On a Feathered Fossil. 319 



the last vertebra very peculiarly formed,, and, with few ex- 

 ceptions, always the largest. To this last joint all the tail 

 feathers in living birds are attached, and on it we find that 

 peculiar oil-gland to which the bird applies its beak, and so 

 anoints and renders waterproof every feather of its body. 



Taking into consideration the remarkable divergence pre- 

 sented by the tail of this fossil creature from all known birds, 

 and also the antiquity of the formation in which it occurs, we 

 may at least safely infer that (if it be a bird at all) it represents 

 perhaps one of the very earliest examples of its class. 



And this seems the more consistent when we consider the 

 analogous change which has taken place in the class of fishes. 



For in the oldest fossil fish we find the same curious elon- 

 gated tail (seen only in the sharks and sturgeon of the present 

 day), in which the vertebral column is prolonged into the 

 upper lobe of the caudal fin, forming the characteristic feature 

 of the Heterocercal fishes. Whereas in the almost'universally- 

 pre vailing type of modern fishes the tail fin springs from the last 

 joint of the vetebral column, giving us the order of Homocercal, 

 or even-tailed fishes. 



That the feathers were real bona fide feathers like those of 

 a bird seems to be placed beyond all doubt by the evidence of 

 the impressions of both wings and tail, descending, as they do, 

 to microscopic exactness. It has been suggested that a creature 

 furnished with such feathers must have had a beak to keep 

 them in order with. 



Among the flying lizards of the Solenhofen slates is one de- 

 scribed by H. Von Meyer, under the name of Rhamjphorhynchus, 

 as having " the fore part of each jaw without teeth, and probably 

 incased in a horny beak ; but behind this edentulous portion 

 there are four or five large and long teeth followed by several 

 smaller ones. The tail long, stiff, and slender." Such a flying 

 reptile might have been endowed with feathers, in which case the 

 toothless portion, incased in a horny beak, would be well 

 adapted for pluming and cleaning its wings and tail. 



Such is the present state of the evidence. There is nothing 

 in this fossil which elucidates the origin of the bird tracks of 

 Connecticut, although perhaps contemporaneous with them. 



Professor Owen decidedly inclines to the opinion that this 

 curious creature is a bird, but many very distinguished natu- 

 ralists, who have carefully examined it, have professed them- 

 selves unable to come to any such positive conclusion. 



Much light may be expected from the Professor's promised 

 paper, but we must wait for the discovery of other specimens 

 before we can arrive at a complete demonstration of the true 

 character of this wonderful inhabitant of a former world. 

 10th Nov. 1862. 



