404 CRETACEOUS REPTILES. 
With regard to the specific name of the unquestionable species of Pterodactyle 
from the chalk (Tab. XX XVIII. figs. 6 & 7): this being equalled in size by some 
other species of true Pterodactyle, and surpassed by one, the term ‘ giganteus’ 
or ‘gigantic’ is obviously a misnomer. Must that ‘nomen triviale,’ then, be 
retained for the new deep-jawed and cone-beaked Pterodactyle of the chalk, be- 
cause certain bones of another and larger animal of a different species have been 
erroneously referred to it? This is a question for the Committee of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science, who have undertaken the difficult 
but desirable duty of establishing the Rules of Nomenclature in Zoology. The 
mere coining of names for things glanced at and imperfectly understood,—the 
fabrication of signs without due comprehension of the thing signified,—becomes 
a hindrance instead of a furtherance of true knowledge. 
fig. 1 to determine the characters of the Pterodactyle, and fig. 9 those of the Bird, in order to form a 
conclusion as to the grounds for determining fossil bones that have influenced this able and inde- 
fatigable microscopical observer. 
