454 Prof. Carl Vogt on 
on the contrary, a primitive group which has not been able 
to reach active flight. 
A second consequence of this view would be the polyphyl- 
etic origin of the class of Birds. The Dinosaurs would lead 
to the Ratites, the Archeopteryx to the Birds that fly. Not- 
withstanding the uniformity in the structure of Birds, broken, 
it is true, by the Ratites, the class would have at least two 
stocks in two different groups of ancient Reptiles. At first 
sight this conclusion appears offensive; but, since many 
other facts lead us to similar inductions, we cannot repel it 
@ priori. 
After having refuted the genealogical relations of the Di- 
nosaurs to the Archeopteryx, while accepting them as possi- 
ble with regard to the Ratites, we may ask if we find among 
the fossil Reptiles anterior to the Upper Jurassic beds, forms 
which can be allied to the Archeopteryx, and through it to 
the Birds that fly. I must confess that it would be impos- 
sible for me to answer this question; I believe even that for 
a long while we shall not be able to satisfy it. We know 
only very few complete skeletons of these ancient Reptiles ; 
the limb-bones, and especially those of the digits, are very 
rare, and nearly always detached. To this difficulty another 
is added. 
As I have already remarked, it would be impossible to 
suspect, from an examination of the skeleton alone, that the 
Archeopteryx bore feathers. Its adaptations with a view to 
plumage are so little visible that we could not have taken 
them for such, had not the calcareous rock of Solenhofen, 
with its fine grain, preserved the very lightest impressions. 
Let us suppose for an instant that there had only been found 
the skeleton of Archeopteryx, without any trace of plumage. 
Would any one have seen in it a flymg animal? By no 
means. One would have seen in it a walking Reptile, high 
in the legs, like the Chameleons. The anatomist bold enough 
to assert that this animal had been endowed with the power 
of flight, and relying for that purpose on the structure of the 
hind-legs, would have been quickly refuted by considerations 
drawn from the fore-feet. 
