bituberculate base (ib. _hy_), but is limited in fore and aft extent to the middle third of the under surface of the centrum: its length is shown in fig. 6, _hy_. The parapophysis (fig. 7, _p_) is slender, and expands at both attachments, with an indication of a terminal surface. The diapophysis (_d_) has a larger costal surface: it sends forward a convex ridge midway between the di- and zygapophysis (_z_). The neural canal (fig. 7, _n_) has wider and more fully elliptical outlets than the hinder dorsal vertebræ, in relation to the greater extent of motion at the fore part of the series. I conclude that a free pleurapophysis (_pl_) existed, indicating the present to be the first of the dorsal series, as shown in Pl. III. The neural spine is short, broad, obtusely pointed, with a vertically oblong syndesmotic surface (fig. 7) before and behind. Each postzygapophysis (fig. 6, _z′_) supports an anapophysial tubercle (_a_).

A cervical vertebra from a position just in advance of the above has lost the neural spine, but retains the hypapophysis. This process (ib. figs. 8 & 9, _hy_) is compressed and directed obliquely downward and forward for an extent of 6 lines; the extremity is rounded: the length of the centrum of this vertebra is 1 inch 3 lines; the anterior articular surface is longest transversely, and concave in that direction, convex vertically; the proportions and curvatures are transposed in the posterior surface (fig. 9, _c_). The parapophysis (ib. _p_) is continued from the anterior border of the centrum to the middle; it is a depressed plate, confluent with the rib (ib. _d_). The diapophysis forms a short, obtuse projection above its anchylosis with the rib (ib. _pl_): this projects backward 7 lines in length, terminating obtusely, and circumscribing a vertebrarterial foramen (ib. _v_) of a full elliptic shape, 5½ lines in long diameter. The surfaces of the præzygapophyses (_z_) are larger, and look more upward and less inward, than in the preceding and the dorsal vertebræ: they are very slightly concave. Those of the postzygapophyses (fig. 8, _z′_), with a downward and slightly outward aspect, are in a similar degree convex. The neural canal, as usual in the cervical series, expands at its outlets, most so posteriorly (fig. 9, _n_); the middle of the upper surface of the neural arch is impressed by an elliptical, rough, ligamentous surface, which slightly rising in the middle is the sole indication of a neural spine. The upper surface of each postzygapophysis developes a tuberous anapophysis (figs. 8 & 9, _a_).

The three cervicals that succeed the axis show progressively sinking neural spines, which subside in the six following vertebræ (Pl. III.). The third cervical has also the hypapophysis (Pl. XI. fig. 3, _hy_).

In all the other cervicals of the present series the hypapophysis is wanting, but each parapophysis developes a plate (Pl. V. figs. 10 & 11, Pl. VIII. fig. 1, _p_) to form the sides of the hæmal canal through which the carotids ran; and the position of such vertebræ in the cervical series is indicated, respectively, by the degree of convergence of these processes, in none of which, where entire, have they met so as to circumscribe the canal: in some of these vertebræ, however, they are mutilated. They differ chiefly in the position and shape of the anapophyses (fig. 10, _a_), which advance from above the postzygapophyses (_z′_), converging towards the middle of the upper surface of the neural arch, being arrested, save in one instance, at the sides of the ligamentous surface occupying the common position of the base of the neural spine.

In the axis vertebra (Pl. V. figs. 12 & 13) the posterior articular surface, concave vertically, and 3 lines in that extent at its middle part, is very convex transversely, being continued upon the sides of the posterior part of the centrum; a thick obtuse hypapophysis (fig. 13, _hy_) descends below this surface: the anterior or odontoid surface presents the usual form in birds; the odontoid process (ib. _x_) has a pit at its apex. The prezygapophyses (fig. 12, _z_), of very small size, project from the outer and fore border of the neural arch, with their articular surface looking outward and slightly upward; a ridge is continued from their back part to the base of the postzygapophyses: the surface (fig. 13, _z′_) in these, 4½ lines in long diameter, is three times the size of the anterior one; it is concave transversely, and looks downward and a little outward. The anapophyses (ib. fig. 12, _a_) are large tubercles rising above the articular surfaces. The base of the neural spine, 9 lines in length (ib. _ns_), is coextensive with the neural arch; the spine rises posteriorly to a height of 6 lines, with a thickness of 2 lines, having a convex upper margin (Pl. III.).

