412 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



porous bones, an extensive sternum, clavicles united to support the wings, var- 

 ious modifications of the humerus, radius, ulna, and the carpus, metacarpus and 

 the phalanges, as in. the bats, etc. 



In all the species of birds, the general plan is the same as man. 



The same is true of the class Reptilia and Amphibia. In some of the snakes 

 the legs are rudimentary, in others the ribs serve as legs. In the sharks the fins 

 take the place of the fore and hind limbs. 



In the class Pisces, or fishes, through the vi^hole series down to the eel, we 

 have the skull, vertebrae and ribs, and the bones of the fore and hind limbs are 

 more or less perfectly represented by the fins. The pelvis in fishes is rudiment- 

 ary, or wanting. 



This brief sketch of the Vertebrata, from man to the lowly eel, shows that 

 the whole sub-kingdom is formed upon a single plan, and that any variations are 

 but simple modifications designed to meet some special requirement. The study 

 of osteology shows us that in this long Hne of animals— the Vertebrates — the 

 distinctive feature is the spinal column, and it is astonishing, as well as interest- 

 ing, to observe how little difference there really is between the backbones of any 

 two members of the whole series. The chief differences are in the structure of 

 the head and limbs. 



If we compare the anterior limbs of some of the lower animals with the arms 

 of man, we shall see that bone for bone is present, from the humerus to the 

 phalanges. For instance, take the anterior limb of, say, an ape, a bat, a dog, a 

 mole, a deer, a whale, a seal,, a tortoise, a fish, or a bird. In each we can dis- 

 tinctly trace the humerus, the radius and ulna, the small bones of the carpus and 

 the metacarpus, and the phalanges. 



The differences of shape in each animal are simply modifications of the same 

 bone to adapt it to its individual mode of life. 



The intelligence of animals, no doubt, resides in the brain, and it is beHeved 

 that the amount of the reasoning power, or faculty, is in some way proportioned 

 the quantity of gray matter of the brain. 



In connection with the reasoning power of animals, depending on brain ac- 

 tion, may be mentioned a provision of nature for the safety, which — although it 

 has nothing to do with reason — acts in connection with it. 



This is the mimicry of animals, or the adaption of the color of an animal to 

 that of surrounding objects in its native wilds. 



Nature excites our wonder by her wisdom of this curious and interesting pro- 

 vision. 



Thus the tiger, so beautifully decorated with black stripes upon a ground of 

 reddish-yellow fur, tending to white below, living in the long jungle grass of 

 Southern Asia, with the color of which its stripes so closely assimilate, it is im- 

 possible for an unpracticed eye to discern it even at a short distance. This mim- 

 icry not only protects the animal's satety, but enables it to steal unseen upon its 

 unsuspecting prey. 



