546 
Se J 
Portions of a wing-bone, nat. thick- 
ness ; length of the original bone 
twelve inches. 
* Outline of transverse section, 
at the middle of the bone. 
PALMIPEDES. 
Chalk. 
formations. The fossil from 
the Wealden, which I formerly 
believed, with Cuvier and Dr. 
Mantell, to belong to a Wa- 
ding-bird, I have since ad- 
duced reasons for referring to 
the extinct genus of flying rep- 
tiles, called Pterodactyle.* 
The portions of fossil bone 
figured in the present section 
were obtained by the Earl of 
Enniskillen from the chalk near 
Maidstone, and were referred 
by his Lordship and Dr. Buck- 
land to the class of birds: the 
accuracy of which determina- 
tion seems to be proved by the 
smaller fossil (fig. 230), and to 
be rendered highly probable by 
the size and general form of 
the larger fossil (fig. 231). 
This fossil is the shaft of a 
long bone, and is twelve inches 
in length, with one extremity 
mutilated, but nearly entire, 
and the other broken off. The 
shaft of the bone preserves a 
pretty regular and uniform size, 
and is slightly bent: it is un- 
equally three-sided, with the 
sides smooth and flat, and the 
angles rounded off. The ogsse- 
* See ‘ Proceedings of the Geological Society,’ Dec. 17, 1845. 