The relative size and position of the cervical vertebræ, as coadjusted in the position and degree of flexure of the neck represented in Sir Hans Sloane’s life-size painting of the Dodo, in the British Museum, are given in Plate III. with the varying proportions of the pleurapophyses and other processes.

_Ribs._ (Plates III. & IV.)

The specimens of ribs include both vertebral and sternal portions; that which appears to be the second or third on the right side (Pl. IV. figs. 7, 7 _a_) is 4 inches 4 lines in length (following the outer curve), and expands to a breadth of 7 lines at its lower part; the interval between the articular surfaces of the head and tubercle is 6 lines. The appendage (ib. _a_) has coalesced with the middle of the hind margin of the shaft. The neck is compressed, with a thin upper margin; the lower one is continued with a curve upon a strong internal buttress-like ridge (ib. _b_), which runs to near the fore part of the flattened body of the rib, where it meets the ridge continued from the tubercle, about 2 inches down the rib: there is a shallow channel between these ridges, contracting to their confluence. The inner surface of the rib is impressed by a deeper and broader channel behind the buttress: the posterior border expands in the form of a triangular plate, with a base of about an inch in extent, due to the complete confluence there of the epipleural process. The anterior border is thicker, and is almost straight. Towards the sternal end the pleurapophysis contracts and thickens, terminating in a rough syndesmotic elliptical surface, 3 lines by 2 (fig. 7, _f_), for the attachment of the hæmapophysis or sternal rib.

A vertebral rib (ib. fig. 2) which is entire, measures 9 inches in length (following the outer curve). The head and tubercle are at the same distance as in the preceding, but the tubercle is broader. The characters of the body of the rib are very similar; but it is narrower, not attaining a breadth of 5½ lines at its lower end; the narrowing and thickening to the articular surface for the sternal rib is more gradual.

A last vertebral rib is adapted, by the longitudinal extent and partial division of the tubercle, to the vertebra which forms the first of the coalesced series of sacrals; and the body of the rib, instead of preserving the regular outward curve of the antecedent ones, is more suddenly bent soon after it emerges beyond the margin of the ilium; the lamelliform part thence continued is straighter, and, moreover, shows upon its outer surface a flattened facet, indicative of pressure or friction by the movements to and fro of the thigh over a rib in such position. Beyond this surface the rib curves in a way not shown in the other specimens; the distal end has the flat syndesmotic articular surface to which had been attached a hæmapophysis not reaching the sternum. In this last (eighth) free rib there is no epipleural process, nor any definitely marked ligamental surface on the posterior margin indicative of the attachment of such process.

The body of a posterior vertebral rib (Pl. IV. fig. 10) shows a fracture which has been healed, with some irregular ossific deposit on the inner surface. All the ribs have a pneumatic foramen (ib. figs. 2, 7, 8, _p_) at the fore part of the neck, near the base of the tubercle.

The eight left vertebral ribs (Pl. III.) and the five right ones do not, either of them, constitute a consecutive series, but have come from different individuals, of different sizes, as exemplified in the third rib figured in Plates III. and IV.

The sternal ribs (P. IV. figs. 3 & 12) are characterized by the two facets, nearly or quite meeting at an open angle, into which their sternal end expands (ib. fig. 3, _c_). One of these ribs, which is entire, shows the single, elliptic syndesmotic surface at the opposite end (ib. _b_); it is 3½ inches in length, with a greatest breadth of 5 lines, and is straight. Another and longer specimen (ib. 12) shows a moderate degree of curvature. A third specimen is 6 inches in length: the proximal end has a breadth of nearly half an inch (the penultimate rib in Pl. III.).

Five successive sternal ribs are indicated by gradational size and curvature, and a sixth, which does not reach the sternum. Before describing this bone I shall proceed with the account of the sacral vertebræ, and the expanded hæmal arches of such as complete the pelvis.

_Pelvis._ (Plates III. & VII.)

The pelvis of the Dodo is chiefly remarkable for the flatness and great breadth of the posterior half, corresponding with the characteristic proportions of that part of the body in Pl. I. fig. 2, and in the old woodcuts of the Dutch “Dodaersen”[25]. It includes sixteen coalesced sacral vertebræ, with which the iliac bones are continuously confluent.

