occur; in the Sub-Himalaya eocene deposits, they are associated with
bones of the extinct elephantine mammalia of India; in those of the
Paris basin with the remains of the Palæotheria, &c. In the miocene
and pliocene formations, the bones and even egg-shells of several
species and genera have been detected. The remains of birds, however,
even in comparatively recent deposits, were of such rare occurrence
as to be ranked by the collector of fossils among the most precious
of his acquisitions; but a few years ago, a most extraordinary
discovery in our Antipodean colony. New Zealand, astonished and
delighted the palæontologist, by placing before him hundreds of bones
of numerous extinct genera of birds, some of which far exceed in
magnitude those of the most gigantic living species, the Ostrich.
In various localities of the maritime districts of New Zealand,
there had been observed in the beds of rivers and streams, fossil
bones of birds of colossal magnitude, belonging to many species and
several genera, associated with similar relics of smaller species.
These bones had attracted the attention of the natives long ere the
country was visited by Europeans; and traditions are rife among the
New Zealanders that this race formerly existed in great numbers, and
served as food to their remote ancestors. They also believe that some
of the largest species have been seen alive within the memory of man;
and even affirm that individuals still exist in the unfrequented and
inaccessible parts of the interior of the country. They call the bird
_Moa_, and state that its head and tail were adorned with magnificent
plumes of feathers, which were worn by their ancient chiefs as
ornaments of distinction.
Nine years since, a fragment of a thigh-bone of a bird larger than
that of the Ostrich was brought to England by Mr. Rule, and submitted
to the examination of Professor Owen, who pronounced it to belong
to a gigantic bird of the _Struthious_ (Ostrich) order. A few years
afterwards several collections of vertebræ, bones of the extremities,
&c. were transmitted to England by Messrs. Williams, Wakefield,
Earle, &c., which corroborated that opinion, and proved that there
formerly existed in the islands of New Zealand, colossal birds of a
type distinct from any known in other parts of the world. In 1846
and 1847, my eldest son, Mr. Walter Mantell, who has resided in New
Zealand several years, made an extensive and highly interesting
collection of these fossil remains, which arrived in England in 1848.
This series contains _skulls_, with the _mandibles or beaks_, bones
of other parts of the skeleton, and _portions of the egg-shells_, of
several extinct species and genera of birds; presenting remarkable
deviations from the previously known types to which they are most
nearly allied.
This valuable accession to our knowledge of the osteology of this
extinct race of Ostrich-like birds--some individuals of which must
have attained a height of from ten to twelve feet--has yielded
important results as to the form, structure, and economy, of these
colossal bipeds, and the prevailing characters of the terrestrial
fauna of New Zealand in very remote periods. The collection,
consisting of above 700 specimens, is now in the British Museum: it
was obtained chiefly from a bed of _menaccanite_ or titaniferous
iron-sand, that had evidently been washed down by torrents from
the volcanic region of Mount Egmont; that snow-capped ridge which
forms so striking a feature in the physical geography of the North
Island, and is the source of the fresh-water streams that discharge
themselves into the ocean along the western shore. The tract of sand
from which my son dug up these relics, is on the coast near the
embouchure of a small river called Waingongoro, between Wanganui
and Waimate. That stream evidently once flowed into the sea far
from its present course, for lines of cliffs extend inland from
the now dry sand-spit, and bear marks of the erosive action of
currents.[91] A few months since, I received from my son another
most interesting collection of fossil bones (comprising above 500
specimens), chiefly obtained from the eastern shores of the Middle
Island of New Zealand, when engaged as Government Commissioner for
the settlement of native claims. These were dug up from a morass of
small extent, lying in a little creek or bay at Waikouaiti, some
twenty miles north of Otago. This swamp, which is only visible at low
water, is composed of vegetable fibres (apparently of the _Phormium
tenax_), sand, and animal matter. The bones are of a deep brown
colour, and almost as fresh as if recently taken from a tar-pit.
Among the specimens are crania and mandibles, and bones of enormous
size. The most remarkable are _the entire series of phalangeals, and
the two tarso-metatarsals_, (26 in number,) _of the right and left
foot of the same individual bird_ (_Dinornis robustus_), which were
found standing erect, one a yard in advance of the other; as if the
bird had sunk into the mire, and unable to extricate itself, had
perished on the spot. These bones were carefully exhumed and numbered
seriatim, and are the only instances of the bones of the foot and
metatarsus found in natural connexion; they are, consequently, the
first certain examples known of the structure of the feet of the
colossal birds of New Zealand. The foot of the Moa, to which these
bones belonged, must have been 16 inches long, and 18 inches wide;
and the height of the bird about ten feet. (_See the Frontispiece._)
[Footnote 91: I must refer for details to the Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society, No. XV. August 1848.]
