4 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
In the mean-time Carlo Fornasini of Bologna, 
the laureate in natural science in 1877, after having 
throughly prepared himself in this branch of study, 
went to Vienna, Monaco, Berlin, Brussels, and 
Paris for the purpose of studying the collections 
in those places, and in order that he might consult 
those who had made the study their speciality. 
The work, by which Fornasini made himself 
first known, referred to the Pliocene Marls of Pon- 
ticello and Savena ; interesting localities that have 
since been honoured by the visits of the most 
eminent geologists, among whom may be noted 
Herbert, Prestwick, Renevier, Fontannes, Han then, 
Van-den Broeck and Rutot, the last having gone 
there expressly for the purpose of examining the 
clay, from which Fornasini had obtained the fora- 
ininifera, that he has figured in his works. 
Fornasini has given remarkable proofs of his 
patience and perseverance, for he has already 
published a large number of works that deal 
exclusively with the foraminifera, and about which 
I shall here cite the opinion which was expressed 
by Dollfus of Paris in the “Bivista geologica uni- 
versale” of last year. 
i j 
Gustavo Dollfus, after having declared that 
Fornasini, in consequence of his many and inter- 
esting researches about the foraminifera, is fol- 
lowing in the footsteps of Gaultieri, Planco, and 
Soklani, proceeds to state that Fornasini was 
engaged on a great work that had reference to the 
numerous and varied forms of the little animals 
whose remains occur in such abundance in Italian 
Strata. 
He passes in review some of Fornasini’s 
more recent publications, and, after referring to 
the work entitled “Be vision e del foraminiferi 
illustrati dal Soklani” as a “ oeuvre considerable ” 
he thus concludes: * * S’il etait possible de faire 
une reproduction des planches de Soldani que 
leur rarete eloigm de la plupart des travaiUeurs , 
elle deviendraie.nl , avec le travail de revision de 
M. Fornasini , le livre. de chevet de tons les 
etudiants micrographes” (12) 
Unfortunately the. desired reproduction is im- 
possible as, after having given rare proofs of his 
(12) Annuaire geologique universe!, Revue de 
Geologie ei Paleontologies 2e parties Foraminiferes , 
par Gustave Dollfus , pag. 207 , 208. Paris 1887, 
untiring zeal and perseverance, after having spent 
more than thirty years on the work of which he 
published the first volume in 1789 and which he 
illustrated with one hundred and seventy-nine 
plates, the indefatigable priest was “discouraged 
by the unfavourable reception that the book met 
with at the hands of the public after all his labour 
and anticipations, and in a moment of ill humour 
he consigned the greater part of' the second volume 
to the flames, and threw the engraving blocks into 
the melting-pot.” 
Giambattista Brocchi in his famous discourse 
“Sui progressi dello studio della Conchiologia fos- 
sile in Italia” which was pubblished in 1814, re- 
marks that “Though Soldani had a right to the 
appreciation of the people, yet he made a mistake 
in thus limiting the scope of his work by confining 
his attention to the formations of his own country 
only, for he adds in a tone of indignation, “The 
taste for natural sciences seemed to be then 
declining, and it was the custom of the Italians 
who were then living (1789) to show a certain 
fastidiousness or carelessness, or to speak more 
correctly a certain contempt for native genius, 
and a blind, servile, and stupid admiration for 
that of strangers.” (13) 
I trust that this important branch of study, 
which had its origin in Bologna, will continue to 
produce from among us such talented workers, 
and exact thinkers. 
A New Maltese Chelonian. 
Trionyx Melitensis. 
Mr. R. Lydekker, B.A., F.G.S., of the British 
Museum read a paper at a recent meeting of the 
Geological Society of London* in which he figured 
and described a portion of the middle and right 
half of the anterior region of the Carapace of a 
large Chelonian, referable to the family Triony- 
chidse, which had been obtained by Dr. John 
Murray during his visit to Malta in the summer 
of 1890. 
In many respects it is distinctly analagous to 
certain species of Trionyx (viz. T. gangeticus T. 
Leithi , and T . hurum) that at present exist in the 
(13) Brocchi. G. — Conchiologia fossile subapen- 
nina. Tomo I. p. LPIV , LX VII. Milano 181 J. 
* Vol. XL VII. Xo. 185. Quart: Journ: Geo.Foc: 