The first sacral shows the transversely extended and concave articular surface of the centrum (Pl. VII. fig. 1, _c_); the subcircular pit (ib. _p_) for the head of the rib is behind the middle of the side of the centrum, at its upper part; the inferior surface is ridged lengthwise; and a transverse low but sharp ridge defines the posterior boundary, the depressions in front of which indicate the hindmost origins of the subvertebral muscle (longus colli?). The anterior outlet of the neural canal (ib. _n_) is subcircular in one specimen, vertically elliptic in others, and 3 lines or less in transverse diameter. From the sides of the neurapophyses stretch out the strong buttresses of bone which blend with the under part of the ilia, giving off from the fore part of their base the præzygapophyses (ib. _z_), and from the back part of their apex the surface (ib. _d_), or part of it, for the tubercle of the last moveable rib, the ilium in the latter variety affording the rest of that surface. The fore part of the strong neural spine (ib. _ns_) is roughened by a syndesmotic surface; it rises to a height of 14 lines, curving forward, and is confluent at its summit with the approximated anterior margins of the ilia. A continuous track of bone, forming a smoothly obtuse longitudinal ridge, represents the summits of the succeeding sacral spines (ib. fig. 2, _ns_) to the hindmost vertebra of the series, without any trace of their primitive division; but this track rises, posteriorly, above the shallow channel on each side, in which are the foramina (ib. _o_), indicating most of the constituent vertebræ.

The second sacral vertebra abuts against the ilium by a pleurapophysis (ib. fig. 1, _pl_ 2), as well as a diapophysis (ib. _d_ 2); but the former is a slender, straight filament, or narrow plate of bone, confluent at both ends.

In the next two vertebræ the pleurapophysis (ib. _pl_ 3 & 4) assumes more breadth and robustness, but is short and straight, abutting against the inner surface of the ilium an inch in advance of the acetabulum. The first of these rib-buttresses inclines forward, and is completely confluent with the ilium; the thicker one (ib. _pl_ 4) has retained part of its primitive ligamentous attachment to the ilium: the proportions of both are subject to some variety.

These are succeeded by three or four vertebræ in which the pleurapophysis is not developed, the attachment to the ilia being by diapophyses only (ib. _d_ _d_), which are short slender lamellæ, directed upward and backward; below and between them are the double orifices for the separate motory and sensory roots of the sacro-spinal nerves. In the next vertebra the pleurapophysis (ib. _pl_ 8) reappears, longer but more slender than in the fourth sacral, extending obliquely backward, and expanding at its extremity to abut against a prominence on the underside of the ilium, opposite the hind part of the acetabulum, with which prominence the rib has completely coalesced by an expanded end. The under part of all these vertebræ is traversed by a sharp median longitudinal ridge, which is more feebly and interruptedly continued to near the end of the sacral series.

Eight vertebræ, abutting by diapophyses only (Pl. VII. _d d_) against the ilia, succeed the one last described; their coalesced bodies are less than half the breadth of those of the preceding vertebræ: they gradually diminish in depth to the last, without loss of breadth. The diapophyses proceed obliquely outward and backward, are lamelliform, about 9 lines in length, and intercept oblong cavities of the same extent and direction, into which open the orifices (ib. fig. 2, _o_) noticed on the upper surface of that part of the pelvis. The articular surface of the body of the last sacral is transversely elliptic, 4 lines by 2 lines, and very slightly convex. The outlet of the neural canal, above it, is circular, and about a line in diameter, the whole vertical extent of the last sacral being 5 lines, while that of the first sacral is 2 inches 2 lines.

