2 ME. A. L. ADAMS ON THE OSTEOLOGT OF 



and bones of the fossil elephants discovered by me during five years exiilorations in the 

 caves, fissures, and alluvial deposits of these islands'. My collections comprehend 

 remains of several hundreds of elephants of all ages, from the unborn calf to the aged. 

 Although the large bones are for the most part imperfect, such is not the case with the 

 small bones and teeth, many of which are entire and in good states of preservation. 

 Although the following descriptions are strictly anatomical, it appears to me important 

 that some notice should be furnished also in relation to the physical aspect and localities 

 where the remains were discovered, seeing that frequent allusion will be made to parti- 

 cular deposits where certain specimens were found. The accompanying map, therefore, 

 shows the sui'face formations and names of all the ossiferous caves, fissures, and alluvial 

 soils hitherto recorded. These may be arranged in the following chronological order. 



The Cave of Melliha (see Map No. 1) was discovered accidentally in 1840. It 

 existed in the Upper Limestone, and contained remains of Hippopotamus pentlandi and 

 perhaps a much smaller species. The teeth and bones were contained in a conglomerate 

 formed of blue marl and much-rounded and water-worn fragments of the parent rock. 



The Gandia Fissure (No. 2) was first discovered (accidentally) in 1857, and was 

 reopened by me in 1865. It was a gaping rent in the calcareous sandstone, and con- 

 tained the red soil of the surface intermixed with fragments of the parent rock, among 

 which were numerous entire and broken teeth and bones, chiefly of the largest elephant, 

 with a distal extremity of the radius of Hippopotamus^, a few bones and teeth of 

 Myoxus melitensis, and large bones of birds, evidently Anseres and other aquatic forms. 

 All were huddled together without any order whatever. 



The Malak Cave (No. 3) was discovered (also accidentally) in 1858. It seems to have 

 been a cavern opening only horizontally. The deposits on its floor were of precisely the 

 same character as those of Melliha, with the same description of animal remains, and 

 the addition that a solitary molar of one or other of the elephants was discovered by me 

 in the conglomerate, which was composed of blue marl and fragments of the Lower 

 Limestone in which the cavern was formed. Many of the above-mentioned remains 

 had been much injured from rolling ; but many molars of Hippopotamus pentlandi and 

 //. minutus were perfect. On the top of this deposit lay several inches of red soil and 

 cavern-earth infiltrated by calcareous drippings ; and profusely intermixed were abundant 

 remains of Myoxus melitensis, birds' bones, and entire recent land-shells. Here there 

 were none of the pronounced indications of turbulent aqueous action which are seen in 

 the substratum ; and a line of demarcation divided the two formations. 



The Zebbug Cave (No. 4) was discovered by chance in 1859. It was situated in the 

 calcareous sandstone, and contained red and blue clays, with numerous remains of the 

 various species of elephants and birds described by Falconer, Busk, and Parker in the 



' The geological details are deaoi-ibed in my work, ' Natural History and Archaeology of the Nile Valley and 

 Maltese Islands,' p. 161 : Edmouston and Douglas, 1870. 

 • PI. XI. fig. 21. 



