436 THE K'ATURAL niSTOEY EEYIEW. 



March 22nd, 1865. 



The following communications were read : — 1. " Notes on the 

 Caves of Gibmltar." By Lieutenant Charles "Warren, E.E. Com- 

 municated by the Secretary of State for "War through Sir E. I. Mur- 

 chison, K.C.B., F.E.S., F.Gr.S. — The principal caves at G-ibraltar are 

 SJ:. Michael's, Martin's, Grlen Eocky, Genista, Asylum Tank, Poco 

 Eoco, and three under the Signal Station, on the eastern face of the 

 rock. The author describes the salient features of St. Michael's 

 Cave, stating that it is a portion of a transverse cleft through the 

 rock, and was probably open to view at no very remote historical 

 period ; and he briefly noticed the cave at Poco Eoco, which he con- 

 siders to be a portion of the fissure which extends from Bell Lane, in 

 the toTVTi, to the village of Catalan Bay, the noise of blasting having 

 been heard on more than one occasion through the apparently solid 

 rock. In conclusion, Lieut. Warren offered his services in the event 

 of a geological survey of Gibraltar being undertaken. 



2. " On the asserted occurrence of Human Bones, in the ancient 

 fluviatile deposits of the Nile and the Ganges, with comparative re- 

 marks on the Alluvial Formation of the two Yalleys." By the late 

 Hugh Falconer, M.D., F.E.S., F.G.S.— In this communication the 

 author brought together the few instances on record of the occiu'rence 

 of mammalian fossil remains in the Valley of the Nile ; and instituted 

 a comparison between the Alluvial deposits of the Nile and those of 

 the upper part of the Valley of the Ganges which had come under 

 his own ohservation. According to certain statements, fossil human 

 bones have been met with in both of these subtropical valleys ; and 

 Dr. Falconer remarked that at the present time the consideration of 

 the general inferences to which these cases lead may probably be of 

 some use. After discussing at some length the cases in which human 

 and other mammalian bones had been stated to occur in the Valley 

 of the Nile, Dr. Falconer described the general features of the Allu- 

 vial deposits of the valleys of the Ganges and Jumna, stating what 

 organic remains had been found in them. In a comparison of the two 

 regions. Dr. Falconer observed that there is a striking analogy be- 

 tween the Alluvial deposits occurring along the banks of the Nile on 

 the one hand, and the Ganges and Jumna on the other, the most ob- 

 vious being the great abundance, in both cases, of argil laceo-calcareous 

 concretions, forming an impure kind of travertine, and in the lower- 



