328 Geological Society of London. 



admitted that, allowing for waste, still greater masses of rock had 

 been destroyed by streams and by subaerial agents generally. The 

 denuding power of the sea, however, was by no means denied, but 

 it was allowed that as marine deposits much exceed in quantity 

 those of freshwater origin, so the great denudations, the planings- 

 down of vast tracts, of which examples are given by unconformities, 

 have been worked out by the action of the sea ; but that, on the 

 other hand, the far smaller denudations, and comparatively trifling- 

 irregularities of the surface (our hills and valleys) have been worn 

 out by the long continued action of rain, rivers, and ice. 



11. May 22, 1867.— J. Carrick Moore, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Vice- 

 President, in the chair. 1. "On the Bone-caves near Krendi, Zeb- 

 bug, and Melleha, in the Island of Malta." By Captain T. A. B. 

 Spratt, E.N., C.B., F.R.S., F.G-.S.^ 



The Krendi (or Mahlek) Cavern is situated on the south coast of 

 Malta. The flooring consisted of two distinct deposits, the lower 

 being a stratum composed of a hard stalagmitic clay with rounded 

 pebbles, and containing teeth and bones (unworn) of the Hippopo- 

 tamus {M. Pentlandi). The upper stratum, also a stalagmitic deposit, 

 contained bones of the Myoxus Melitensis, and of birds with some 

 recent land-shells. 



The Zebbug Cavern, in the interior of the island, was, when dis- 

 covered, filled with sandy clay containing subangular fragments of 

 the rock, and bones of at least two species of elephant, comprising 

 a complete set of the teeth and tusks of the pigmy elephant, repre- 

 senting animals in every stage of growth, and part of the tusk of a 

 much larger elephant. No remains of Hippopotamus were met with 

 in this cavern; but a few bones of Myoxus (2 species), of birds, and 

 of a Chelonian, were discovered in it. 



The Melleha Cavern, at the north end of the island, contained a 

 deposit with remains of the teeth and bones of the Hippopotamus 

 only, and seemed, therefore, to represent the lower stratum of the 

 Krendi Cavern. 



From the fact that the deposits containing remains of the Hippo- 

 potamus were so distinct from those including the Elephant-remains, 

 Captain Spratt inferred that these two mammals belonged to distinct 

 geological epochs, the elephant being the more recent. 



As Malta and Gozo were probably elevated above the sea at the 

 close of the Miocene period, it is very possible that the caverns, 

 formed by the long action of the sea upon its cliffs, may contain the 

 relics of animals of more than one, if not of each subsequent geolo- 

 gical period. 



In respect to Dr. Leith Adams' discovery of remains of the 

 elephant in scattered debris of subangular fragments and red earth, 

 filling fissures and hollows in various parts of Malta, Captain Spratt 

 stated his opinion that the phenomena were produced by a " wave 



' For an account of the Maltese Bone Caverns, and the Physical Geology of the 

 Island, with Map and Sections, see Geological Magazine for April, 1866, Vol. III. 

 p. 145, PI. VIII. and IX. 



