SIDE LIGHTS ON BIRDS 



the mass of cells, ever being formed anew, yet 

 carried to all parts of the organism, and then 

 successively moulded into such complex and 

 diverse forms as bone and skin, nerve and muscle, 

 hairs, horns, and feathers — to say nothing of the 

 infinite variety of vegetable structures and pro- 

 ducts — is relatively unthinkable, but how they 

 can be so formed by the agency of the mind of the 

 organism itself : that is, that the organism builds 

 itself through forces, laws, and directing will 

 that inhere in itself, and have no other and more 

 fundamental source than its own chance aggre- 

 gation of atoms — is to me absolutely unthink- 

 able. Such theories are far more difficult to con- 

 ceive than any amount of action and influence 

 of Spiritual Beings to escape which they .were 

 formulated." 



It may here be noted that the limbs and the 

 part of the plumage first to be developed are those 

 first needed by the chick on leaving the egg. For 

 example, the first act a young partridge is called 

 on to perform is to scratch in the earth, and pick 

 up insects. For this it needs strong legs, bill 

 and neck, as well as a protective covering of 

 down. These parts are, therefore, the first to be 

 developed, the wings coming later. A young 

 thrush, on the other hands, has its wings fairly 

 developed, when only a few tufts of down appear 

 on the body. 



Wings. 



The basis of the wing is an osseous framework, 

 roughly corresponding with the human arm — 

 whichf consists of the true aim, fore-arm, and 

 hand. In the bird the true arm is a cylindrical 

 hollow bone, the fore-arm two parallel bones, 

 and the hand, not flexible as in the human, but 

 forming a rigid support for stiff, elastic feathers. 



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