116 OSTEOLOGY [PART I I .
4. Left tibia (Plate XV. Pig. l - l a .)
Length from the inter-condyloid groove to the termination of the fibular
ridge . . 66
Transverse diameter of the shaft 0 8
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto 0 7
Breadth of the lower extremity 13^
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto . . . . . . . 1 3
5. Left metatarsus (Plate XV. Pig. 2-2i.)
Probable length from the lower border of the middle trochlea to the
summit of the inter-condyloid tubercle 7 3
Transverse diameter of the shaft 7|
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto, at the upper border of the articular
surface for posterior metatarsal 0 5A
Transverse diameter of the lower extremity 1 6£
Distance from the upper border of the articular facet for the posterior
metatarsal to the internal inter-trochlear notch . . . . 1 8^
6. Eight metatarsus (Plate XV. Fig. 4.)
Antero-posterior diameter of the proximal articular surface, (to the calneal
canal.) 0 7
Bones of the Solitaire in the Parisian Collection.
1. Left femur . . . . . . . . (Plate XIV. Fig. 8 to 10.)
Length from the inter-condyloid notch to the upper surface of the neck 6 4
from upper edge of the trochanter major to the external condyle 7 4
Transverse diameter of the shaft Oil
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto . . . . . . . 0 9
Transverse diameter of the upper extremity 2 2
of the lower ditto 2 0
Thickness of incrustation more than one line.
2. Right metatarsal bone (Plate XV. Fig. 3 - 3 d.)
Length from the middle trochlear groove to the inter-condyloid tubercle 7 1
from the external trochlea to t he external condyloid fossa . 6 7
from the internal ditto to the internal ditto . . 6 8
Breadth of the upper extremity 16
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto 15
Breadth of the lower extremity . . 19
Projection of the ento-calcaneal process . . . . . 0 7
Thickness of incrustation about one line.
C H . IL] OF T H E SOLITAIRE. 1 1 7
As formerly mentioned, three femora are contained in the Andersonian Museum, two right and one left;
and a left femur incrusted with stalagmite, in the Parisian Collection (Plate XIV. Pig. 8-10). The most
perfect of the former is the right femur (id. Fig. 4 - 7 ) , which is nearly entire, and belongs to a young individual
; it is destitute of the pneumatic foramen, as in all Pigeons, except Goura. The femur, in general,
docs not yield any very distinctive character, but that in question resembles very closely in all respects, the
same bone in Pigeons; it is not arched forwards as in the typical Ilaptores. I n a left femur of the same size,
but much mutilated at the extremities, and belonging probably to an adidt female, the compact parietes of the
shaft were one eighth of an inch externally, and one line and a half internally; while the femur of the gigantic
Crane, of larger size, but possessed of pneumaticity, is oidy half a line in tliickness. The cancellated tissue
extends into the medullary cavity for a short distance at each end, and chiefly along the inner wall
inferiorly; and the medullary cavity is lined by a thin osseous lamina, with few and minute
perforations. The tliird specimen, also of the left side, is equally imperfect, but is much larger
than cither of the former, and belongs evidently to an adult male; it is larger than the corresponding bone
in any gallinaceous bird, but is exactly equal in size to the coated femur (Hi. Fig. 8-10), when
allowance is made for the tliickness of the incrustation. There can be no reasonable doubt, that these bones
appertain to one and the same species, the diversity in size being attributable to differences in age and sex.
The fragment of the left tibia (Plate XV. Fig. 1, 1 a) closely resembles the corresponding bone in
Goura; and judging from analogy, the upper third is removed, so that its length, when perfect, was
probably nine inches and a half; the tliickness of the parietes of the shaft is about one line. Its distal
articular surface corresponds in size to the proximal extremity of the perfect metatarsus (ib. Fig. 3, 3 c).
I t s length indicates a bird of great stature, and fully justifies Leguat's statement, that the Solitaire is
taller than a Turkey. Like the humerus and femur, tliis bone furnishes, in general, but few characters of
importance; the osseous bridge under which the tendon of the 31. extensor communis digitorum passes,
distinguishes it at once from the corresponding bone in the Strulhionidoe. The styloid inferior extremity
of the fibula was probably more elongated downwards than in Goura.
Fortunately we arc enabled to compare that important bone—the metatarsus, with its homologue in the
Dodo, and thus to test the evidence afforded by the cranium. The right metatarsus (id. Fig. 3 - 3 d), in
the Parisian Collection, is covered with stalagmite ; nevertheless, it enables us to establish the family affinity
of these extinct birds. It differs from that in the Dodo, in its greater length and relative slenderness,
the ratio being as seven to five: but the metatarsus of the Sobtaire resembles that of the Dodo, in the
form of the shaft; in the projection of the ento-calcaneal process, and in the great development of its
supporting buttress; in the form of the ccto-calcancal process; in the calcaneal tube opening on the outer
surface of the buttress; in the presence of the articular facet for the accessory metatarsus; in the expansion of
the distal extremity, and in the relative levels of the trochlea;. We are enabled to state more distinctly the
differences in minute configuration between this bone in the Dodo and Solitaire, by an examination of the
left metatarsus in the Andersonian Museum (ib. Kg. 2 - 2 b), which exactly resembles the Parisian
specimen in form and size; and although much mutilated at the extremities, it supplies information otherwise
unattainable. The proximal extremity of a right metatarsus (ib. Fig. 4), found with the preceding,
and belonging to an immature uidividual, points out distinctly the relation of the calcaneal tube to the
buttress.
The posterior metatarsal must have had the same dimensions as that in the Dodo, and we may safely
conjecture, that it possessed the characteristic form of that bone in the Columbida. The toes would, perhaps,
be less robust, and more elongated than in the Dodo.