It would extend this article far beyond the limits assigned to this
work, were I to attempt even a cursory account of all the facts and
inferences connected with these discoveries. The anatomical and
physiological characters of many species and genera will be found in
the admirable Memoirs on the _Dinornis_, _Palapteryx_, _Notornis_,
&c. by Prof. Owen, in the Transactions of the Zoological Society.[92]
[Footnote 92: I regret to state that the egg-shells, and many
highly interesting bones, belonging to unknown genera of birds,
from Rangatapu or Waingongoro, in my son's first collection, remain
undescribed. My notes and observations on the geological position of
the ossiferous deposits of the North Island of New Zealand, derived
from the sketches and letters of Mr. Walter Mantell, are published in
the Geological Journal; those on his collection of fossils from the
Middle Island will appear in the same publication in the course of
the present year (1850).]
From the facts at present known as to the position of the ossiferous
deposits of New Zealand, there is reason to conclude that they
bear the same relation to the present state of the country, as the
alluvial loam and clay containing the bones of mammoths, Irish
Elks, &c. to that of Great Britain. I think we may safely infer
that at a period geologically recent, but historically very remote,
those islands were densely peopled by tribes of ostrich-like birds
of species and genera which have long since become extinct; that
many species existed contemporary with the Maories or native human
inhabitants, and that the last of the family were exterminated, like
the Irish Elk, and the Dodo, by man. If, as the natives affirm,
some of the race still exist in the unfrequented parts of the
country, they are probably diminutive species, like the Apteryx
or _Kivi-Kivi_, which is the only living representative known to
naturalists, of this once numerous tribe of colossal Struthionidæ.
The only fossil osseous remains from New Zealand not referable to
birds are bones of two species of Seals, and one femur and a few
other bones of a Dog. Associated with the relics of the Dinornis
and other extinct genera, and unquestionably coeval with them, are
crania, mandibles, and other bones, of the living species of Apteryx,
Albatross, Penguin, Notornis, Nestor, Water-hen, &c.
The fragments of egg-shells of Dinornis, from Rangatapu, belong to
three distinct types, each of very large size; my son, to convey an
idea of the magnitude of one egg, of which he dug up a large portion,
says, "a gentleman's hat would make a capital egg-cup for it." The
markings on the surface of the shells bear a greater resemblance to
those on the eggs of the Rhea and Cassowary than of the Ostrich.
A remarkable fact mentioned by my son throws some light as to the
comparatively recent extirpation of the Moa. In one spot the natives
pointed out some little mounds covered with herbage, as consisting of
heaps of ashes and bones, the refuse of the fires and feasts left by
their remote ancestors. Upon digging into them, a quantity of burnt
bones was discovered: these belonged to Man, Moa, and Dog, and were
promiscuously intermingled. These calcined bones present no traces
whatever either of the earthy powder or manaccanite sand which the
cells and pores of the fossil bones invariably contain. If, as the
natives affirm, these are the rejectamenta of the feasts of the
aborigines, the practice of cannibalism by the New Zealanders must
have been of very ancient date, and could not have originated, as
Professor Owen supposed, from the want of animal food in consequence
of the extirpation of the colossal birds. (See _ante_, p. xi.)
IV. Botanical arrangement of Fossil Vegetables.--Mr. Artis, in the
Introduction of his work, offers some judicious observations as
to the proper method in which the study of Fossil Botany should
be pursued. He remarks, "that from the imperfect state in which
fossil vegetables are generally found, the ordinary characters by
which recent plants are referred to their congeners, can scarcely
ever be detected in them. The sexual organs on which the systems of
Linnæus and Jussieu are founded, and even the integuments of those
organs while in the state of flowering, have uniformly perished. The
external parts of the seed or fruit exist, indeed, in a fossil state,
but they are almost always insulated from the other organs. If leaves
are found, it is almost certain that scarcely any portion of the stem
will be attached to them; if the external parts of a trunk, then very
rarely any vestiges of the branches and foliage. And when traces
of the internal structure can be discovered, it is seldom that the
external character of the stem remains.
