April 6, 1882] 
they are ahead of us in fishery economy. We shall 
doubtless be able, when the exhibition opens, to find 
some points of interest worthy of being alluded to in a 
future number of NATURE. 
THE WINGS OF PTERODACTYLES' 
JT a2 first Pterosaurians discovered were recognised as 
flying animals, but were thought to be bats. As 
soon as their general structure became known, they were 
classed with the reptiles, although it was considered pos- 
sible that their power of flight was due to feathers. Later 
their bones were mistaken for those of birds by various 
experienced anatomists, and others regarded them as 
sharing important characters with that group. Some 
anatomists, however, believed that the fore-limbs of 
Pterodactyles were used for swimming rather than for 
flight, and this view has found supporters within the 
present decade. A single fortunate discovery, made a 
few years since, has done much to settle the question as 
to the wings of Pterodactyles, as well as their mode of 
flight, and it is the aim of the present article to place on 
ecord some of the more important facts thus brought to 
ight. 
NATURE 
531 
The specimen to be described was found in 1873, near 
Eichstidt, Bavaria, in the same lithographic slates that 
have yielded Archeopteryx, Compsognathus, and so many 
other Jurassic fossils known to fame. This specimen, 
which represents a new species of the genus Rhampho- 
rhynchus, is ina remarkable state of preservation. The 
bones of the skeleton are nearly all in position, and those 
of both wings show very perfect impressions of volant 
membranes still attached to them. Moreover, the extre- 
mity of the long tail supported a separate vertical mem- 
brane, which was evidently used as a rudder in flight. 
These peculiar features are well shown In Fig. 1, which 
represents the fossil one-fourth the natural size. 
The discovery of this unique specimen naturally at- 
tracted much attention at the time, and many efforts were 
made to secure it for European museums. The writer 
was then at work on the toothless Pterodactyles which he 
had recently found in the Cretaceous of Kansas, and 
believing the present specimen important for his investi- 
gations, sent a message by cable to a friend in Germany, 
and purchased it for the museum of Yale College, where 
it is now deposited. E 
The Wing Membranes.—A careful examination of this 
fossil shows that the patagium of the wings was a thin 
One-fourth natural size. 
The caudal membrane is seen from the left side. 
Fic. 1.—Rhamphorhynchus phylurus, Marsh. 
membranes are expcsed, 
smooth membrane, very similar to that of modern bats. 
As the wings were partially folded at the time of entomb- 
ment, the volant membranes were naturally contracted 
into folds, and the surface was also marked by delicate 
striae. At first sight, these striae might readily be mis- 
taken for a thin coating of hair, but on closer investiga- 
tion they are seen to be minute wrinkles in the surface of 
the membranes, the under-side of which is exposed. The 
wing membranes appear to have been attached in front 
along the entire length of the arm, and out to the end of 
the elongated wing finger. From this point the outer 
margin curved inward and backward, to the hind foot. 
The membrane evidently extended from the hind foot 
to near the base of the tail, but the exact outline of this 
portion cannot at present be determined. It was probably 
not far from the position assigned it in the restoration 
attempted in the cut given below, Fig. 3. The attach- 
ment of the inner margin of the membrane to the body 
was doubtless similar to that seen in bats and flying 
squirrels. 
In front of the arm there was likewise a fold of the 
~ * Communicated ky the zuthor. This article will also appear in the 
American Journal of Science for April. 
‘The animal lies upon the tack, and the under surfaces of the wing 
skin extending probably from near the skoulder to the 
wrist, as indicated in Fig. 3. This fold inclosed a pe- 
culiar bone (pteroid), the nature and function of which 
will be discussed below in considering the osteology of 
this part of the skeleton. 
The Caudal Membrane —The greater portion of the 
tail of this specimen was free, and without volant attach- 
ments. The distal extremity, however, including the last 
sixteen short vertebrae, supported a vertical membrane, 
which is shown in Fig. 1 and also in Fig. 2. This fe- 
culiar caudal appendage was of somewhat greater thick- 
ness than the patagial membrane of the wings. It was 
rhomboid in outline, and its upper and lower portions 
were slightly unequal in form and size. The upper part 
was kept in position by a series of spines, sent off one 
from near the middle of each vertebral centrum, and thus 
clearly representing neural spines. The lower half also 
was strengthened by similar spines, which descended from 
near the junction of the vertebrae, and hence were homo- 
logous with chevron bones. These spines were carti- 
laginous, and flexible, but sufficiently firm in texture to 
keep the membrane in an upright position. 
The Scapular Arch—The osteology of the scapular 
