THE DIN0RNIS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 368, 10 February 1849, Page 4

THE DINORNIS.

In the year 1839, a sailor on board a New Zealand ship brought to London a fragment of an old bone, which, according to his statement, was declared by the natives of that country to be part of the leg-bone of the " Movie," a large bird of the eagle kind, and that similar remains were often found in the mud banks at the mouths of rivers. The relic was offered for sale at various scientific institutions, but was rejected by the naturalists who examined it, as being nothing more than a portion of the marrow-bone of an ox, or some analogous quadruped. At last it reached the hands of Professor Owen, at the Royal College of Surgeons ; this skilful anatomist compared it with the bones of the various mammalia, but found no correspondence between them ; further examination of the structure of the fragment led him to pronounce it to be part of the thigh-bone of a strutheous bird, or bird of the ostrich genus. The specimen, which was more than six inches long,

and weighed but a little over seven ounces, was sufficient to enable the professor to predicate on the nature of the animal to which it had belonged, and he described the latter as having been a heavier and more sluggish bird than the ostrich of the present day, offering at the same time, in communication which he made on the subject to the Zoological Society, to stake his reputation on the correctness of his conclusions. Thus, on a comparatively insignificant piece of bone, was the existence, either actual or recent, of an extraordinary bird affirmed : a remarkable triumph of reason combined with a habit of correct observation. In 1843, a letter received from one of the missionaries resident in New Zealand gave some further information on this interesting subject. The writer stated that he had seen large quantities of the bones, numerous specimens of which had been forwarded to an eminent geologist in this country. At a search made, with the assistance of the natives, the bones of as many as thirty birds were collected; the largest of these measured two feet ten inches long. They were described as having been found in abundance at Poverty Bay ; and, according to the same authoiity, many singular traditions respecting the bird, which was called the Moa, were current among the aborigines. They held it to be sacred, and reported it still to be in existence in the sacred district of Tongariro, and the mountains of the Middle Island. Two Englishmen, pursued the same writer, had been taken out by a native at night to watch for the bird which he had described to them : they saw it, but were so frightened that they did not dare to shoot at it, though they had gone out expressly to do so. Notwithstanding frequent rumours of the bird being still alive, subsequent researches have rendered it probable that their extinction took place more than a century ago. On the arrival of the bones referred to in the letter quoted above, they were transferred to Mr. Owen, who, with the multiplied materials thus placed at his command, was enabled to produce a complete figure of the animal in drawing. So extraordinary was its stature, that he proposed for it the name of Dinornis, from two Greek words signifying frightful bird. The conclusions which the professor had drawn were abundantly verified: the species was found to be distinct from any other large bird with which we are acquainted. Its dimensions prove the Dinornis of New Zealand to be the most gigantic of known birds. There is little probability that it will ever be found, whether living or extinct, in any other part of the world than the islands of New Zealand, or parts adjacent. At all events the Dinornis Nova Zelandice will always remain one of the most extraordinary of the zoological facts in the history of those islands; and it may not be saying too much to characterize it as one of the most remarkable acquisitions to zoology in -general which the present century has produced. That the bones were of comparatively recent date was proved by their containing a large amount of animal matter, with no appearance of petrifaction, as seen in fossils generally. Five distinct species have been fully made out, the largest of which, Dinornis gitjanteus, must have stood ten feet in height, 1 with a foot from twelve to sixteen inches in length. Others were seven, and four feet high. It is an interesting fact that a link connecting these extinct tribes with the present time is yet to be found living in New Zealand. The apteryx, or tcingless biid, of that country, dwindled down to the size of a turkey, remains the last representative of the moa race, destined in turn speedily to disappear, as it is much sought after for its feathers, which are used by the chiefs to decorate their persons. The bird is at the present time extremely rare, and making its appearance only at night, is very difficult of capture. The arrival of a large quantity of bones during the past year has greatly increased the interest 6n the subject of the Dinornis. They have been made the subject of a lecture delivered at the London Institution by Dr. Mantell, whose son collected and forwarded the bones to England. The writer was among those fortunate enough to be present at the doctor's exposition, an outline of which imparts a general view of what is known respecting the extinct birds. The lecturer had received a letter from his son but two days previously to the public discourse, and was enabled, among his other diagrams, to exhibit a view of the New Zealand coast fron Wanganui to New Plymouth, in which district the bones are found' in great abundance ; and chiefly on the banks of a small river which descends from the rocky heights of Mount Egmont. This portion of the island shore appears to have been considerably upheaved at no very remote period, as the hanks of -the river near its mouth are one hundred feet high, the base consisting of a blue clay, covered with a layer of sand five or six feet in thickness, above which, to the surface, is a mass of conglomerate. It is in th'e layeWf s r and that