The ilium is divided, as usual, into two parts by the ridge on its upper or outer surface (ib. fig. 2, _r_), extending obliquely backward to behind the acetabulum—the anterior division being narrower and concave, the posterior broader and convex but in a minor degree. The anterior (slightly thickened) border of the ilium is curved with the convexity forward, extending 8 or 9 lines in advance of the fore part of the neural spine of the first sacral vertebra. The ilia almost meet above that of the second and third sacrals, with which they coalesce, and then diverge to the oblique boundary ridge, which is thence continued, in some with an angular bend, more directly outward. At this angle the bone is so confluent with the sacrum that the orifices leading to the ileoneural canals[26] are almost or quite obliterated. These canals are, here (ib. _i ï_), the longitudinally extended cavities intercepted between the fore parts of the ilia and the continuous coalesced sacral spines and diapophyses, widening to their anterior outlets. The extent of that part of the ilium in advance of the acetabulum is 3 inches 8 lines; the breadth at its middle part is 2 inches. As the ilium approaches the acetabulum it increases in thickness, and is grooved at the outer margin by a vessel which leaves impressions of its ramifications upon the upper concave surface of the bone (ib. fig. 2, +62+). The acetabulum (ib. _a a_) is circular, 11 lines in the diameter of its outlet, 9 or 10 lines in that of its inner circumference, being widely open, as usual in birds, towards the cavity of the pelvis; the trochanterian surface (ib. _t t_) above the acetabulum is elliptic, with the long axis lengthwise, 9 lines by 6 in its diameter, with its upper border sharp and produced; the anterior border (ib. _b_) of the acetabulum is slightly produced; the position of this articular cavity is about midway between the fore and hind ends of the pelvis. The oblique external ridge of the ilium terminates in the outer margin of the broader part of the bone (ib. _r′_), 7 lines above the sharp and prominent margin of the trochanterian surface (ib. _t_). The ilia have diverged from each other for the extent of an inch and a half behind the beginning of the boundary line (ib. _r_), which interval is occupied exteriorly by lateral ossification from the neural spines to the diapophyses of that part of the sacrum: the mesial borders of the ilia (ib. fig. 2, 62′) slightly converge to the fifteenth sacral vertebra, where they are separated by an interspace of 1 inch, and then again diverge to the last sacral; they coalesce with the diapophyses (ib. fig. 2, _d_ _d_). The inner or under surface of the ilium is thickened into a kind of buttress (ib. fig. 1, _e_), terminating behind the ischiadic foramen. The breadth of the iliac bones and intervening sacrals, 1 inch behind the acetabulum, is 5 inches; at the back part of the pelvis it is 4 inches. The outer border of the posterior part of the ilium (ib. fig. 2, _g_) projects as an obtuse ridge above the ischiadic foramen and the succeeding expanded and confluent part of the ischium (ib. 63), which is vertically concave externally: the ilium, ischium, and pubis (ib. fig. 1, 64) have completely coalesced around the acetabulum. The pubis, which in this part is 7 lines thick, contracts as it becomes free to a diameter of 4 lines; it is smooth and convex below, and has been broken off near the acetabulum on both sides; the fracture shows its pneumatic structure. The ischium, as it recedes from the acetabulum, contracts to a trihedral column, with a vertical diameter of 4 lines; it is concave outwardly, convex inwardly, and suddenly expands below, about an inch from the acetabulum, to form part of the posterior boundary of the obturator foramen (ib. fig. 1, _f_), which is 9 lines in length, and is situated one half in advance of, and the other half beneath, the ischiadic foramen (ib. _m_). This latter is oval, with the large end forwards, 1 inch 3 lines by 10 lines in its principal diameters. Behind this foramen the ischium is confluent with the ilium for an extent of 2 inches, or perhaps rather more, as the posterior margin of the pelvis is not entire in any of my specimens. The inner surface of the ischium forms a low, obtuse longitudinal ridge towards the pelvic cavity, losing thickness as it recedes from the acetabulum. The chief pneumatic foramina in the pelvis are on the inner surface, above the acetabulum, behind the trochanterian articulation, and behind the iliac confluence of the last sacral pleurapophyses,—also at the hinder part of the ilium, on each side of the transverse buttress (ib. _e_) near its posterior junction with the ischium. The prærenal fossa (between _pl_ 4 & _pl_ 8, fig. 1) is deep and subdivided by the diapophysial plates: the postrenal fossa is wide and shallow.

_Sternum._ (Plates III., IV., VI., XI.)

