352 J. H. Coolie — Geological Notes on Gozo. 



FORAMINIFEEA. 



In the washings of about two pounds of the material, the following 

 species were observed : 



OrbuUna universa, di Oxb. Trimcatulina ungeriana, d^Ovh. 



Globigerina bulloides. JSfodosaria sp. ? (broken). 



Cristellaria sp. ? Nodosaria obliquestriata, Reuss. (broken). 



Clavulina cylindrica, Hantken. Many fragments of others. 



Of the land shells the most numerous are those belonging to the 

 Helicid^. 



The specimens are always found in an excellent state of preserva- 

 tion, and in some cases even the original colour of the bands being 

 preserved. Minute specimens of Helix virgata ? appear present in 

 the greatest abundance ; and by washing a portion of the deposit in 

 a sieve, considerable quantities of them may be obtained. 



Next in descending order occurs a layer of yellowish grey loamy 

 earth, but the transition between it and the overlying limestone is 

 so gradual, as to render it a matter of considerable difficulty to 

 determine where the one ends and the other begins. 



Being of a loose texture the bed easily disintegrates, and thus, by 

 undermining the superincumbent strata, it causes portions of them 

 to break away from the main mass and roll down the slopes. 



This loam, like the overlying limestone, abounds in fossil land- 

 shells ; but no Mammalian remains appear to be present. Water- 

 worn pebbles of all shapes and sizes are to be found interspersed 

 throughout every part of the bed ; but in the loam, though they 

 are more numerous than in the indurated rock above ; they are, in 

 the aggregate, much smaller. An examination of a number of these 

 pebbles shows that they have been derived from the three great 

 limestone formations of the islands (Beds I. IV. and V.) in, approxi- 

 mately, the following proportions : — 



Bed I. Upper Limestone 10 to 15 per cent. 



Bed IV. Globigerina Limestone 50 to 70 ,, 



Bed V. Lower Limestone 20 to 30 ,, 



Black Limestone 10 to 15 ,, 



All of these pebbles are much harder than the rock from which 

 they were derived ; and, when broken, they usually present the 

 appearance of a hard external ring of rock of a semi-crystalline 

 character, within which is encased a nucleus of limestone, that is 

 similar in every respect to the rock of the bed from whence the 

 pebble bed had been derived. 



This change in the external part of the pebble is apparently due 

 to the infiltration of the limewater, which, after depositing its burden 

 of lime in the interstices of the stone, slowly evaporated, and thus 

 leaves the stone more compact and of a closer texture that when the 

 water was first absorbed in it. The same phenomenon is observable 

 wherever the Limestone beds of the Maltese Series crop out as a 

 surface deposit. 



Another remarkable feature of this Pleistocene bed is the extra- 

 ordinary quantity of Black Limestone pebbles that occur in it. 



Notwithstanding a diligent search in the district around, I was 



