518 A. L. ADAMS ON VERTEBRATA OF THE 
denuded at different points, and is being now rapidly broken up by 
aqueous and atmospheric agencies. In its structure the following 
characters seem constant. (1) The upper portion is much broken 
and intersected by cracks and fissures, forming a rubbly white lime- 
stone, which forms the surface rock of the Benjemma plateau. (2) 
The above passes imperceptibly into a yellowish white rock, which 
is soft and forms almost a calcareous sandstone easily acted on by 
the weather, as is well seen on the cliffs west of Citt& Vecchia. 
(3) The Tks gradually merges into a red limestone of considerable 
durability and composed more or less of Corallines, Nullipores, Poly- 
zoa, &¢. It forms a prominent feature in the cliffs of Gozo and 
south-western aspects of Malta. 
The invertebrate fossils of the Upper Limestone are numerous; 
but it is markedly poor in vertebrata as compared with the under- 
lying formations. 
The following Brachiopoda collected by me in the Upper Lime- 
stone have been determined by Mr. Davidson*, F.R.S.,—Terebratula 
sinuosa, Megerlia truncata, Argrope decollata, Rhynchonella bipar- 
lita. 
The Mollusca are represented by at least five species of Pecten—to 
wit, P. Pandora, P. burdigalensis, P. Beudanti, P. scabellus, P. 
varius—and 3 or 4 undetermined species. Spondylus quinquecostatus 
is common. Casts of Conus, Venus, Cardium, Turritella, Haliotis, 
Murex, Fusus, and other genera are not uncommon?y. 
The Kchinodermata amount to 25 species, of which ten seem 
peculiar, whilst Clypeaster altus, C. marginatus, and Cidaris meli- 
tensis are among the most common species, and they are likewise met 
with in the Sand bed. 
II. The Sanp BeEp is the most variable of all the formations, both 
as relates to its mineral composition and its organic remains. The 
point of transition between it and the Red Limestone is often im- 
perceptible, the latter gradually becoming less compact and more 
granular until it degenerates into an indurated red sand made up 
more or less of the Heterostegina depressa, which forms horizontal 
bands along cliff-sections or les in disordered masses throughout 
many feet perpendicularly. These characters are displayed in cliff- 
exposures south of Dingli in Malta, and in the ravines of Emthaleb 
and Ramla Bay in Gozo. 
Sometimes the Upper Limestone gradually merges into a black 
indurated sand composed of particles of glauconite, felspar, topaz, 
&¢c., which forms a variegated bed made up of black, green, brown, 
and red sands intermixed and stratified. This variety is well seen 
on the scarp of the hill of Chelmus in Gozo, where it is fully 30 
feet in thickness. Altogether the greatest depth attained by the 
Sand bed may be little less than 60 feet. 
The characteristic fossil of this bed is undoubtedly the Forami- 
* Annals & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xiv. (8rd Series), & Geol. Mag. ae 
+ Author’s ‘ Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta,’ p. 266. 
The Maltese Miocene Mollusca were first named by the late Professor Faw ard 
Forbes: see Proceedings Geol. Soc. vol. iv. pp. 230 & 231. 
