The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-16
BIRDS GLORIFIED REPTILES.
Reasons Given by q Naturalist for . Some
what PoeticaI Dcnnition.
From the Boston Ercnino Transcripts.

From The Boston Erenino TrdnsoIpt.
Ralph Hoffman gave the first OF q series
Of six lectures on Saturday afternoon In
the Walker Building. Massachusetts, Ineti-
tute OF Technology. Many children who
! are Interested IN the etudy were present In
tho audience. In this lecture he went back
20 tho ages before there were birds and studied
the gradual development from the more
primitive forms. He said In part: Very
few of the leading facts OF geology have yet
become the common property OF the Intelligent
public. When the great beds OF coal WIRE
forming In the region now occupied by the
Appalachian Mountains. the world was still
So young that the Appalachian range. though
Older than the vast ranges of the Rockies. had
not yet risen from the floor OF the sea. The
most highly developed animals on the earth
were tshcs and the lower reptiles. and there
were no birds and no The plants
were for the most part relatives OF our present
ferns, club moss and horsetails. There
we're no conspicuous flowers. no bees or
butterflies.
AFTER the lapse OF two more great periods.
but still before the Rockies had risen from
the seq. reptiles had reached a tremendous
development. and very varied types were
! living In the sea. on the earth. and In tho
: mir, some swan. some walked on two feet
and held to the trees by their fore limbs.
still others few through the air by means
OF membranes stretched between ta asn nm nm,
bony tail which still charactertzes a reptile.
In the same rocks in which the first remains
an an T Gnus1%li SsV good portrait of the first bird.
1t Is n bird because u has feathers. but
was at first considered a reptile because soaS Il
10 which its. tail feathers are attached In
successive pairs.
THE discovery OF this extremely inter-
esting fossil made certain the truth WHICH
Prof Huyley's anatomical studies bad already
led him 90 announce that a bird Is only :
r1nEfnpH ranttlR ITnm Gnma ono branch
had eyeiopcd whose scales had gradually
GHirSS the power Of niehti When he became
clothed with feathers and his ~foreleRs, were
so modified that be could ny he w9s no ionseI
reptilc-like characteristics, such as teeth
and a bony tail. The successive ,stere by
evolved wa'irH 'I from Tits primitive bird are little
understood. We know from the discoveries
Of Prof March TINT teeth persisted after the
limbs had become greatly, modified, and, we
! know that Just before the glacial period.
thousand wears ago, the world was inhabited
by birds which belonged to the same fsmilie.
s snH n dtSIiy OF from from Sa tRoss se that s exls1 tooday.@S
The structure of the present. bird was then
considered. that the nature OF It's orsanl.n'
might be compared TO that OF other verte-
brates. The most obvious difference between
a bird and that OF ALMOST every other yerte-
lion OF the fore limbs Of a bird for flight has
supcrfcially obliterated their resemblance to
tho fore limbs of other vertebrates.
The lIghtness Of the bones Of a bird, es,
pecially fitting them for flight, is obtained
nv the spongy nature OF the bones. and by
the absence OF marrow, and by the eris-
tence of air spaces In the larger bones which
open into air sacs in the body OF the bird.
The shape, moreover. OF the birds. body Is
well suited 10 flight, the breast Is keel-shaped,
the wings are attached to the highest part
of the thoraN; the arrangement OF the inter-
nal organs by which the lungs and air spaces
arc placed high while the heavy digestive
organs, tho breast bone and its heavy muscles
below. IL a natural ballasting OF the freight
which the bird has to carry through the air.
and gives the body great stability. stu the
natural adaptations OF the bird would little
avail for forcing IL through the air " II were
not for the feathers at once the sail and pro-
pellor Of the boat. If a single feather Is eN-
amined II will be seen 10 consist OF a stout
Quill from which two sets Of barbs extend,
ono on either side. These barbs are DIVIDED
again into arbule. { ON w7ioh exta d ,thI
smaller growths called harhicels and the .
n Q III nj he'd again With IL tie hook which
serve TO hold the la bicels OF the two
adjacent barbs tightly together, and thus
present \ strong. Utmost alright, surface
Without these hooks Hight would be. tnpos-
sible. II is a significant fact that the feathers
Of ostrichcs and their kin. all nishtless BIRDS.
lack these baTbs.