Sixth Meeting: 22nd August, 1894. Mr. E. Tregear in the chair. New Members.—-Dr. Teare and Mr. J. P. Campbell. Papers.—1. “On a Recent Discovery by Mr. Donne of Bones of Dinornis giganteus, on the Surface,” by Sir James Hector.

Sir James Hector exhibited some moa-bones found by Mr. T. E. Donne in the Wairarapa district. The chief interest is from the position in which these bones occur. Mr. Donne says that” when deer-stalking on the 10th April last he found the bones on the top of the Maungaraki Range, seven miles eastward of Gladstone. They were lying on the surface on the top of the mountain, and free from bush. Some were exposed to the air, but others were covered by a heavy growth of thistles. None were covered by earth. They had evidently lain in the same position for a long time. No traces of old native encampments were found in the vicinity.” The bones are the right and left femora of Dinornis giganteus, and the right tibia and tarso-metatarsus of the same bird. The fibula is not present, but the diagram sketched by Mr. Donne shows that the tarsal bone has been rolled over without disturbing the relative positions of the other bones. This observation is supported by an examination of the weathered surfaces of the bones, and there can be little doubt that the bones have been lying undisturbed on the surface since the bird died. This remarkable discovery has suggested the comparison of the degree to which mineralization of moa-bones has been effected, as compared with the mineral contents of recent bones of struthious birds. Omitting water, which is variable according to the nature of the material in which the subfossil bones were imbedded, we have the following:— Organic. Inorganic. Recent. Ostrich, femur 34.86 60.14 Emu, femur 36.67 63.33 Subfossil Dinornis rheides, Timaru Cave 35.65 64.35 Dinornis ponderosus; Maniototo (dry swamp) 25.31 74.60 Dinornis validus, Glenmark 29.95 70.05 Dinornis struthioides, Glenmark 24.18 75.82 Dinornis giganteus, Wairarapa (surface) 24.10 76.90 Dinornis potens, Shelter Rock, Clyde 18.25 81.75 Dinornis casuarinus, Highfield Cave 14.70 85.30 Dinornis didiformis, in pumice.sand 14.40 85.10 Cnemiornis didiformis, Highfield Cave 14.70 85.30 Dinornis didiformis 25.99 74.01 Dinornis struthioides 37.86 62.94 Attention was drawn to the wonderful discoveries of bones on the surface in South Australia. Under sand-dunes 30ft. in height, far in the interior and round the margins of desiccated lakes, there is a 3ft. deposit of yellow and blue clay resting on sharp sand which is full of bones of extinct animals. The deposit is fifty miles long by five to ten miles wide; but similar deposits have now been found in other parts of Australia. Most of the bones belong to extinct forms of marsupial Mammalia, but