216 



REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, — 1915. 



rendering the work even more dfficult ; these, however, must have been 

 carried into the fissure together with the bones. All the bones are 

 found lying in such confusion that there is no doubt they have been 

 carried into the fissure by some inrush of water. 



The shape of the fissure cannot at present be imagined, for, as 

 already stated, it seems to extend considerably in all directions, and 

 what has often been thought to be the bottom of it was only some 

 large stone which has been also introduced there. 



The smaller specimens of avian remains belong to the species 

 whose identification will also be due to the speciahsts of the South 

 Kensington Museum. 



Burmeghez Quarries. — These extensive quarries, known as ' II 

 Barrieri ta Burmeghez,' are situated at a short distance from the Herba 





^(^(K 



"'K'^ 



^'>MiL 



Section of ' Herba Fissure 1.' 



1. Sus scrofa (pig). 



2. Gervus daphus var. iarbarus (stag). 



3. ditto ditto + Tapes decussata. 



4. Tortoise and avian remains. 



5. Swan, more cervian remains, and human teeth. 



quarry, and can be also reached from the road which leads from the 

 Marsa to Mkabba. Several of these quarries have been already con- 

 verted into cultivated fields, but many are still worked, and in these 

 fissures are continually met with. 



The Fissures. — These, which have been also dug by Dr. T. Ashby, 

 are all situated at a great depth from the surface (perhaps fifty feet or 

 more), and they are all of the slanting crevices type. The animal 

 remains found in them, and which Dr. Ashby consigned to me for ex- 

 amination, consist of the remains of the stag which must have been so 

 common in those localities, and which Prof. Tagliaferro describes as a 



