CREATION BY EVOLUTION
although it agrees in its proportions with the hind foot of other birds, has three separate bones in its arch, similar to the bones that are found in its reptilian ancestor. In the wing the bones of the forearm, the wrist, and the lingers are all separate, and the fingers end in big claws, so that they may have been used for capturing and handling food in exactly the way they were used by the reptilian ancestor, but in a way that no other bird does. Instead of the horny beak of a bird, Archaeopteryx has a row of little teeth that are exactly like those of a lizard. But one of the most interesting features of Archaeopteryx is its bony tail, which is longer than the rest of its body and along which there are two rows of quill feathers (Fig. 2) . In the stage that is here represented, in which the wings were not big enough and not rightly placed to support the whole weight of the body and the tail feathers had to carry the hinder part of the body, the long tail was a necessity, but an unfortunate one, because it made it impossible for Archaeopteryx to fly with the perfection exhibited by such modern birds as the eagles and seagulls. An eagle rises from the ground by a few powerful strokes of its great wings and then, as soon as it has reached a certain height, it stretches its wings outward and upward, holding them motionless, except for tiny adjustments of their tips for steering, and soars away in gradually widening circles until it finally may become almost too small to be visible. Then, seeing a small animal on the ground, it partly closes its wings, falls headlong to the ground, stops suddenly by expanding its wings and short tail, and lands directly on its prey. No aeroplane can copy this dive, sudden stop, and accurate landing, because an aeroplane becomes uncontrollable when its speed falls below very high speed; and when it stops it must run for some way along the ground.
During the last few years we have learned of the condi-
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