Excerpt from The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1914, Vol. 30: Published by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Elements which favour a tecionie-topographie Study - There are certain elements, climatic and geographic, which favour such a study as is here outlined. The rocks of the islands are of recent age (miocene and Oligocene), and except where locally disturbed by the displacements, they lie in nearly horizontal positions. The series is characterised by numerous fossils useful for identification, and the petrographic, textural and faunal difierences are such that any one who has acquired familiarity with them may fix not only the formation at any point, but the particular horizon which is exposed. The higher rock surfaces are bare and devoid of vegetation (fig. And the layer of soil within the hollows is upon the average only about eight inches in thickness. The rainfall is from 20-22 inches, and no permanent lakes or streams exist anywhere. As already stated, the relief is rather strong, and the rugged rocky outlines of the islands offer numerous sections of the formations, as do the steep walls of the narrow u'ieds or dry valleys which dissect the country. Upon the principal island, which is practically one great fortress, the deep artificial moats have in some crucial localities added to the natural geological profiles, though difficulties are imposed which sometimes prevent proper inspection and representation.

The Maltese Archipelago a Relic offorzner Continental Bridge. - A peculiar interest is lent to the study of these islands by the well-established fact that until late Quaternary times they formed part of a continental bridge by which Southern Europe was united to Northern Africa. In the Quaternary deposits remaining within fissures and gaps scattered over the larger island have been found the bones of numerous elephants, two species of hippopotamus, and other African forms, together with those of the stag and the northern bear (ursns ardos). The African forms mentioned have been found also upon the island of Sicily and at numer ous points upon the Italian peninsula, at least as far north as the valley of the Po.

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