546 



PALMIPEDES. 



; 231. formations. The fossil from 



the Wealden, which I formerly 

 believed, with Cuvier and Dr. 

 Mantel), 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- 



Portions of a wing-bone, nat. thick- ,, , -j j -ji ,1 



ness ; length of the original bone equally three-sided, with the 



ff 



tmnsverse section, Smooth d flat, and the 



at the middle of the bone. Chalk. angleg roun d e d off. The OSSC- 



* See ' Proceedings of the Geological Society,' Dec. 17, 1845. 



