[August, 
470 On the Archcvopteryx. 
and chapters, in great numbers, were here and there missing ? 
What if they were not aware of the very existences of such 
gaps and deficiencies, but believed that they had befoie them 
the complete text, and proceeded to expound it accordingly ? 
Misinterpretation, surely, of the wildest character would 
result. Yet the position of us interpreters of Nature is but 
too closely analogous. With our few — and, as we have just 
called to mind, imperfedt — senses much fails to reach our 
understanding. Much ? Possibly in some directions the 
most important part. Surely, therefore, we should take 
good heed not to talk of impossibilities. Remembeiing that 
we see only in part, we should not be hasty in lejedting any 
new light which is offered for our acceptance. 
IV. ON THE ARCHAEOPTERYX. 
S R. W. DAMES has published a monograph on the 
Archaeopteryx in the “ Palaeontolog. Abhandlungen, 
which has been in part reproduced in the “ Neues 
Tahrbuch fur Mineralogie,” and in the “ Naturforscher.” 
Since the first discovery of this creature, “ half bird and 
half lizard,” in the year 1861, the recent find in the Pappen- 
heim quarries, in 1877? has called up the liveliest interest. 
Men of Science have been concerned about the systematic 
position of the animal, whilst outsiders have been exercised 
over the enormous price paid for so insignificant-looking a 
specimen. Hence this fossil had become famous before its 
thorough description by Dames, and the fadts observed have 
received very various interpretations. 
As soon as the attempt is made to generalise an observa- 
tion, and to infer broader points of view from a single case, 
the most conflicting conceptions are put forward, which 
quickly again disappear. A beginning was made in this 
diredtion by C. Vogt. As the result of his observations the 
skeleton of the Archaeopteryx was more that of a reptile 
than that of a bird. As far back as 1881, however, Seeley 
refuted Vogt’s assertion of the reptilian character of the 
species, and assigned to it an especial position as the type 
