The Express. — 1866-03-13 (London, England)

THE DODO.—A single foot and an old painting in the British Museum, • head in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford—such have been for many years the only °video:ea on which naturalists have had to rely to prove the existence of that singular extinct bird, the Dodo of the Mauritiva. On this alight foundation anatomists have built up a superstructure reconstructing the entire bird, evolving the remainder, as a German would say, out of the depths of their liner coescionsness. It is quite true, as subeemieut discoveries have proved, that some of their suggestions were erroneous : thus Professor Owen formerly maintained that the dodo was an enormous wingleasvultuni. But the more elaborate investigations of Messrs. Strickland and Melville proved that the bird really was a gigantic ground-pigeon, doubtlees feeding its young with the milky sscretioe of its crop, like the whole of the columbine birds of the present day. The views of Messrs. Strickland and Melville as to the structure of the dodo have been remarkably borne out by the discovery of • large number of the bones of the bird in a until morass in the Mauritius, known as the " Mare aux Souses,' which had been drained for agricultural purposes. These bones have been carefully examined, and an elaborate and very valuable paper descriptive of the oeteolou of the animal was recently read before the Zoological Society by Professor Owen. Is addition to a complete set of the bones retained for the national collection in the British Museum, a considerable number of duplicates have been obtained. These will be sold by auction by Menus. Stevens, of Kingstreet, to-day. They are arranged in eight lots, so as to make each one as complete as possible. This sale, like that of the eggs of the great ink and dinornir, will doubtless excite much interest amongst naturalists. A BOY Blonmr.ar.s.—On Sunday afternoon last • boy aged 11 years, named Frederick Mason. was taken into costody at Bessecar, near Doncaster, on the charge of attempting to murder Patrick Davies, aged 5, and Margaret Davies, aged 3 years, brother and sister. The attempt was most determined and deliberate. In the neighbourhood of Ressingtos • number of navvies are em. ployed by Messrs. Smith, Knight, and Co., the contractors for the Doncaster and Gaineborough Railway, and the ehil. dren Davies, as well as NYC'S, are the offspring of parents residing there. Mason was employed by • neighbouring farmer to tend one of his fields to keep the crows away ; and he went on Sunday and enticed thechildren Davies with him. It appears that about 2 o'clock Meson began to beat them with • stick upon the head, and when both became insensible be threw them into the River Toro, which runs close by. The children began to cry, and he took them out and coins:mooed average assault upon them, inflicting fearful wounds on the head and face. When he had made them insensible a second time he threw them again into the Torn, but fortunately the water was not more than six inches deep. The water revived them, and Patrick held his sister's head above water ; end as soon as Mason bad gone away he began to call for resistance, and his ones attracted the attention of one of the navvies in the locality, who, knowing them, removed both to their father's hat, between Remington and Besmear. A messenger was sent to Doncaster for Mr. J. Lister, surgeon, who, wilier at Bouncer, found the children greatly injured. The little girl was unable to speak for more than two hours, sad the boy on being rescued was even in a more dangerous state. The former told her parents that Mason bad beaten them sad thrown them twice into the river ; and, acting upon this information, Policeman Cowen apprehended him, and he at once, and with a careless indifference, admitted that he bad done as the girl bad said. The boy was in so dangerous • state yesterday morning that it wee feared he would not survive. Mason will be brought up this morning (Tuesday), but for remand only until Saturday.