Of this instructive and determinative bone there are two specimens, the one most entire (Pls. III., IV. fig. 4, & VI.) measuring in a straight line, from the costal process to the hind border, 7 inches. The extreme breadth between the lateral processes (Pl. IV. _h_) is 4½ inches; from this diameter the bone contracts anteriorly to a breadth of 3½ inches at the costal processes (ib. _d_), and posteriorly it contracts more rapidly to an obtuse, horizontally flattened apex (Pl. VI. fig. 3). The anterior border of the sternum (Pl. IV. fig. 4) is widely and rather deeply emarginate at the middle (_e_), less deeply so on each side: the breadth of the mid notch (_b_ _e_ _b_) is 1 inch 9 lines, that of each side notch (_b_ _d_) is 1 inch 2 lines. The sternum is deeply hollowed above (Pl. XI. fig. 4), correspondingly convex beneath (ib.); the keel (_s_) is low and thick, commencing by a pair of broad obtuse ridges (Pls. IV. fig. 4, & VI. fig. 1, _r_ _r_) from the mesial ends of the outer walls of the coracoid grooves (ib. _b′_), which gradually rise from the surface of the bone as they extend backward, converging to form the beginning of the keel about 2 inches from the anterior emargination (_e_): the keel gains a depth of ¾ of an inch at the middle of the sternum, then gradually sinks to the level of the bone, as it extends backward, at 1½ inch from the hind end (Pl. VI. fig. 3), a little increasing in thickness as it subsides: its free border describes a pretty regular convex curve (Pl. III.); it is thick, flat, partially canaliculate: the sides of the base of the keel expand, to be continued gradually into the body of the sternum (Pl. XI. fig. 4). Behind the costal surface (Pl. VI. _c_), on each side, extends a lamelliform process (Pls. III. & VI. _h_), ½ an inch in breadth, upward and a little outward, slightly expanding to its free termination, which, however, is not entire in either specimen: the longitudinal extent of this characteristic process, where it is best preserved, is 1 inch; it is conjecturally restored in Plate III.; it answers to the ectolateral process (_h_) of the gallinaceous sternum (Pls. III. & XII. fig. 3): there is no trace of an entolateral process (ib. _i_). The thin margin of the Dodo’s breast-bone, behind the ectolateral process (Pls. III. & VI. _h_), is entire and uninterrupted to the obtuse apex, and the body of the sternum is imperforate: the notch (_f_) behind the process (_h_) represents the ectolateral notch of the gallinaceous sternum (Pl. XII. figs. 1 & 3, _f_). The costal border (Pl. VI. fig. 2, _c_) is 1 inch 9 lines in extent, and 6 lines across its broadest part; it shows articular surfaces for five sternal ribs, of which the four posterior (2–5) are bilobed, the anterior one (_c_ 1) simple, and limited to the outer half of the border; the second sternum shows some variety in this respect: the deep interspaces, in both, are perforated by pneumatic foramina. The costal process (_d_)[27] in advance of these surfaces expands, as it rises upward and a little outward and forward, to the extent of nearly an inch; the hinder and outer side is impressed by a concavity, continued from the costal border; the inner side is smooth and convex: it is not quite entire on either side. The coracoid grooves (Pl. IV. fig. 4, _b_ _b′_) are small in proportion to the sternum, and are divided from each other by an interspace of about an inch; the outer wall of the groove (_b′_), 9 lines in extent, is moderately produced and convex; it appears to be a continuation of one of the initial ridges (_r_) of the keel: the inner wall of the groove (_b_) is deeper, and is formed by the obtuse angle of the anterior border of the sternum, between the medial and lateral emarginations. External to each coracoid groove is a large elliptical pneumatic foramen (_p_) or depression. There is no episternal process. On the convex outer surface of the body of the sternum the “pectoral” ridge (Pl. VI. fig, 1, _k_)[28] is feebly indicated, extending from the outer end of the coracoid groove backward and inward to near the posterior third of the keel. The concave surface of the sternum (ib. fig. 2) shows a number of small pneumatic foramina, chiefly along the middle line to near the posterior third. Behind the costal border the substance of the sternum gradually increases in thickness from the sharp lateral margins to the middle, above the base of the keel, and shows there a fine pneumocancellous texture (Pl. XI. fig. 4).

_Scapular Arch._ (Plates III. & VIII.)

This consists of the scapula (Pl. VIII. figs. 6, 7, 8 & 9, 51), coracoid (ib. figs. 4 & 5, 52), and clavicle (ib. 58), the latter ending in a point and here tied by ligament to its fellow, to form a furculum. I have received the elements of this arch in three conditions:—one in which the bones, though of full size, are separate; a second, in which the scapula and coracoid are confluent, but the clavicle distinct; a third, in which the three bones are confluent at the ends converging to the humeral articulation. The scapula (ib. figs. 6, 7, 8 & 9, 51), 3 inches 7 or 8 lines in length, has the usual sabre-shaped body, slightly expanding and decurved at its free extremity, the breadth of which is 7 lines: it terminates obtusely: varieties of shape are shown in figures 6 & 8. The outer surface of the bone, at the two posterior thirds of its extent, is slightly concave and marked by muscular attachments; the inner surface of that part is smooth and slightly convex: the bone increases in breadth, with some diminution of thickness, towards the articular end, and is remarkable for sending off from the lower border, at 7 or 8 lines from that end, a short process (ib. 51); between this process and the articulation the breadth of the bone is little more than 3 lines; the breadth of the articular end is 9 lines. Nearly one-half of it is occupied by the almost flat, subcircular humeral surface (fig. 8, _a_), with a diameter of 4½ lines, and directed upward, outward, and a little forward. From this is continued an oblong, much narrower coracoidal surface, beyond which the acromial process (fig. 6, _c_) extends forward, curving toward the coracoid, and terminating obtusely.

