OLDEST EXTINCT BIRD 89 



" On the Limits of Philosophical Inquiry," identified 

 Comtism with the " New Philosophy " (i.e.^ the spirit of 

 modern science), and further credited Comte with doc- 

 trines that should have been attributed to David Hume. 

 Huxley's own philosophic views owed much to the in- 

 fluence of the latter, as will subsequently become apparent. 

 The following scientific memoirs belong to 1868 : — 



1. " Remarks upon Archaeopteryx lithographica " 

 (Proc. Roy. Soc, xvi, pp. 243-8. Read January 30, 1868. 

 Sci. Mem., iii, xviii, p. 340). — This deals with the 

 oldest extinct bird, a form presenting several well-marked 

 reptilian features, of which the most striking then known 

 was the possession of a long jointed tail, bearing, how- 

 ever, pairs of quill feathers. The following remark is 

 of prophetic interest : — 



" If when the head of Archseopteryx is discovered, its jaws 

 contain teeth, it will not the more, to my mind, cease to be a 

 bird, than turtles cease to be reptiles, because they have beaks." 



It is now a familiar fact that when a complete speci- 

 men of Archteopteryx was subsequently found, it proved 

 to be a tooth-bearing form. 



2. " On Saurosternon Bainii and Pristerodon M'Kayi, 

 two New Lacertilian Reptiles [i.e., lizards] from South 

 Africa" (Geol. Mag., v, 1868, pp. 201-5. Sci. Mem., 

 iii, XIV, p. 298). 



3. "On the Animals which are Most Nearly Inter- 

 mediate between Birds and Reptiles" (op. cit., v, 1868, 

 pp. 357-<^5' Sci. Mem., iii, xv, p. 303). — This deals 

 with the extinct group of Dinosaurs, some of which 

 resemble birds in certain anatomical characters. It em- 

 bodies the substance of an address delivered at the Royal 

 Institution on February 7, and is in part the outcome of 

 the work on Archaeopteryx (^vide supra). 



