Miscellaneous. 187 



hand ; they are covered for about half their length with a fine 

 filiform down ; none of the remiges projects beyond the others ; the 

 wing is rounded in its outline like that of a fowl. 



It is possible that there was at the base of the neck a collar 

 similar to that of the condor ; at least it has been thought that indi- 

 cations of such a thing could be seen. 



The tibia was covered with feathers throughout its whole length. 

 The Archceopteryx therefore had breeches, like our falcons, with 

 which, according to Prof. Owen, it has the most resemblance in the 

 leg. 



Each caudal vertebra bore a pair of lateral rectrices, all the rest 

 of the body, head, neck, and trunk were evidently destitute of feathers 

 and naked ; we should certainly otherwise have found traces of 

 feathers upon a slab which has preserved even the smallest details 

 of a fine down. Hence the restorations of the animal hitherto 

 attempted are quite erroneous. 



According to M. Vogt it is quite unnecessary to discuss the 

 question whether Archceopteryx is to be classed among reptiles or 

 among birds. It is neither one nor the other ; it constitutes an 

 intermediate type of the most strongly marked description, and con- 

 firms in a brilliant manner the opinions of Prof. Huxley, who has 

 united the reptiles and birds, under the name of Sauropsida, to form 

 a single great section of Vertebrata. Archceopteryx is undoubtedly 

 one of the most important sign-posts on the road which has been 

 followed by the class of birds in differentiating itself more and more 

 from the reptiles from which it originated. A bird by its integument 

 and hinder limbs, the Archceopteryx is a reptile by all the rest of its 

 organization ; its conformation can only be understood by accepting 

 this evolution of the birds by a progressive development from certain 

 types of reptiles. The Cretaceous birds, so well described by Prof. 

 Marsh, constitute a later finger-post on this road, as they still 

 retain teeth while almost the whole of their organism is already 

 conformable to the type of birds. 



M. Vogt then discusses the stages by which Archceopteryx passed 

 to arrive at the form under which we know it, and the mode in 

 which adaptation to flight has acted upon the different parts of the 

 body. He shows, in the first place, that this adaptation is by no 

 means necessarily combined in the Vertebrata with that of a vertical 

 position. We have the proof of this in Ptcrosauria and the Bats. 

 The conformation of the hind feet, such as we see in the Dinosauria, 

 the Archceopteryx, and birds, is therefore independent of the faculty 

 of flight, and is only in relation to the possibility of sustaining the 

 body upon the posterior feet alone. The relation found from this 

 point of view between the Dinosauria and birds hj no means in- 

 dicates real affinities. At the utmost we might suppose a genetic 

 connexion between the Dinosauria and the Ratitae. But if we adopted 

 this filiation, it would be necessary to assume a polyphyletic origin 

 for birds. 



Finally, M. Vogt inquires whether there are to be found, in deposits 

 older than the Upper Jura, reptiles which may be related to Arch"'- 