The coracoid (ib. figs. 4, 5, 8 & 9, 52), averaging a length of 3 inches 7 lines, expands to a breadth of 1 inch 3 lines at its sternal end (52), of which the articular surface (_e_) occupies an inch; the non-articular part forms the outer angle (_m_), and extends in advance of the pneumatic foramen (Pl. IV. fig. 4, _p_) at that part of the breast-bone: the outer border which extends from this free angle to the body of the bone, into which it subsides, at one-third of the extent of the bone, is sharp; the inner border is obtuse to near the inner angle (Pl. VIII. figs. 4 & 5, _n_). The outer surface of the expanded sternal end is smooth and convex; the inner surface is flatter and more irregular, perforated by pneumatic foramina; the diameter of the subcylindrical part of the shaft is 4 lines: the extremes of difference in the distal expansion of the coracoid are shown in figs. 4 & 8, 52, Pl. VIII. A muscular ridge and rough surface (ib. fig. 9, _r_) mark the back part below the middle of the shaft. The bone then expands to its upper articular end, which is obliquely truncate from within outward: it shows, first, the oblong surface for the scapula, which is extended upon the inner prominence of that end; next, the larger and full oval surface for the humerus (_h_), from which the thick, obtuse, inner continuation of the scapular end projects inward, forward, with a slightly upward curve, and shows the narrow oblong surface for the articulation and ultimate confluence of the clavicle (58). The coracoid unites with the scapula at an angle of 100°.

The clavicle (ib. figs. 4 & 5, 58), at its scapular end, is slightly expanded, compressed, with an obtuse recurved termination articulating with the above-named surface of the coracoid, and in one instance coalescing therewith, and by extended ossification with the “acromion scapulæ” (ib. figs. 8 & 9). As the clavicle descends it curves slightly and contracts to a point. The angle at which the pair meet is shown in figs. 4 & 5.

_Bones of the Wing._ (Pls. III. & VIII. figs. 12–17.)

Of the humerus the series contains two specimens, both measuring 4 inches 3 lines in length, one right, and the other left (Pl. VIII. figs. 12–14), but differing slightly in their proportions and in colour—one being of the olive-brown tint with which most of the bones are stained, the other black. The articular head (ib. _a_) is an elongate oval convexity, with the larger end toward the radial side, prominent toward the back and rather flattened toward the front of the bone, which there swells out beyond the base of the articular surface. The radial tubercle is small, and descends from the radial end of the head for about 5 lines; the pectoral process (ib. _b_) is triangular, obtuse, short, and bent, or directed toward the front side of the bone: the ulnar tuberosity (ib. _c_) is more produced in that direction; it is oblong, obtuse, with its base impressed by a large pit both above (fig. 12, _h_) and below—the lower one (ib. _g_) being the deepest, and perforated by a pneumatic foramen; the convex, broad, ulnar border of this tuberosity has two slightly produced processes, an upper or posterior (ib. fig. 12, _c_) and a lower and internal (ib. _g_), which is the smallest. The breadth of the proximal end of the humerus, across the tuberosities, is 1 inch 5 lines, beyond them the bone contracts to a smooth subcylindrical shaft, showing at the back part of the proximal third a longitudinal ridge (fig. 12, _r_), half an inch in length; it gradually expands at the distal third to a breadth of 10 lines, where the articulations offer the usual avian characteristics of the elbow-joint. The head of the humerus is occupied by a fine cancellous structure: into the large vacuity below this, crossed in the section figured (Pl. XI. fig. 5) by a transverse slender bar of bone, the small pneumatic foramina at the bottom of the wide and deep fossa for the axillary air-cell open. The part of the hollow proximal end giving off the pectoral and other processes for the attachment of muscles is strengthened by similar abutments. The pneumatic cavity of the main part of the shaft of the humerus is simple, with a compact wall thicker than at the ends of the humerus, but not exceeding that which is characteristic of the long air-bones in birds. The portion of the distal end chiefly serving for muscular attachments and the antibrachial articulation are also cancellous.

