Geological Society of London. 41 



washed out. Floating ice deposited in this sea the fragments of 

 rocks derived from northern sources, and these became mixed with 

 ]ocal rocks and clays brought down from surrounding areas. The 

 greater part of the Boulder-clay in the Vale of Clvvyd was probably 

 deposited as the land was being raised out of this Mid-Glacial sea. 

 During the process of elevation the caverns became again disturbed 

 by marine action and the upper fine reddish loam and the laminated 

 clays were deposited. It seemed to the author impossible to avoid 

 the conclusion that these caverns must have been submerged, and 

 afterwards elevated to their present height of about 400 feet above 

 the level of the sea, since they were occupied by Palaeolithic man 

 and the Pleistocene animals. 



2. " On the Occurrence of the Crocodilian Genus Tomistoma in the 

 Miocene of the Maltese Islands." By E. Lydekker, Esq., F.G.S. 



The author described the anterior portion of the cranial rostrum 

 of a Crocodilian from the Miocene of Malta, to which Prof. Sir R. 

 Owen has given the MS. name of Melitosaurus chamjjsoides. The 

 author considered that there were no characters by which the spe- 

 cimen could be generically distinguished from Tomistoma. Mention 

 was made of a second crocodilian skull from the Miocene of the 

 Maltese Islands, and of a third from Lower Austria, both of which 

 the author thought might be included in the same genus. 



3. "Description of the Cranium of a new Species of Erinaceus 

 from the Upper Miocene of CEningen." By B. Lydekker, Esq., F.G.S. 



The author described the palatal half of the cranium of a large 

 species of Erinaceus from the Upper Miocene of CEningen, which he 

 regarded as closely allied to the existing E. europesus, and proposed 

 to name E. ceningensis. 



(2.)— Dec. 2, 1885.— Prof. T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, L.L.D., F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. — The following communications were read : 



1. " On some Borings in Kent. — A Contribution to the Deep- 

 seated Geology of the London Basin." By W. Whitaker, B.A., 

 F.G.S., Assoc. Inst. C.E. (Communicated by permission of the 

 Director-General of the Geological Survey.) 



Seven deep borings in the eastern part of Kent were described, all 

 of them reaching to the Gault. The chief one is at Chatham Dock- 

 yard, where after passing through the whole thickness of the Chalk, 

 the Gault was found to be 193 feet thick ; whilst the Lower Green- 

 sand was only 41 feet, and was underlain by Oxford Clay, a forma- 

 tion not before known in Kent. 



These facts involve the thinning of the Lower Greensand from 

 200 feet at the outcrop a few miles to the south, and the entire loss 

 of the whole of the Wealden Series, which further south exists in 

 great force, the Weald Clay being 600 feet thick, or perhaps more, 

 and the Hastings Beds 700 feet or more. 



Still further south, in the central part of the Wealden district, 

 there are outcrops of the Purbeck Beds, whilst the Snbwealden 

 boring; continues the series downwards. We have thus an addition 



