1864. | Microscopical Science. 129 
if such had existed in the present specimen ; and besides this negative 
evidence, the positive proof of the bird-like proportions of the pinion, 
and the existence of quill-feathers, sufficiently evince the true class- 
affinity of the Archwopteryx. We are, however, in ignorance as to the 
manner in which those singular wing-hooks were attached to the main 
bones of the wing, and of all the comparisons which Professor Owen 
has made with the spur-winged birds, such as the Merula dactyloptera, 
Anser gambensis, Parra jacana, Palamedea cornuta, and Megapodius, 
there are none, we believe, which give us a single illustration of the 
same character of organization as is exhibited by the claw-hooks in the 
Archeopteryx. Indeed, Professor Owen admits that in this respect, it 
difters from every known bird in having “ two free unguiculate digits,” 
i. e€. the wing-hooks, “in the hand,” and that “these digits in the 
slenderness of the penultimate phalanx do resemble the unguiculate 
digits in the hand of the Pterodactyle.” But it is true, as Professor 
Owen continues, that “the claw has not the characteristic depth or 
breadth of that of the Pterodactyle ; and there is no trace of the much 
lengthened metacarpal and phalangial bones of the fifth digit, or 
peculiar wing-finger of the flying reptile.” We doubt, however, if 
the wing-claws of the Archeopteryx are comparable with the spurs of 
the jacana, or of the screamer; and we are not aware that the 
skeletons of either are obtainable in this country for comparison. 
These are questions, however, which itis judicious of the Professor 
to avoid until there is sufficient evidence collected to warrant, if not 
a decisive, at least a reliable opinion. It is quite a different thing for 
us to point them out, that the importance of obtaining further illus- 
trative specimens may be borne in mind. 
VI. MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE. 
As the advance of all physical science depends in a great measure on 
the degree of perfection of the instruments with which it is studied, 
we propose devoting this, our first article on the progress of Micro- 
scopical research, to a brief exposition of the improvements that have 
been recently made in the construction of the instrument. Our next 
article, on the other hand, shall be devoted to a review of the modern 
standard works on the Microscope, and its mode of application ; and 
then having, as it were, set our house in order, we shall be prepared 
in our subsequent Numbers to enter directly on the true object of our 
work, namely, to keep our readers aw courant with the progress of 
microscopical inquiry. 
Fortunately for us, we do not at the present day require to say 
anything in support of the claims of the microscope to public atten- 
tion. Scientific men have unanimously decided in its favour, and 
although, among the general public, there are still individuals to be 
encountered who regard its teachings with distrust, their number is 
VoL. I. K 
