Irish Mammals. 91 



only species of Deer now found in a wild state in Ireland, 

 the Reindeer being long extinct, and the Fallow-deer an 

 introduced species. 



Of the Cetaceans, or Whales, Dolphins, and their allies (pp. 

 257 to 298) Mr. Lydekker has not very much to say, and he 

 has evaded the trouble of looking up accounts of the habits 

 and life-history of these interesting mammals by the use of 

 sentences such as the following (applied in this case to the 

 Sperm Whale (p. 276), but similar sentences will be found on 

 pages 259, 261, 265) ; — '* In the case of such a casual visitor to 

 our shores it will be unnecessary to say anything about 

 habits" ! Time will not permit us to go through the whole 

 list of Irish Cetaceans in detail, and we must be content with 

 regretting that we found no allusions in Mr. Lydekker's book 

 to several recent records of the occurrences of Cetaceans on 

 the Irish coast, such as of the Hump-backed Whale {Megaptera 

 boops) in Sligo' ; of Sibbald's Rorqual {Balcsnoptera Sibbaldt) 

 in Wexford^ these two examples being the first and only 

 one of their species which have been recorded from Ireland ; 

 of the Lesser Rorqual {B. rostrata) in Kerry^ ; of the Sperm 

 Whale {Physeter macrocephahcs) in Mayo'^ ; of the Bottle-nose 

 {Hyperoodon rostrafus) in Wexford"^ ; and of the White-sided 

 Dolphin at Portrush^ and Co. Wexford^ 



Far the best part of this book is the account of the ancient 

 Mammals of Britain (pp. 298 to 328), but this, as we learn 

 from a foot-note, is not new, having originally appeared in 

 Knoivledge. In connection with the Gigantic Irish Deer, Mr. 

 I^ydekker might have alluded to the evidence in favour of the 

 view that this animal was contemporaneous with man as 

 afforded by the discovery by Mr. R. J. Ussher of its long bones, 

 split as though for the extraction of marrow, in connection 

 with stone implements in Ballynamintra Cave, Co. Waterford.^ 



In conclusion, we regret that we cannot recommend Mr. 

 lyydekker's book as one which may take the place of Bell's 



1 Zoologist, May, 1883, p. 188. - Zoologist, 1891, pp. 215 and 306. 



3 Irish Sportsman, Dec. 19, 1891. * Zoologist, 1890, p. 72. 



5 Zoologist (loc. cit.) 6 Zoologist, 1876, p. 5007. 



' Zoologist, 1890, p. 3S4. 8 S(i. Trans. R.D.S. (2), vol- iii., pp. 337-8. 



