or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 313 



Orkney and Shetland, were referable for their introduction to 

 Scandinavian settlers. 



But if the habitat of the Cervus euryceros was bounded on 

 the north of Europe by the Baltic, I believe that it was no 

 less limited on the south ; for it is very doubtful to me whe- 

 ther any true remains of this animal have ever been discovered 

 south of the Alps. The horns referred to him, said to have 

 been fished out of the Po, of which I possess a sketch made 

 for me at Turin, are those of some other species of Cervus, 

 apparently undescribed. . Brocchi's list, therefore, of the or- 

 ganic remains found in the north of Italy, which are said to 

 resemble the ancient moose-deer of Ireland, demands a re-exa- 

 mination ; and until this is done, I must regard the Cervus 

 euryceros as having inhabited such temperate regions of Eu- 

 rope as lie between the Baltic and the Alps, while his chief 

 abode was in the British islands, and particularly in Ireland. 



7. The causes which led to the Extinction in Europe of the 

 race of the Cervus Euryceros were various, while their action 

 was gradual. 



Some of these causes, though they must be necessarily ob- 

 scure, I shall endeavour to investigate. 



The first of these causes of extinction was owing to th^ 

 Cervus euryceros being an object of the chace. ^^{ 



This cause of gradual extinction may be traced for a long;' 

 period of time. Mr Hart has related, that in a rib of the ani- 

 mal presented by Archdeacon Maunsell to the Royal Dublin 

 Society, he discovered an oval opening near its lowest edge, the 

 long diameter of which was parallel to the length of the rib, its 

 margin being depressed on the outer and raised on the inner 

 surface, round which there was an irregular effusion of callus. 

 " This opening," adds Mr Hart, " was evidently produced by 

 a sharp pointed instrument which did not penetrate so deep as 

 to cause the animaPs death, but which remained fixed in the 

 opening for some length of time afterward ; in fact, such an 

 effect as would be produced by the head of an arrow remain- 

 ing in a wound after the shaft was broken off." :» 



Mr Whittaker has conceived that the fossil Cervus of Ire-' 

 land and other places, acquired among ancient British hunters 



