OR, GREAT IRISH DEER. 211 
Dublin Society, took advantage of one of the excursions organized 
for the purpose of visiting the special attractions of the neighbour- 
hood, to invite a party to explore an ancient habitat of the Irish 
fossil deer, at the Ballybetazh Bog, in the parish of Kilternan, about 
fourteen miles south of Dublin. The encouragement to research was 
great, for on two previous occasions the bog had disclosed numerous 
remains of the Cervus megaceros, and during the earlier excavations 
a fine specimen of the horns of the reindeer, now preserved in the 
Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, was also found. 
Excavations made preparatry to the arrival of the excursionists 
revealed enough to furnish ample encouragement for further explor- 
ation. Saturday (August 17th) was devoted to a tentative examina- 
tion, with disclosures that abundantly encouraged renewed research ; 
and on the following Monday a small party revisited the spot, under 
the efficient guidance of Mr. R. J. Moss, and his brother, Dr, Edward 
L. Moss, R. N., who most liberally undertook the entire charge of the 
exploration. The results of this renewed investigation of the ancient 
lacustrine depository of the remains of the fossil deer, though neces- 
sarily limited to the labours of a couple of days, proved highly satis- 
factory ; and prepared the way for a systematic exploration of the 
site at a later date. Meanwhile a brief notice of the subject may 
possess some interest for others besides those who shared in the 
exciting operations of a busy but most pleasant holiday. 
Ballybetagh Bog lies at the bottom of a glen about 600 feet above 
the sea, with hills of slight elevation on either side. Here some 
forty years ago, in making a cutting through the bog for the purpose 
of turning the water of a spring, known as the White Well, into a 
stream that flows through Kilternan, the first. discovery of the 
remains of the fossil deer was made ; but as the excavations were then 
carried on with no scientific object in view the chief value resulting 
from them was the demonstration of the existence there of abundant 
remains of the great extinct deer. 
In 1875, attention was anew directed to the locality ; Professor 
A. Leith Adams and Mr. R. J. Moss visited Ballybetagh Bog, and 
the latter gentleman undertook a systematic investigation, in concert 
with Dr. Carte, of the Dublin Society. No record had been pre- 
served of the precise spot where the previous remains had been 
found, and considerable labour and research had to be expended 
before the proper site for renewed exploration could be determined. 