"In consequence of this deficiency of the essential characters on
which the determinations of the botanist are founded, there exists
a necessity for examining more minutely and accurately than has yet
been done, the internal structure of recent plants; their habits of
growth, the cicatrices or scars left on the stem by the leaves that
are spontaneously shed, the different appearances which their fruits
exhibit in their various stages of development--all these points must
be minutely studied before we can obtain any certainty as to the
identity of fossil and living species of plants.
"It is not by publishing detached and unconnected delineations and
descriptions of fossil plants, as they occasionally occur, that
the knowledge of them can be considerably promoted. A systematic
arrangement must be formed; and the first step to this is the
accurate determination of the species. _Hoc opus, hic labor est._"
"It will be seen," he observes, "in the course of this work, how
easy it would be to imagine parts of the same specimen to be
different species, when they happen to be broken and dispersed. I can
confidently assert, that in at least a thousand different specimens
which I have had in my possession, not more than a hundred distinct
species can be recognised. Furthermore, still fewer indeed can be
referred to any living species; for it is not the fern-like leaf of
a plant, the palm-like cicatrix, or the cane-like joint of a stem,
that will suffice to identify them with those tribes of the vegetable
kingdom. The whole anatomy of the plant must be studied. The subject
has, indeed, been begun by Professor Martins, in his comparison
of certain fossil stems of plants with those of the living plants
growing in the Brazils, but the study is as yet too new to afford
certain results. Accordingly, several of that professor's opinions
are at variance with those of M. Adolphe Brongniart, who has also
compared the recent and fossil vegetables together on this plan.
But by following up the comparison, which has been so successfully
adopted by Baron Cuvier, in the study of fossil animals,[93] similar
results may be expected, and a knowledge of the extinct plants be at
length attained."
[Footnote 93: Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles.]
Mr. Artis then gives an abstract of the systems of Baron Schlotheim,
Count Sternberg, Professor Martins, and M. Adolphe Brongniart, which
I am Induced to subjoin as a useful record of the state of fossil
botany twelve years ago:--
"The Baron Schlotheim, who published in 1804 the first part of a
Flora der Vorwelt, followed up his researches of this kind by a
catalogue of his cabinet, under the title of 'Die Petrefactenkunde
auf ihrem jetzigen Standpunkte erläutert,' published in 1820, to
which two Appendices have since been added in 1822 and 1823.
"The arrangement made by the Baron, so far as regards the vegetable
part of his cabinet, is as follows. His specimens are first divided
into five Sections, or Orders:--
1. Dendrolithes, containing the remains of trees, which are
subdivided into three sub-sections.
A. _Lithoxylites_, of which no characters are given, but from the
specimens mentioned by him, he evidently arranges in this place the
wood-stone and wood-opal of the mineralogists.
B. _Lithanthracites_, in which are placed the bituminized stems, and
other parts of trees.
C. _Bibliolithes_.--Fossil leaves, mostly of the later formations.
2. Botanolithes.--Comprising those kinds of fossil plants which
cannot be considered either as trees or shrubs, nor as belonging to
the plants of the old coal formation.
All the specimens belonging to the preceding sections are merely
enumerated, and not distinguished by generic and trivial names, as is
the case with the following.
Phytotypolithes.--Fossil plants of the stone-coal formation. These
are divided systematically into genera and species. The genera are as
follow:--
a. _Palmacites_, containing fifteen species.
b. _Casuarinites_, " five.
c. _Calamites_, " ten.
d. _Filicites_, " twenty-three.
e. _Lycopodiolithes_, " five.
f. _Poacites_, " four.
In the whole sixty-two species.
4. Carpolithes.--Of which he enumerates fifteen species as present in
his collection. This division is considered as a genus, as is also
the next.
5. Anthotypolithes.--The cabinet contains only one species, namely
the _Anthotypolithes ranunculiformis_."
* * * * *
In 1820, Gaspard Count Sternberg published in German, the first
number of a work which has been translated by the Comte de Bray,
under the title of "Essai d'un Exposé Geognostico-Botanique de la
Flore du Monde Primitif." Of this translation a second and third part
appeared in 1823 and 1824. In these successive numbers the Count
has communicated the state of his knowledge as it grew up under his
hands, in consequence of his own labours and those of his friend,
Baron Schlotheim. The genera, as they are successively developed in
the work, are the following:--
1. _Lepidodendron._--Stem scaly; the scales leaf-bearing, surrounding
the stem spirally. In a subsequent number, what are here called
scales, are denominated scale-like cicatrices.
