. St. Nicholas [serial] . as small ears and the other bigones, one powerful jaws and the other weak 3902.] MOTHER NATURE AND THE JOINTED STICK. III5 ones, one small eyes and the other very largeones. To those who study geology the earth itself isan open book with pages of stone illustrated bystone models ofthe strange andweird plants andanimals whichformerly livedupon the globe:birds with teeth,birds that didnot wear mittensto conceal theirwell-formedjointed fingers;tiny horses thathad five toes inplace of one;rhinoceros-likecreatures whichlaid eggs andhad tails likealligators; andbig flying d
. St. Nicholas [serial] . as small ears and the other bigones, one powerful jaws and the other weak 3902.] MOTHER NATURE AND THE JOINTED STICK. III5 ones, one small eyes and the other very largeones. To those who study geology the earth itself isan open book with pages of stone illustrated bystone models ofthe strange andweird plants andanimals whichformerly livedupon the globe:birds with teeth,birds that didnot wear mittensto conceal theirwell-formedjointed fingers;tiny horses thathad five toes inplace of one;rhinoceros-likecreatures whichlaid eggs andhad tails likealligators; andbig flying drag-ons that wouldhave frightenedeven the dough-ty St. George! But even these strange monsters, the lizard-like birds or bird-like lizards and the funny lit-tle five-toed horses, had frames built upon theprinciple of the jointed stick, and legs and armsmade on the same principle as those shownin the accompanying illustrations, while fromthe very beginning all their knees and elbowsbent the same way as do ours to this FIG. 16. DONKEY AND CLOWN WITH THE SAME LETTERS AT SIMILAR JOINTS. Study of these things will increase yourwonder at the simplicity of the plan and theperfection of natures animated machines, andincrease your awe for the skill of the infinite mind which con-structs so manystrange and va-ried forms bysimply modify-ing the propor-tions of theoriginal plan. The moreknowingly youwatch the littlesquirrels as theyhold their foodin their tinyhands, and thebirds hoppingaround on theirtoes, with theirknees concealedin the feathersof their bodies,or with out-stretched armssailing far over-head, the greaterwill be your love for your undeveloped bro-thers of the woods. The more you think of these things the morebrutal will it seem to hunt with bullets andstones our fellow-inhabitants of this big ballwe call the earth, and of which, owing to oursuperior minds, in many respects we are atpresent the lords and masters.
Size: 1568px × 1594px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidstnicholasserial292dodg
