Nature and Art, August 1, I860.] 
LITHOGRAPHIC STONE. 
75 
the stone is, however interesting to the geologist, 
objectionable in a lithographic point of view. Still, 
to one of them are we indebted for the singular 
remains which have caused so much doubt and 
question. A feather, and then some bones, were 
found. The great detective inspector of science, 
“from information he was in possession of,” con- 
sidered the so-called Saurian an impostor. “You, 
sir, are a bird,” said he. “ You are wanted. I have 
my eye on you. I have counted every process in 
your very irregular tail, measured your claws, and 
shall very soon find your head ; so you had better 
come along quietly at once. I am Owen ; it is of 
no use trying to deceive me ; you may as well 
confess yourself a bird forthwith, and save 
trouble.” 
An anecdote, related by the peasantry on the 
borders of the Black Forest, of the late Baron 
Cuvier, who was for some time prosecuting his 
researches in that neighbourhood, may serve to 
show how dark superstition and respect for the 
faithful investigator of Nature’s secrets often go 
hand in hand. It is a veritable Black Forest 
legend, and, therefore, must be received accordingly. 
The Baron, say they, was a man above fear. He 
would plunge into the very depths of the forest, 
heedless of the sprites and goblins reported to dwell 
there as plentiful as blackberries. “ This sort of 
thing will not last,” said Grandfather Hans, a man 
thoroughly versed in phantom lore; “the Baron 
will some day get into the enchanted grove, and 
then he never can return to us : the demon of the 
forest would eat him, to a certainty. Oh, Baron,” 
said he, “ take heed of what I say ; never venture 
beyond the ‘ Hunter’s Oak,’ at the opening of the 
‘ Black Grove,’ or you will repent it.” “Yery well, 
Grandfather Hans,” said the Baron ; “ I will re- 
member.” But, not remembering the caution of 
Grandfather Hans, the Baron next day wandered, 
book in hand, on and on, past the Hunter’s Oak, 
down the grove to the very “Ivobold’s Rock” at 
the bottom, and then, seeing the sun sinking behind 
the pines and night coming on, he turned to retrace 
his steps. There, as might be expected, stood the 
demon of the forest, a sight most hideous to look 
upon. “You cannot return,” growled the demon. 
“For what reason 1” asked the Baron. “ Because,” 
said the terrible fiend, “ I am about to devour you 
for daring to intrude on my realms.” “ Indeed ! ” 
was the calm reply : “ pray let me examine you ; 
your appearance and physical conformation are, to 
say the least, new to me, and are noteworthy. 
So-so — let me see — horns, hoofs cloven, caudal ver- 
tebral processes numerous, forming a perfect tail. 
Sir Fiend, you are a ruminant, and very few 
degrees removed from a cow,” severely remarked 
the Baron. “ You eat me ! Absurd ! preposterous ! 
Get out of the path. I pity your anomalous posi- 
tion ; but you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” 
And the demon was ashamed of himself, and 
sneaked off out of the Baron’s sight, a wiser, if not 
a better, member of his order. 
To return then to our stone, and that which 
may now be fairly called Professor Owen’s bird, 
and, without question, the oldest ever discovered. 
True it is, that, in a peculiar kind of sandstone, of 
age perhaps as great as that of lithographic stone, 
found in the valley of Connecticut, in America, 
numerous foot-prints of birds have been found ; but, 
strangely enough, no bone, feather, or aught besides 
the impression of their feet on that which, when they 
lived, was, no doubt, soft ooze, partially submerged 
sand flats, and marsh mud. Here these old-world 
waders, stork, and crane-like birds, sought their 
food amongst the sedge and weeds, devouring the 
reptiles, fish, and inhabitants of shells, which, even 
themselves, are now extinct which then abounded. 
The Professor’s bird, “ Archceopteryx Macrura,” is, 
at any rate, as old as those which, like the unwel- 
come intruder on the shore of Crusoe’s Island, have 
left a foot-print only, to tell of their visit. He 
has, far more satisfactorily, left nearly the whole 
of his bones as a legacy to inquiring naturalists ; 
but is, alas ! like “ Mayne Reid’s Horseman,” 
“without a head.” In size, it has been by some 
compared to a rook ; but I am of opinion, from the 
length and proportions of the leg, and some other 
bones, that it must have stood much higher, and 
been of much slighter form. The most remarkable 
and anomalous feature presented by the remains, 
as they lay partially imbedded in the stone, is the 
long, slender, rat-like tail, composed of twenty pro- 
cesses. From each of these a pair of quill feathers 
projected laterally, presenting, when complete, the 
appearance of one large, flat feather, much in 
external form like those from which pens are made, 
but built up of smaller ones like the side leaves to 
the frond of a fern. The wing feathers appear, so 
far as I can see, much like those of birds of the present 
period. It is to be hoped that some fortunate 
chance may bring to light other remains of these 
truly ancient birds, in order that their perfect form 
may be known. 
The value of lithographic stone, in connection 
with pictorial illustration, is becoming too well 
known to need comment here. It is imported into 
this country in immense quantities, and is worth, 
to the trade, from one penny to threepence per 
pound, according to size. Some idea may be 
formed of the quantity in demand, and the sums 
expended upon this material, by the mere fact of the 
publishers of this journal having, at this moment in 
their stores, from twelve to fifteen hundred tons, 
valued at £20,000. Thus, then, we read, literally, 
“ sermons in stones and good in everything.” The 
buried forest of the carboniferous period furnishes 
the vast and wealth -producing coal. The quartz of 
an earlier period yields up its stores of yellow gold ; 
and the tiny coral insect of our own time builds 
slowly, but surely, ever upwards, the foundations 
of reefs and islands, to which the drifting weed, 
the wandering sea bird, the dead and stranded 
fish, and empty shell, all lend their aid in making 
“habitable land.” At length wave-borne cocoa- 
nuts and other tropic seeds arrive, germinate, take 
vigorous root, and soon wave their feathery foliage 
in the fresh sea breeze. Thus, all-bounteous Nature 
works ever for the good of man. 