The _radius_ (Pls. III. & XII. fig. 15) is a straight and slender bone, 3 inches 1 line in length, and 2 lines in chief diameter of the shaft. The proximal articular surface is subcircular, 3 lines in diameter, moderately concave; the distal end expands to the same extent, but is compressed, as usual.

The _ulna_ (Pls. III. & VIII. figs. 16 & 17) is 3 inches 1 line in length, of the usual ornithic character, with a well-defined, narrow, elliptic, rough muscular depression, 8 lines in length (fig. 16, _c_), extending upon the shaft from below the anterior or palmar angle of the proximal articular surface. This bone has no pneumatic foramen; the orifice for the medullary artery is above the middle of the same palmar surface, the canal inclining distad. The shaft of the bone is nearly straight; the back or anconal surface, which is slightly convex, shows feeble impressions of the attaching ligaments of the alar plumes, which are represented in all the figures of the entire or living bird. A second ulna is 3 inches 3 lines in length.

There was no carpal or pinion bone in the collection of remains submitted to me: this part of the wing is conjecturally restored in dotted outline in Plate XV.

_Bones of the Leg._ (Pls. III., IX., X. & XI.)

Of the five _femora_ in the above defined series of remains of the Dodo, two measure 6 inches 3 lines in length; one (Pl. IX.) is 6 inches 4½ lines; the shortest is a little under 6 inches, with proportionate differences in the diameter of the shaft. All of them show a small pneumatic foramen (Pl. IX. figs. 1 & 2, _p_) on the inner side of the anterior ridge of the great trochanter (ib. _c_), and on the same transverse line with the head of the bone. This part shows an oblong depression (ib. figs. 2 & 3, _a_) for the “ligamentum teres” at the upper and back part. The articular surface on the same aspect of the neck (ib. fig. 3, _b_), adapted to the trochanterian prominence of the pelvis (Pl. VII. _t_), is well-defined. The trochanter (Pl. IX. fig. 1, _c_) rises, ridge-like, above the level of the head, and is continued from behind the middle of the articular surface on the neck, forward, with a convex outline upon the fore and outer part of the shaft, where it gradually subsides; a narrow intermuscular ridge (ib. fig. 1, _r_), inclining to the middle of the fore part of the shaft, is continued from the trochanterian one. The small trochanter (ib. fig. 3, _d_) is a small subcircular tuberosity, in some specimens a ridge, 3 to 4 lines in length, on the inner side of the shaft, about an inch below the head. The muscular impressions on the fore part of the bone are well defined. A minute medullary canal (ib. fig. 3, _m_) perforates the middle of the back part of the shaft; the popliteal fossa (ib. fig. 3, _o_) shows a few small pneumatic orifices; a triangular rough flat surface divides the fossa from the outer condyle. Above the fibular depression (ib. fig. 3, _g_) there is a well-defined, slightly raised, rough surface (ib. _k_) for the head of the ectogastrocnemius muscle. The ridge (ib. _n_) extending to the back part of the inner condyle is not sharp; the rotular groove (ib. fig. 1, _p_) is deep and moderately wide, with the inner boundary, formed by the narrow anterior part of the inner condyle (ib. fig. 5, _e′_), most produced. The breadth of this end of the longer femora is 1 inch 9 lines; the character of the distal articular surface is shown in Pl. IX. fig. 5.

The head, neck, and great trochanter (Pl. XI. fig. 6) are occupied by a pneumatic cancellous structure, with a thin compact wall on the upper part and sides: this begins to gain thickness at the under part of the neck and at the lower and back part of the trochanter, the compact wall acquiring a thickness of a line at the beginning of the shaft, where the cancellous structure is confined to the outer side of the pneumatic cavity; this structure gives way to a few delicate filaments of bone crossing the cavity of the major part of the shaft, and is not resumed until the bone expands to form the distal condyles (ib. fig. 7).

