ANCIENT AND EXTINCT BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 131 
When Hyznas and Lions roamed over England, the Wolf was 
apparently the only large carnivore in Ireland. From this circum- 
stance it has been argued that Ireland was detached from Europe 
before England and Scotland; or, what may have been more 
likely, that the physical conditions of the former were not suited 
to the habits of the animal. Indeed, the apparent anomaly might 
be explained by comparisons with recent species. Thus, the 
Brown Wolf, although met with along the lowland valleys of the 
European and the Asiatic Alps, is not found on the high moun- 
tains; and on various parts of the Himalayas Bears, Deer, Ibex, 
&c., may abound on one range and not on the adjoining one, 
although apparently equally inviting. To the naturalist who 
traces back the history of animals into the unrecorded past it is 
‘important to know the habits and haunts of living species, and 
especially their general and particular distribution, inasmuch as 
the finding of fossil remains in abundance in one situation, and 
the absence of such remains in another, might lead to the belief 
that the localities represent two different stages in the earth’s 
history. Moreover, many wild animals repel other species from 
their haunts. It is said that few of the large quadrupeds frequent 
districts resorted to by the African Elephant, in consequence of 
his nocturnal habits and the disturbance he creates in his wander- 
ings; and the Ibex and Great-horned Goat of the Himalayas 
monopolise whole ranges, and maintain the sovereignty against 
all other ruminants. 
The Wolf must have fed sumptuously in Ireland among the 
herds of Reindeer and the Great-horned Deer which abounded 
in that country, seeing that it had no rival, such as the Lion, 
Panther, or Hyzna, to dispute its rights; indeed, naturalists have 
surmised that the finding of the skeletons of herds of the latter in 
the mud of ancient lakes in Ireland indicates that the animals had 
been driven into the mire by packs of Wolves. We can well 
imagine the enactment of such a scene as the “ Race for Life,” so 
artistically pourtrayed in Mr. Joseph Wolf’s ‘ Wild Animals,’ on 
many a tarn of ancient Ireland, before the formation of the peat. 
Tue Arctic Fox has been but lately added to the ancient 
British fauna, whilst the Common Fox, as one of a few privileged 
Species, has contrived to maintain its footing in the country to the 
present day. 