This genus is subdivided in the first number into two sub-genera, but
this division is not noticed in the additional species quoted in the
succeeding numbers.
_Lepidotæ._--Scales convex.
_Alveolariæ._--Scales sub-concave.
2. _Variolariæ._--Stem shield-bearing, or warty; shields leaf-bearing,
surrounding the stem spirally.
3. _Calamitæ._--Stem striated, intercepted with sutures at the
articulations.
4. _Syringodendron._--Stem arborescent, in the form of pipes agglutinated
together, with naked glandules surrounding the stem spirally.
In the second number the following genera are given:--
5. _Rhytidolepis._--Stem arborescent, streaked longitudinally with
elevated wrinkles; shields surrounding the stem spirally.
6. _Flabellaria._--Leaves part stalked, divided and expanded like a fan.
7. _Schlotheimia._--Stem jointed, contracted at the articulation,
verticillate.
8. _Annularia._--Leaves disposed in a whirl, inserted in a proper ring.
9. _Nœggerathia._--Stem as thick as a goose-quill; leaves alternate,
approximate, reverse-ovate, half embracing the stem,
pectinato-toothed at the top, the remainder of the edge uncut.
10. _Osmunda._ } This and the following have no generic characters
11. _Asplenium._ } assigned to them, the recent genera being referred
to.
12. _Rotularia._--Leaves verticillate, expanded in the form of a small
wheel.
The third number contains the following additional genera:--
13. _Lepidolepis._--Scale-like cicatrices truncated at their top.
14. _Thuites_, of which he gives no characters, but refers to his
figures.
15. _Antholites._
16. _Carpolites._
17. _Conites._--Fossil strobili.
18. _Sphenopteris._
19. _Polypodiolithus._
20. _Myriophyllites._
21. _Phyllites._
22. _Algacites_, which the French translator, on obtaining the opinion
of Professor Agardh, has changed into _Sargassum_; that celebrated
algologist having considered it as identically the same as that
genus of recent algæ.
The genera thus successively established, may be arranged in the
following order:--
A. Fossil plants of unknown origin, in which the stem is large, and forms
the only, or at least the most prominent character; including,
1. _Lepidodendron_; 2. _Variolaria_; 3. _Calamites_;
4. _Syringodendron_; 5. _Rhytidolepis_; 13. _Lepidolepis_.
B. Fossil plants, of unknown origin, in which the leaves form the
prominent character; including, 6. _Flabellaria_; 7. _Schlotheimia_;
8. _Annularia_; 9. _Nœggerathia_; 12. _Rotularia_.
C. Fossil parts of unknown plants; including, 15, _Antholites_;
16. _Carpolites_; 17. _Conites_.
D. Fossil plants, or parts of plants referable to living types; including,
10. _Osmunda_; 11. _Asplenium_; 14. _Thuites_; 18. _Sphenopteris_;
19. _Polypodiolites_; 20. _Myriophyllites_; 22. Algacites.
* * * * *
In November 1821, Professor Martins read to the Botanical Society of
Ratisbon, a paper which was afterwards published in its Memoirs for
1822. This paper was entitled, "_De Plantis nonnullis Antediluvianis
ope specierum inter tropicos viventium illustrandis_;" in it several
of the species mentioned by Baron Schlotheim and Count Sternberg are
referred to the orders and genera of recent plants; and the following
genera are proposed:--
1. _Filicites_, analogous to the Arborescent ferns.
2. _Palmacites_, analogous to the Palmæ.
3. _Bambusites_, analogous to Bambusia, and other arborescent grasses;
these are the _Calamites_ of other authors.
4. _Yuccites_, analogous to the Cuciphoræ, Dracenæ, Pandani, Yuccæ, and
Velloriæ, of botanical writers.
5. _Cactites_, analogous to the Cacti.
6. _Euphorbites_, analogous to the Cereiform species of Euphorbia.
7. _Lychnophorites_, analogous to _Lychnophora_, a genus of plants found
by Martius in Brazil, which belongs to the order of the Compositæ,
and is allied to the _Vernoniæ_ of Linnæus and the _Pollalestæ_ of
Humboldt.
