Geological Society. 1 15 



Var. ft. Testd tenui, subepidermide strummed, exalhidd, anfractibus 



superne lacteo marginatis, columella et umbilico rufo-fuscis. 

 Operculum tenue, rubrum, longitudinaUter creberrime transversim 



radiathn valde striatum. 

 Hub. "St. Nicolas, island of Zebu, Philippines ; found under stones. 

 This species is remarkable for the smallness of the operculum ; the 

 animal covers a part of the shell when at rest." H. Cuming. 



Var. /3. "Loon, isle of Bohol, Philippines; found under stones." 

 H. Cuming. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Nov. 1, 1843. — The following communications were read : — 



1. " On the Fossil Remains of Star-fishes of the Order Uphiuridce, 

 found in Britain." By Prof. Edward Forbes. 



After enumerating the several Opkiurida recorded as British fos- 

 sils, the author described four new species, viz. 1. Ophioderma tenui- 

 brachiata, and 2. Opkiura Murravi, discovered by Dr. Murray in the 

 lias near Scarborough; 3. Amphiura Pratti, discovered by Mr. Pratt 

 in the Oxford clay ; and 4. Ophiura cretaceo, communicated by Mr. 

 Tennant, from the chalk. The animals of this order appear to have 

 commenced their existence in the earliest periods of organic life, and 

 to have continued to the present day without any great modifications 

 of form, of family or generic value. They seem at present to be much 

 more numerous than at any former period. None of the fossil spe- 

 cies is identical with the existing. 



2. " On the Geology of Malta and Gozo." By Lieut. Spratt, R.N., 

 Assistant Surveyor H.M.S. Beacon. 



The formations composing these islands are tertiary, and appear, 

 from the author's researches, to belong to one geological epoch. 

 They are all of marine origin, and very regularly deposited in parallel 

 strata, but little inclined from the horizontal. They may be grouped 

 under four divisions : — 1. Coral limestone ; 2. Yellow sandstone and 

 blue clay; 3. Yellow and white calcareous sandy freestone; and 4. 

 Yellowish white semi-crystalline limestone. Each of these groups 

 is characterized by peculiar fossils, some of which are common to 

 more than one. By a careful examination of the organic remains in 

 each, the author was enabled to detect several extensive faults in 

 both islands. These displacements amount generally to about half 

 the present height of the islands above the sea, viz. about 300 feet, 

 and the direction of the faults is transverse to the line of elevation, 

 or the direction of the islands, that is, N.E. and S.W., the chain of 

 islands running N.W. and S.E. Advantage of the irregularities of 

 surface caused by these faults has been taken in constructing the 

 military defences of the island. The author concludes with a de- 

 tailed account of the several strata and their subdivisions, describing 

 the distribution of the contained fossils, a collection of which accom- 

 panied the paper. 



Nov. 15. — The following papers were read : — 



1. " On some Fossil Remains of an Anoplotherium, and two spe- 

 cies of Giraffe, from the tertiary strata of the Sewalik Hills in India." 

 By Dr. Falconer and Capt. Cautley. 

 Ann. k Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xiv. L 



