28 Mr Oswald's Observations relative to the 



and other animals have been found at Kirkdale and elsewhere, 

 are still open for a further and very rigid examination.* 



* * Having alluded to the researches of Mr Oswald on the 

 subject qf the fossil elk, the communication in which they are 

 contained is superadded to this paper. It will be found to give 

 a very interesting and minute detail of the shell-marl deposit of 

 the Curragh ; and the geologist is under considerable obligations 

 to the writer for the pains which he has taken on the subject. 



Art. IV. Observations relative to the Fossil Elk of the Isle 



of Mann; being the Abstract of a Letter from H. R. Oswald, 

 Esq. F.S. S.A., &c. addressed to the Lord Bishop of Sodou 

 and Mann, in Reply to certain Queries instituted by Pro- 

 fessor Buckxand relative to the circumstances under which 

 the Fossil Elk is discovered. 

 My Lord Bishop, 

 In compliance with your Lordship's note from Castle Mona, 

 I have drawn up the following answer to Professor Buck- 

 land's queries respecting the relics of a species of large elk 

 found in some of the marl beds in this island. 



In the extensive diluvial flat which constitutes the north 

 end of the island, the marl is of two kinds, first, white marl of 

 a fibrous and somewhat laminar structure ; secondly, common 

 clay marl of a brownish grey colour, and compact consistence. 

 The white marl, in which the elk is found, occurs only in 

 small formations in the vicinity of Ballaugh Brewery, and 

 about a mile from the base of the mountains. Though flat at 

 this point, the ground is undulated, and somewhat uneven. 



The formations of white marl occur in detached basins, 

 which vary from 50 to 150 yards in diameter. The sites of 

 these are frequently, but not always, indicated by shallow hol- 

 lows and morasses on the surface. These deposits admit of 

 two varieties. The first of these contains white shell marl, or 

 rather delineations of shells in the marl ; the other does not 

 exhibit the remains of shells, and is some shades darker in co- 

 lour, though in other respects similar to the shell variety. 



* See Dr Knox's Communication on the Hyena Bones in this Number, 

 p. 80. 



