Feb. 8, 1872] 



NATURE 



281 



its course, the desert may be said to come down to its 

 margin. 



" Wherever these Nile deposits exist, there may be seen 

 clusters of date and doom palms, and fields, whilst further 

 back stand the mud-built villages of the natives ; and still 

 more inland are observed plateaus and terraces at variable 

 levels, covered with finely rounded angular stones and 

 drifted sand. These terrace cliffs continue, with broken 

 intervals, from below the first cataract up to the extreme 

 point attained by us at the top of the second cataract. 

 The observer may have some difficulty at first in tracing 

 these river terraces, but, after a little experience, there 

 will be no trouble in making them out. Let him proceed 

 from the river (i) across the alluvial plain (3), on which 

 stands Der, the capital of Nubia, to the ruined temple (4) 

 of Rameses the Great, on the verge of the cultivated 

 tract, then mount the plateau immediately above (5), and 

 wander inland until he gains a height of 130 ft. above the 

 highest mark of the inundation (2), and commence 

 digging among the stones, when he will come to a 

 reddish-brown soil, highly impregnated with natron, which 

 the natives collect for top-dressing on their fields below. 

 There he will find abundance of Nile shells distributed 

 throughout the soil from the margin of the cliff above the 

 temple inland for upwards of a mile, and until the drifted 

 sand of the desert makes it difficult or impossible to trace 

 them further ; indeed, the same appearances are observ- 

 able along tlie right bank of the river throughout the 



distance just indicated. These fossil fluviatile shells 

 belong to species nearly all of which have been proved to 

 exist ill the Nile at the present day, and comprise the 

 following species, determined from specimens sent to 

 the Geological Society of London, and examined by the 

 late eminent conchologist Mr. S. P. Woodward : — Uiiio 

 lithopltagtis {:') Bulimus pullus, Paliidma bnlimoides, 

 Aetheria semitiinata, Cyrena ilitminalis and variety 

 trigona, Iridina iiilotica." 



From these data Dr. Adams concludes that Egypt and 

 Nubia participated in like movements with other portions 

 of the Continent to the east and west ; but whether or 

 not, in common with them, they were entirely submerged 

 under the sea at the same epoch, is not so clear, as no 

 marine shells have yet turned up in either Egypt or 

 Nubia. 



At Malta, the author's researches were chiefly devoted 

 to an investigation of the fossil mammalian remains in 

 which this group of islands is so rich, for which purpose 

 the British Association, at the suggestion of Dr. Falconer, 

 Mr. Busk, and Captain Spratt, voted 60/. in 1863 in aid 

 of his explorations. These Maltese mammalian remains 

 areof unusual interest, comprising the Hippopotamus Pcnt- 

 landi, an animal about as large as the existing Nile 

 species ; the Elephas melitensis of Falconer, or Pigmy 



Maltese Elephant, not more than 4' ft. in height ; the still 

 smaller Elephas Falconeri of Busk, the average height of 

 which at the withers could not have exceeded 2.} to 3 ft. ; 

 a new large species, named by Dr. Adams, from the place 

 of its discovery, Elephas Mnaidiir, the Gigantic Fossil 

 Dormouse, Afyoxus melitensis, described by Dr. Falconer 

 to be "as big in comparison to the living dormouse as the 

 bandicoot rat to a mouse," and the Hollow-jawed Dor- 

 mouse, Myoxus Cartel, another new species detected by 

 the author. Conspicuous among other vertebrate remains 

 are those of the Gigantic Swan, Cygnus Falconeri, sxitiCixec 

 large swan, several other species of land and water birds, 

 at least two species of fresh-water turtles, and a lizard. 



With regard to the recent Molluscan fauna, a small 

 land-snail belonging to the genus Helix has been found 

 near St. Paul's Bay, and on the bare limestone cliffs of the 

 west highlands of Gozo two recent shells of the genus 

 Clausula, not apparently found in the adjoining continent 

 or Sicily ; and at present these represent the only living 

 animals that can be said to be peculiar to the Maltese 

 Islands. Lists of the fishes and birds of Malta are given 

 at the end, the majority of the latter being birds of pas- 

 sage, with respect to the habits of which some interesting 

 particulars are given. 



We have no information with regard to the vegetable 

 productions of the island, and this is to be regretted, as 

 observations made during so long a residence would 

 doubtless have elicited some new and interesting facts. 

 The author, however, has probably acted wisely in not 

 trusting to second-hand information which his own 

 botanical knowledge would not have enabled him to 



verify. We find the well-known Cynomorluni of Gozo, the 

 Fungus melitensis of the Knights of St. John, a flowering 

 plant, spoken of as a lichen. 



The volume is illustrated with some well-executed 

 woodcuts and lithographic plates, and we recommend it 

 to all interested in the subject. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



A Synonymic Catalogue of Diurnal Lcpldoptera. By 

 W. F. Kirby. (London : \'an Voorst, 1871.) 



The great work on the " Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera," 

 by Doubleday and Hewitson, completed after the lamented 

 death of the former by the assistance of Prof Westwood, 

 included under each genus a synonymic list of all the de- 

 scribed species which the authors were able to determine. 

 But more than twenty years have elapsed since the com- 

 pletion of this most valuable work, which still remains 

 without a competitor either in this country or on the Con- 

 tinent, and thus our means of reference upon systematic 

 matters connected with the beautiful and interesting 

 group of butterflies generally, have remained at what must 

 be regarded nowadays as a somewhat antiquated stand- 

 point, whilst the business of describing has been carried 

 on with the most astonishing energy. In Britain Double- 

 day's collaborateur Hewitson, and his successor Butler, 

 have described an almost inconceivable multitude 

 of new species, and a considerable number have 

 also been added to the list by Bates and Wallace ; 

 whilst on the Continent the Brothers Felder and Dr. 

 Herrich-Schaffer have been equally active. New views 

 have also been put forward as to the natural sequence and 

 limitation of the groups (families and subfamihes) into 

 which the great Rhopalocerous tribe is divided, and the 