* * * * *
M. Adolphe Brongniart has given the following classification
of fossil plants, in his Essay "_Sur la Classification et la
Distribution de Végétaux Fossiles_" inserted in the "Mémoires du
Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle;" and also printed separately in quarto,
Paris, 1822:--
STEMS.
Class I.--Stems whose internal organization is recognisable.
1. Exogenites.--Wood formed of regular concentric layers.
2. Endogenites.--Wood composed of insulated bundles of vessels, which are
more numerous towards the circumference than at the centre.
Class II.--Stems whose internal organization is no longer distinct,
but which are characterised by their external form.
3. Culmites.--Stem jointed, smooth; a single impression at each
articulation.[94]
4. Calamites.--Stem jointed, regularly striated; impressions rounded,
small, numerous, forming a ring round each articulation, or
sometimes wanting.[95]
5. Syringodendron.--Stem channelled, not jointed; impressions dot-like
or linear, arranged in quincunx.[96]
6. Sigillaria.--Stem channelled, not jointed; impressions in the form of
disks, arranged in quincunx.
7. Clathraria.--Stem neither channelled, nor jointed; impressions in the
form of rounded disks, disposed in quincunx.[97]
8. Sagenaria.--Stem without joints, or furrows, covered with conical
rhomboidal tubercles disposed in quincunx, having at their upper
extremity an impression in the form of a disk.[98]
9. Stigmaria.--Stem without joints, or furrows; impressions rounded,
distant, disposed in quincunx.[99]
[Footnote 94: These stems appear to M. Brongniart to belong to the
arborescent grasses, to _Calamus_ or its allied genera.]
[Footnote 95: M. de Candolle suggested to M. Brongniart that these
stems belong to some plants of the natural order of Equisetaceæ.]
[Footnote 96: M. Brongniart considers these remains to belong to
genera which are entirely extinct.]
[Footnote 97: M. Brongniart shows in his paper the great agreement
between these two genera, and the stems of ferns, in every respect
excepting magnitude, and considers them as evidently owing their
origin to plants of that natural order rather than to the palms.]
[Footnote 98: The stems of this genus are referable, in the opinion
of M. Brongniart, to those of plants belonging to the family of
_Lycopodiaceæ_, notwithstanding the great difference of size between
them and those of the recent plants of that natural order.]
[Footnote 99: These stems, M. Brongniart supposes, belong rather to
plants of the natural order of _Aroideæ_, than to the _Euphorbiaceæ_,
or to the Palms to which they have been ascribed by other authors.]
FOLIAGE.
10. Lycopodites.--Leaves linear, or setaceous, without ribs, or traversed
by a single rib, inserted all round the stem, or in a double row.
This genus is subdivided into four sections, as follow:--
_a._ Leaves narrow, lanceolate, inserted in a regular manner all round a
stem having the characters of Sagenaria.
_b._ Leaves setaceous, inserted in a double row only; stem not reticulated.
These he considers as the proper Lycopodites.
_c._ Leaves broad, without any apparent ribs, inserted irregularly all
round the stem. These differ much from the rest of the genus.
_d._ Leaves blunt, short, closely applied to the stem.
Class III.--11. Filicites.--Frond disposed on a flat surface,
symmetrical; secondary rib simple, forked, or rarely anastomosing.
These are divided Into five sub-genera:--
_a._ _Glossopteris._--Frond simple, not jagged, traversed by a single
mid-rib, without distinct secondary ribs.
_b._ _Sphenopteris._--Pinnules wedge-shaped, rounded or lobed at the
extremity; ribs palmate or radiating from the base of the pinnule.
_c._ _Neuropteris._--Pinnules rounded, not lobed, nor adhering to the
rachis by their base; ribs scarcely visible beyond the base, in
general very distinct, and two-forked.
_d._ _Pecopteris._--Frond pinnatifid; pinnules adherent by their base to
the rachis, traversed by a mid-rib; secondary ribs pinnate.
_e._ _Odontopteris._--Pinnules adhering to the rachis by the whole of their
base; mid-rib none; secondary ribs running out perpendicularly from
the rachis.
12. Sphœnophyllites.--Leaves verticillate, wedge-shaped, truncate; ribs
radiating, two-forked.[100]
13. Asterophyllites.--Leaves verticillate, with a single rib.[101]
14. Fucoides.--Frond not symmetrical, often disposed on a flat surface;
ribs none, or badly defined.