THE MEDITERRANEAN NATU RALLS! 
Funaria calcarea, var. d. flacci* ia, Y at lone, Misida. 
Funavia hygrometrica, var. d. calvescens Scliwq. 
Zehbug. 
Bryum bimum, Schrb. J Vied Balluta 
Bryum erythrocarpum, Scliwq. Zeitun; Mama. 
Bryum erythrocarpum, var. minor. Marsa Sealer 
Bryum atropurpureum W. M. Cnrradino; Ma- 
datena Bay; Wicd Balluta Wied Kerda. 
Bryum Donianum, Grev. Wied Balluta. 
Scleropodium illecebrum, Scliwq. Wied Kerda. 
Eurhyncliium striatulum, Spr. Canal Curnii; 
Wied Kerda; Wied Balluta, with Trial lostomum 
inflex am. 
Ifhynchostegium tenellum, Dicks. Malduba; 
Wied Balluta; Wied Kerda. 
Observations on the Geology of the 
Maltese Islands 
BY 
John H. Cooke. 
Proceeding now to consider the various divisions 
of the Globigerina Limestone more in detail, we 
find immediately underlying the ma, 1, a freestone 
of a grey, and reddish white colour, which, owing 
to its close, fine-grained texture is much used 
for building, and other architectural purposes. 
Its thickness varies from 15 to 20 feet. A 
phosphatic seam averaging nine inches in thick- 
ness is found underlying it in many localities, 
as in the cliffs at Dingli, and the outcrops along 
the sides of Kannotta hill, but the extent of it is 
not very great in either place, and the fossils con- 
tained in it are neither numerous nor well pre- 
served. 
Next in descending order is found a stratum 
of soft, yellowish rock of variable character. 
It is very susceptible to the disintegrating 
action of the humid Sirocco, and it is therefore 
J seldom made use of for building purposes when 
! other stone is available. For the fossil hunter 
it is, perhaps, the best horizon that can be chosen 
for obtaining a representative set of the fossils of 
this formation. At its base lies another seam of 
phosphatic nodules, the majority of which consist 
of an aggregation of irregularly shaped masses of 
a brownish colour, and intermixed with them are 
considerable quantities of pectens, corallines, cru- 
! staceans, and the teeth and bones of sharks, the 
I 
I wdiole being firmly bound together by the forami- 
| niferal and other calcareous matter of whicli the 
overlying stratum of rock is composed. The 
fossils found in this seam comprise all of the 
species that occur in the bed upon which it rests. 
Indeed, this is characteristic of all of the nodule 
seams; and the knowledge of this fact will, there- 
fore, save the geologist much time and labour 
when collecting the fossils of the Globigerina Bed. 
Of the fossil organisms that predominate are 
numerous species of pectens , none of wdiich have 
yet been critically examined, and echinoderms , 
cephalapods and crustaceans. The urchin Brissopis 
creseenticus is the most common urchin in the seam. 
Underlying this bed is a fine-grained freestone 
which, owing to its many excellent qualities, is 
largely used for building purposes. 
The greater part of Valletta, Floriana Sliema, 
and the churches of Malta and Gozo are built of 
it. At Luca and Ta Gandia it attains a thickness 
of from 40 to 50 feet, but at Naxaro it thins out 
to 25 feet, and in other localities, notably St. Pauls 
Bay, it is replaced by a very inferior variety. 
The stone which is taken from the quarries of 
Tad-dual, and Tal-Gauchi is of a yellowish wdiite 
colour and is accounted among the best to be 
found in the island. It is, therefore, in constant 
request for sculptural and other decorative pur- 
poses. It has remarkable weathering'properties 
and it is, on this account, largely used for the 
