Pivceeding/i of the Royal Society. 269 



alternate braces, by which the same effect was produced in an 

 increased degree. Warned by these observations, Mr. Woodhouse 

 ordered a proper apparatus to be provided to defend the braces 

 from the sun's rays during the meridian passage of that luminary. 



A Description of tlw Fossile Elk of Ireland, by Thomas 

 Weaver, Esq., communicated by the Rev. W. Buckland, F.R.S., 

 was also read. 



Mr. Weaver*s principal object in this paper is, to prove that 

 the remains of the gigantic elk, which have been found in various 

 parts of Ireland, are not of antideluvian origin, but that 

 the animal dwelt in the countries in which its remains are 

 now found, at a period of time which, in the history of the 

 earth, can be considered only as modern ; and that the ex* 

 tinction of the species is attributable rather to the continued per- 

 secution it endured from its enemies, accelerated by incidental 

 local causes, than to any general catastrophe that overwhelmed 

 the surface of the globe. 



The spot examined by the author, containing these remains, is 

 near the village of Dundrum, in Do^vn. It appears formerly ta 

 have been a lake, and is now covered with peat, lying upon a 

 bed of marie ; the bones are invariably found between these two 

 substances, and from the examination of the shells contained 

 in the latter, it appears that they are exclusively fresh*water 

 species. 



The peat bog of Rathcannon, in the county of Limerick, has 

 also furnished abundance of the same bones, similarly situated. 

 These were examined by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell, before they 

 were displaced. Some of them shewed marks of disease and 

 fracture, and in one case, the rib was singularly perforated, as if 

 by a sharp instrument. Marrow, having the appearance of fresh 

 suet, was found in the cavity of one shank-bone, and they ap- 

 peared, generally, to contain all the principles found in fresh bones. 



These, and some other concurrent circumstances, seem, says 

 the author, to remove all idea of the remains of the Irish elk 

 being of any other than, comparatively, recent origin ; and in 



