Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-08-12

lows camp. Now look at this"
II was a nearer view of the same
scene. though the photograph was ex-
tremely defective. | could distinctly /
see an isolated, tree crowned pinnacle
of rock which was detached from the
Crag-
81 have no doubt of it at ALL" said l.
~Weu. that is something gained
said he I'VE progress. do we not? |
Now. will you please look at the fop of /
that rocky pinnacle? DO you onserV
something there:"
"An enormous tree"
but on the treeY'
"a large bird" said /.
He handed me lens.
Yes" I said, peering through it, "a |
large bird stands on the tree 1t ap- !
pears to have a considerable beak. /
should say It was a pelican"
''I cannot congratulate you upon |
your eyesfght,'' said the professor. 1T !
is not a pelican, nor, indeed, is 1t a !
bird. It may interest you to know
that 1 succeeded in shooting that par
ticular specimen. It was the only abb
solute proof of my experiences which
1 was able to bring away with me"
"a monstrous batr' suggested
Nothing of the sort" said the pro
fessor severely. Living, as 1 do, in
an educated and scientific atmosphere,
I could not have conceived that the
first PRINCIPLES of zoology were SO lit
tie known. Is it possible that you
do not know the elementary fact in
comparative anatomy that the wing
of a bird is really the forearm, while
the wing of a bat consists of three
elongated fingers with membranes be-
tween? Now, in this case the bone is
certainly not the forearm, and you can
see for yourself that this is a single
membrane hanging upon single bona
and therefore that it cannot belong to
a bat But, If it is neither bird nor
bat, what is it,"
NV small stock of knowledge was
! exhausted.
81 really do not know" said I.
He opened the standard work to
which he had already referred me-
| Here said he, pointing to the pic
! ture of an extraordinary flying mon
/ ster. lis an excellent reproduction of
/ the dimorphodon, or pterodactyl, fly
| ing reptile of the jurassic period. On
the next page is a diagram of the
| mechanism of its wing. Kindly com
pare it with the specimen in your
/ hand"
/ A wave of Amusement passed over
! me as I looked. l was convinced.
/ There could be no getting away from
/ it. The cumulative proof was over
wheIming. The sketch, the photo
| graphs. the narrative and now the ac-
/ tual specimen--the evidence was COM
pIetc. I said Sol said so warmly,
! for l felt that the professor was an i'll
used man. He leaned back in his
chair with dropping eyelids and toll
Grant smile. basking in this sudden
/ CLEAN of sunshine. He purred with
. satisfaction.
And then. sir, what did you do
next"
1T was the wet season. Mr.. Malone.
and my stores We're exhausted. l eX-
plOred some portion of this huge cliff,
but I was unable to find any way to
scale it. The pyramidal rock upon
which I saw and shot the pterodactyl
was more accessible. Being something
Of a cragsman, I did manage to get
halfway to the top of that. From that
height I had a better idea of the plateau
/ upon the top Of the crags. 1t appeared
| to be very large Neither to east nor
to west could l see any end to the Wis
ia Of green capped cliffs. Below it is
swampy, jungly region, full of snakes,
| insects and fever. 1t is a natural pro
lection to this singular country
Did you see any other trace of life?"
mo, sir, 1 did not, but during the
| week that we lay encamped at the
base Of the cliff we heard some very
strange noises from above"
But the creature that the American
drew-hOw do you account for that:"
I'VE can only suppose that he must
have made his way to the summit and
seen it there. We know, therefore.
UnaC Jnere Is a way up. we know
equally that it must be a very diff
cult one; otherwise the creatures
would have come down and overrun
the surrounding country. Surely that
is clear"
But how did they come to be there?'
81 do not think that the problem is a
very obscure onc;;' said the professor
There can only be one explanation.
South America is, as you may have
heard, a granite continent At this
single point in the interior there has
been, in some far distant age, a great
sudden volcanic upheav2l. These cliffs,
may remark, are basaltic and there
fore plutonic- An area as large per-
haps as Sussex has been lifted up en-
bloc with all its living contents and
cut on by perpendicular precipfces Of
q hardness which defies erosion from
all the rest Of the continent. What is
the result? Why, the Ordinary laws of
nature are suspended The various
checks which influence the struggle
Ut existence in the world at large are
ali neuTaltzed or altered. Creatures
survive which would otherwise disap-
| pear. You will observe that both the
! pterodactyl and the stegosaurus are
jurassic and therefore of a great age
in the order of life They have been