The five _tibiæ_ of _Didus_ in the same collection range in length from 8 inches 8 lines to 9 inches. The procnemial ridge (Pl. X. figs. 1, 2, 4, _p_) is a triangular plate, with the base longest and the apex rounded off: it inclines outwardly, and does not extend much more than half an inch from the level of the proximal end of the bone: the length of its base rather exceeds an inch: on its inner side a triangular muscular surface is well defined by an irregular inferior line or ridge (ib. fig. 2, _n_). The ectocnemial process (ib. figs. 1, 3, 4, _e_) is thicker, shorter, and terminates roughly and obtusely. There is a low, narrow ridge (ib. fig. 2, _g_), about half an inch in length, on the inner side of the proximal end of the shaft, beginning about 9 lines below the articular surface at that end. The fibular ridge (ib. figs. 1 & 3, _h_), beginning 1 inch 8 lines from the proximal end, extends about 2 inches down the outer side of the shaft. The epicnemial ridge (ib. figs. 1 & 4, _k_) is obtuse, and but little produced above the upper articular surfaces or condyles (_t_ _d_) of the tibia: the breadth of that end of the bone, in the longest specimen, is 2 inches 3 lines. The tendinal canal at the fore part of the distal end is bridged by bone (ib. fig. 1, _l_), and is situated on the inner half of that aspect of the shaft; the lower opening is subcircular and close to the anterior end of the inner lower condyle (ib. _a_), which is more produced forward than the outer one (ib. _b_). Their hind ends project very little beyond the level of that aspect of the shaft of the tibia. An intermuscular ridge (ib. fig. 1, _r_) strengthens into a tuberosity (_r′_) at the inner side of the tendinal groove.

The cancellous structure in the tibia is limited to an extent of about half an inch below the proximal articular surfaces (Pl. XI. fig. 8), and to about an inch and a half from the distal end of the line (ib. fig. 9): the shaft is occupied by a large air-cavity, with a compact wall of half a line in thickness at the upper third, gradually increasing to about a line at the lower fourth, until the cancellous structure is reestablished; the transverse direction of a plate of this structure indicates the extent of the original distal epiphysis of the tibia (fig. 8).

The _fibula_ (Pl. X. figs. 6–8) presents the usual ornithic characters of the bone: it varies from 4 inches 4 lines to 4 inches 6 lines in length, with a greatest proximal breadth of 8 lines. No adequate gain would result from a detailed description or comparison of this bone; and the rest of the bones of the foot have received every requisite attention in this way in the excellent work on the Dodo and its kindred, already quoted. A longitudinal section of the _metatarsus_, taken in the direction from side to side (Pl. XI. fig. 10), shows the loose cancellous texture of the common epiphysis of the three long metatarsals, and the remnant of their contiguous coalesced walls reduced to a thin lamella of bone. As the moiety of the bone figured is the posterior one (of the left metatarsus), the usual oblique position of the middle metatarsal (_iii_), with its proximal end nearer the back part and its distal end nearer the fore part of the coalesced series, produces a corresponding direction of the section, with narrowing and termination of the exposed part of the medullary canal about one-third from the distal end of that metatarsal. The medullary canal of the outer metatarsal (_iv_) is wider and descends lower before the breaking up of the inner surface into decussating lamellæ or filaments, than that of the inner metatarsal (_ii_): the peripheral compact wall of the inner is twice the thickness of that of the outer metatarsal. I may remark that the more posterior position of the middle metatarsal at its proximal end, from which and the corresponding part of the common epiphysis the calcaneal process is developed, is related to the greater share taken by the middle toe in the act of walking and scratching. I will only remark that of the four metatarsals of as many Dodos in the present series, one exceeds by a line the length of that figured in plate xi. _op. cit._, and one falls short thereof to the same trifling amount.

_Skull._ (Plates III. & XI. fig. 1.)

Of the skull of the Dodo, the series of bones transmitted to me include the cranial part with the detached upper mandibular bone (more or less mutilated) of two mature birds, and the lower mandible of three individuals. In the latter the dentary elements (Pl. XI. fig. 1, 32), confluent at the “gonys,” are distinct from the hinder halves of the rami formed by the confluent, or perhaps connate, articular, surangular and angular elements (ib. 31): if the “splenial” were ever distinct, it has coalesced with the dentary, where its upper boundary is indicated by a linear groove or series of small foramina.

In size, shape, and all other characters of these important evidences of the specific nature of the remains from the Mahébourg morass[29], they agree with those of _Didus ineptus_ detailed in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for January 11th, 1848 (