1866. ] Geology. 539 
rocks, and pass through the whole thickness of the Magnesian lime- 
stone to an unknown depth in the lower New Red Sandstone beneath. 
A large number of bones—unrolled and, with one exception, un- 
gnawed, but occasionally much broken—were found embedded in a 
red loam. Amongst them was a lower jaw, which Professor Owen 
had identified as that of Felis lynx (variety Cervaria), a north 
Asiatic animal, and a fossil new to Britain. 
In the “Second Report on the Maltese Caves,” Dr. L. Adams, 
after giving descriptions of the characters and deposits of several 
Caverns and Fissures in Malta,” thus concludes: “ From a digest 
of all the evidence deducible from the geological structure and 
fossil fauna enumerated in this and the previous report, it may be 
inferred that the old Miocene formations of which the Maltese 
group are composed underwent extensive upheavals and formed a 
considerable tract of land, tenanted by vast herds of hippopotami, 
elephants, and other quadrupeds, together with birds and reptiles 
almost all specifically distinct from any species yet found elsewhere, 
and at a time when the land testacea were identical with those now 
inhabiting the islands ; that at a subsequent period the whole, or at 
least by far the greater portion, of this area was again submerged, 
and re-elevated at a still later period, when, after various oscillations 
of level, the subterranean movements ceased, leaving the present 
insular fragments.” 
The “ Kent’s Cavern Committee” also sent in a “Second Report,” 
from which it appeared that during the twelve months which have 
elapsed since the First Report was presented, they have carried on 
their labours in the original rigorous method, and invariably in 
virgin ground. A large number of bones have been found, but so 
far as is at present known no new species have been added to the 
list of animals given last year. Upwards of 70 flint “ implements ” 
have been met with, making a total of something more than 100 
from the commencement of the work. They resolve themselves 
into three classes—flakes, and lanceolate, and oval implements. The 
lower levels of cave earth have, on the whole, yielded fewer tools- 
than the upper, but those found in the lowest zones are the most 
elaborately finished of the cavern series of implements. A whetstone 
and several pieces of burnt bones have been found in the cave earth, 
with the flmts and the remains of the extinct mammals. The 
Committee observe, in conclusion, that “the careful and unremitting 
labour bestowed on the cavern during the last year and a half has 
produced a large accumulation of facts, consistent with one another 
and with those recorded by the earlier explorers. Of the discoveries 
made, the uniform testimony is that beneath a thick floor of stalag- 
mite, so difficult to work as to require excellent tools and untiring 
perseverance, there are everywhere found, inosculating with bones 
VOL. II. 20 
