286 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 22, 



former existence of several other caverns more or less shallow and 

 open, more particularly on the west side, as shown in the sketch 

 (fig. 1). None, however, contain any stalagmitic floor, or present 

 any indication of bone breccia ; and although generally wider and 

 higher than the Maghlak Cavern, none of them penetrated so far 

 inwards, except one, of very great interest, lying about 100 yards 

 on the east side, between the Maghlak quarry and the lowest of the 

 Phoenician temples of Crendi above alluded to, which has been very 

 recently opened by Dr. Adams (see sketch), and found by him to be 

 of such importance, from the special character of the larger mam- 

 malian remains, being those of Elephants* and not of Hippopo- 

 tamus, as to have induced the British Association to grant to him 

 the sum of £30 for its exploration ; the results, as far as obtained, 

 will therefore, I believe, form the subject of a Report by Dr. Adams. 



Having proceeded to the Maghlak Quarry soon after the discovery 

 of the bone- cavern within it, in company with my friend, W. 

 Medlycott, Esq., we were shown numerous large blocks of its stalag- 

 mitic flooring, mingled with the talus of debris that had recently 

 been ejected from the quarry, down the sea face of the scarp lying 

 under it, and also upon a narrow natural terrace existing about half- 

 way down. After some labour with our hammers amongst the blocks 

 of bone-breccia found lying upon the talus, and upon this lower ter- 

 race, we were enabled to procure from them a few perfect teeth, 

 and some nearly perfect tusks of the Hippopotamus ; but from the 

 extreme hardness of the stalagmitic bone-breccia, and the friable 

 nature of the teeth, they in general crumble to chips under the 

 heavy blow of the hammer necessary to fracture the hard matrix in 

 which they are imbedded. The bones and teeth, however, were very 

 numerous throughout these detached and fragmentary blocks, and 

 showed that the remains of a large number of these animals were 

 originally accumulated in the cavern, but indiscriminately, and that 

 they consisted chiefly of the smaller bones of this mammal. 



Erom close examination of the numerous fragments of bone- 

 breccia, we were enabled to perceive that the flooring of the cavern 

 consisted of two distinct layers of fossil bones. The lower, which 

 must have been in some parts fully 3 and 4 feet thick, and com- 

 posed of an indurated, brownish, stalagmitic clay, almost as hard as 

 flint or jasper, contained in abundance well-rounded pebbles of the 

 native rock, intermixed with the bones and teeth of the Hippopo- 

 tamus ; but these bones and teeth were not in general waterworn, 

 as were the pebbles and shingle found with them ; and consequently 

 they were introduced into the cavern after its shingle floor had been 

 raised above the surf-action of a surrounding sea, which no doubt 

 produced both the caverns, and also rounded the pebbles, since 

 there is no evidence or good reason to infer that either this cavern 

 ,or the neighbouring caves on nearly the same level require any local 

 river to account for their origin and position. 



On comparing these teeth and tusks, immediately afterwards, with 

 figures in Pictet's ' Paleontologie,' I was led to refer them to the 

 * Geological Magazine, vol. ii. p. 490. 