the bones of tbe moa are found. Had it been I necessary to dig down tbrough the bed of coni glomerate, they would not repay the labour ; but in one part of its course the river makes a sharp bend round a peninsulated area composed of drift, and free from superincumbent , rock. Mr. ManteN's excavations in this place were well rewarded by the discovery of more than seven hundred bones ; many of these were lying on the table in front of the lecturer, and their dimensions more than confirmed all that had been previously advanced by ! Professor Owen. An entire skeleton, it was stated, would have been secured, but for the opposition of the natives, who crowded round the excavators, and destroyed the relics as fast as they were exhumed. The work of destruction was the more easy as the bones were found in a soft state, owing to the wet condition of the sand in which they were imbedded. In his recent work on the geology of Russia, Sir R. Murchison records a similar instance of opposition on the part of the Bashkirs, who protested against the removal of mammoth bones from their territories. It was only by working early in the morning, and late in the evening, when no natives were present, that Mr. Mantell was able to obtain the bones with which he has enriched the science of this country. Dr. Mantell states the birds must have been exceedingly numerous, roaming over the island in " swarms," the largest of them with a length of stride from six to seven feet. His drawing of the entire animal, ten feet in height, presented an interesting specimen of nature's handiwork on a gigantic scale. He described the adze-like form of the bill, and the peculiar conformation of the skull in its union with the neck, the muscular power of which must have been tremendous, rendering it easy for the bird to dig up the roots of esculent ferns, which in all probability formed its food, and which are still among the principal vegetable productions of the coantry. In addition to the bones, numerous portions of egg-shells of the moa have been discovered : these present all the appearance of having been for some time exposed to the action of running water. The original size of the egg, as stated by the lectu r er, was such, that a bat would have formed a suitable eggcup. The fragments are of a light cream colour, and the structure of the shell, which is relatively thin, is altogether different from the ostrich and emu. To some of tbe specimens a portion of the interior membrane was still adherent, showing that a young bird had been v batched within them in the usual way. In the course of the lecture, Dr. Man t sll adverted to the objections which have from time to time been made to the fact of the disappearance of certain races of animals from the earth. It is, however, unquestionable, that in the changes which the crust of our globe has undergone, many have become extinct, or have been exterminated by human agency. Even in countries where no convulsion has taken place during the cunent era, species have passed away, and been replaced by others, as it were in obedience to a definite natural law, under which certain races were endowed with a power of existence for a definite period only. In our own country the hyena, wolf, wild boar, beaver, bear, and Irish elk, are among the most remarkable instances of comparatively recent extinction. Another important instance occurs in the history of that singular bird the dodo. When j the Mauritius was first colonised by the | Dutch, about the year 1640, this bird was found in great numbers in that group of islands, and was for a long time the chief food of the inhabitants. In 1638 a dodo was exhibited in London as a notable curiosity ; and in Savery's picture of " Orpheus Charming the Beasts," preserved at the Hague, is a drawing of the bird ; but at the present time a few fragments only are known to be in existence — a head and foot at the Ashmolean Museum, a leg in the British Museum, and a, scull in the Museum at Copenhagen. The fact occurring at so recent a period, amply confirms the arguments brought forward with respect to the law of extinction. It is probable that the disappearance of the moa preceded that of the dodo ; both, however, may have taken place within the past hundred and fifty years. The lecturer, in conclusion, pointed out the remarkable fact, that no native quadruped has ever been found in New Zealand ; and that the present indigenous vegetable productions of the country, are similar to those which existed in earlier periods of geological history — the carboniferous and triassic eras — in Europe and other parts of the world, before the appearance of mammalia. The Galapagos Islands, too, lying in the Pacific Ocean, as described by Mr. Darwin, furnish another most interesting example ; a living specimen, so to speak, of one of the earth's former conditions — the reptile age of the secondary period. The islands are about ten in number, the largest a hundred miles long, and consist entirely of volcanic rocks. In the whole group there are two thousand craters/ some

of immense height, and still smoking. Every* thing about 'these islands is peculiar,^and without « parallel elsewhere ; the vegetation is chiefly coarse grass and ferns ; a mouse is the only mammal, and this is confined to one of the islands ; the birds are such as are never met with in other countries, white enormous tortoises and lizards exist in thousands. In fact, to quote Mr. Darwin's words, " this Archipelago is a little world within itself; most of the organic productions are aboriginal creations, found nowhere else." Seeing every height crowned with its crater and the boundaries of the lava-streams still distinct, we are led to believe that, within a period geologically recent, the unbroken ocean was here spread out. Hence, both in time and space, we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact — that mystery of mysteries — the first appearance of new beings on this earth. — Chambers' s Edinburgh Journal.