Mr. T. Davidson on the Brachiopoda of the Maltese Islands. 5 
surement, and, considering the amount of degradation and denu- 
dation to which its surface has been exposed, the average here 
given is perhaps far under the original thickness of the deposit. 
Description of the Brachwopoda. 
By Tuomas Davinson, F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. 
Some short time ago, Dr. Leith Adams, who has devoted 
three years to the careful study of the geology of the Maltese 
Islands, forwarded for my examination and description a very 
interesting series of the Miocene Brachiopoda he had been able 
to assemble, which, I believe, may be referred to the following 
seven species :— 
ie sae en Vv 
o : 8 3 
Se rede e  Nabcar es 
ag =I | e 8 
Ba | a Soa ass 
1. Terebratula sinuosa, Brocchi (perhaps 
a variety of T. ampulla) ........ * * * * 
2. Terebratula minor, Philippi (perhaps 
a small variety of T. vitrea)...... * k 
3. Terebratulina caput-serpentis, Linn. . * 
4. Megerlia truncata, Linn. .......... * * 
5. Argiope decollata, Chemnitz........ * 
6. Thecidium Adamsi, Macdonald...... * * 
7. Rhynchonella bipartita, Brocchi ....|  * 
Of these seven species, four (nos. 2, 3, 4, & 5) are also found 
recent in the Mediterranean. 
In ‘ The Geologist’ for December 1862, I described and figured 
(pl. 24. fig. 19), under the denomination of Waldheimia Gari- 
baldiana, a very fine new species which Mr. Etheridge assures 
me he had received from Malta; but, as not a trace of this shell 
has been discovered in that island, it will not be reproduced in 
the present paper. Through the kindness of M. Michelotti of 
Turin, Prof. Meneghini of Pisa, and Prof. Sequenza of Messina, 
I have been able to compare our Maltese specimens with those 
found in formations of a similar age in Italy, and am also in- 
debted to those gentlemen for much interestg information in 
connexion with their local distribution *. 
* Several British paleontologists are at present engaged in the study of 
Maltese Miocene fossils. Dr. Wright has prepared a valuable memoir on 
the Echinodermata. Mr. Rupert Jones has published an interesting account 
of the Foraminifera m the April (1864) Number of ‘The Geologist,’ 
wherein much valuable information will be found; and I am moreover in- 
formed that the Bryozoa and Corals will be shortly published. 
