354 
FEATHERED FORMS OF OTHER DAYS. 
tail-leathers, that were directed outwards and 
backwards from the sides of every joint. So 
accurately has the soft paste of the slate in 
which the specimen was found taken the im- 
pression not only of these tail-feathers, but 
also of those of the outspread wings, that 
almost tire minutest details in structure can 
be appreciated by the examiner. 
The year after Vogt published his article 
in the “ Ibis,” Professor Marsh made a care- 
FOSSIL ARCHAEOPTERYX, IN THE BERLIN MUSEUM. 
(DRAWING BY R. W. SHUFELDT, AFTER AN ILLUSTRATION IN 
THE “IBIS” OF OCTOBER, 1880.) 
ful examination of all three specimens of the 
Archceoptcryx , and presented us with the re- 
sults of his labors in a paper, which he read 
before the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science at York, September 2, 1881. 
After reviewing the several important char- 
acters brought to light by his investigation, 
not previously known to us, this author sums 
up his observations by saying “ that we have 
in Archaopteryx a most remarkable form, 
which, if a bird, as I believe, is certainly the 
most reptilian of birds.” 
So much has been written in our time upon 
the origin and descent of organic forms, that 
the statement that living birds are descended 
from reptilian forms does not sound strange. In 
this highly probable specialization Archmop- 
teryxoi the Jurassic holds a mid-position. From 
the studies of Marsh, Vogt, and others, we learn 
that the skull ofthis ancient form has proceeded 
from that of the reptile ancestor, far birdwards. 
It had teeth in grooves similar to those of Hcs- 
perornis , a bird we shall introduce further on. 
These teeth were found in the upper jaw, but 
they probably also occurred in lire lower jaw 
(Marsh). This character is decidedly a reptil- 
ian one, no living bird having true teeth. On 
the other hand, Professor Marsh found that its 
brain-cast pointed evidently in the direction of 
the brain of birds. 'Phis author further tells us, 
after an examination of the arm, that" the main 
interest centers in the manus and its free meta- 
carpals. In form and position these three bones 
are just what may be seen in some young birds 
of to-day. This is an important point, as it 
has been claimed that the hand of the Archce- 
optcryx is not at all avian, but reptilian. The 
bones of the reptile are indeed there, but they 
have already received the stamp of the bird.” 
Vogt tells us that two of the fingers were 
movable, and that the third was included in 
the integuments and bore the hand-feathers. 
There is no questioning the remarkable fact 
that the arm supported true feathers, — all 
the specimens prove this; and, moreover, 
these feathers constituted well-formed wings, 
rounded like those of a fowl. Its feet, on the 
other hand, were formed exactly like the typi- 
cal feet of any of our ordinary living birds; 
take a sparrow-hawk for example. Not only 
this, but the thighs above were covered by a 
soft down, the impression of which is dis- 
tinctly seen on the slate; and Professor Vogt 
seems to think that it may have worn a ruff 
of this down about its neck, as similar, though 
faint, markings of the same are found in that 
region, but w r e can hardly agree with him in 
this. No evidences of feathers are to be seen in 
any other part of the body, and we may safely 
conclude that its form was otherwise devoid of 
these appendages and that it wms clothed in a 
smooth reptilian skin. 
With such feet, and possessing fully formed 
wings, Archceoptcryx undoubtedly led largely 
an arboreal life, and strange indeed must 
have been its appearance, with its lizard’s 
body, its wings of a bird, and its long rep- 
tilian tail floating behind, lined on either side 
with its row of perfect feathers, and perhaps 
withal gorgeously tinted. Reptile it is not, nor 
is it by any means what is now known as a 
bird, though a type standing somew here be- 
tween the two. Its skin and appendages, its 
feet and legs, are bird, but the reptiles claim 
nearly all the rest of its organization; that is, 
if the line could be sharply drawn in any or- 
ganization, living or dead. Much have I 
thought and read of this unique form — this 
oldest land-bird we have any record of; this 
go-between among birds and reptiles ; this 
"Archceoptcryx , that became a part of the earth’s 
crust in the mesozoic period. V hat manner of 
creatures formed the long line of his predeces- 
sors, why did he disappear, and who are his de- 
scendants? Such questions can be answered, 
if it is for men to know them at all, only by 
