ANIMALS OF LONG AGO 367 



plants, than any other factor introduced into the arena of Nature. 

 If what we have surmised be true, the Mylodon and Mammoth have 

 disappeared under his dominion. He has extinguished the Wild 

 Boar in Britain, the Dodo in Mauritius, the Moa in New Zealand. 

 Man has probably also been the chief agent in the extinction of 

 the famous Irish Elk, or Great-Antlered Stag (Cervas megaceros). 

 The remains of this beautiful animal have been found in Ireland 

 in great abundance, particularly in the mosses and peat-bogs. The 

 position of the remains as found in bogs indicates that the animals 

 had ventured on the treacherous ground and been engulfed, perish- 

 ing miserably. The head was thrown upwards, with stretched 

 neck and horns backwardly inclined, in the final, desperate attempt 

 to secure air as the body sank in the spongy moss. The horns of 

 the Irish Elk were from nine to eleven feet from point to point, 

 and the skeleton shows that the animal was not only bigger than 

 the modern Stag, but equally as beautiful and graceful. It is con- 

 jectured that both males and females were horned, no specimens 

 having been found without horns ; and in this respect they were 

 similar to the Reindeer — a creature that once inhabited Britain, 

 but for various reasons retired to more northerly regions. Remains 

 of the Irish Elk are not confined to Ireland, where it is likely it 

 made its last stand ; they have been found in the Isle of Man, 

 France, Poland, Germany and Italy. It lived at the same time as 

 the Cave-Bear and Cave-Tiger. 



The Brown Bear is no longer to be found in Scotland, although 

 it lived among the mountains there so late as 1707. The British 

 Wild Cat has been driven to Argyllshire fastnesses, where an 

 occasional specimen is got; but its extinction is assured. So 

 ferocious an animal will not be endured by civilized men. The 

 Red Deer would have disappeared long ere this had it not been 

 carefully preserved. In some cases it has been introduced at places 

 where it had become extinct. A number of British Game Birds 

 would not have survived in the struggle for existence had not man 

 lent them his aid — for his own special reasons. Man has waged 

 unceasing warfare against animal pests, and will continue to do 

 so ; he has also hunted beasts that he considered good for food 

 until none of them were left. Other animals have survived because 

 they have been domesticated ; many of them would stand a sorry 

 chance if they were left to the tender mercies of Nature. We may 

 have strong feelings about a few wealthy individuals holding up 



