ANCIENT AND EXTINCT BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 137 
of the more ancient individuals are, on an average, larger than our 
semi-domesticated races. Indeed, the denizens of Great Britain 
are inferior in size and development of horn to those of Northern 
and Central Europe; whilst the Red Deer of Siberia and the 
Himalayas are even larger still, and approach more nearly the 
largest fossil forms, and to the great Wapiti of Canada: so that, 
considering the antiquity and wide-spread distribution of the Red 
Deer, and the varying climates in which it exists, one might 
almost refer them all to one species, certain varieties of which have 
become differentiated under the influence of food, climate, and 
situation. Horns of the Red Deer from the same deposits in Ireland 
as those of the Gigantic-horned Deer are not so massive as those 
of the same age from many localities in England and Scotland. 
THe RoeBuck does not appear to have been a native of Ireland, 
according to the historian Giraldus Cambrensis, who seems to 
have been well acquainted with the beasts found in England in his 
day (1180), and at all events made inquiries in Ireland with 
reference to the wild animals of that country; but when its condi- 
tion at that period is considered, the probability is that its fauna 
was comparatively unknown. 
Te Mctsk Ox, or Musk Suerep, as it is variously named, now 
confined to the Arctic Regions, was once a native of England, as 
testified by the discovery of its remains in eight or ten different 
localities, either in caverns or river deposits, associated here 
and there with remains of the Hairy Mammoth and the Hairy 
Rhinoceros. 
The ancient British oxen were of two species, a Giant Ox and 
a Bison. 
THE PRIMEVAL or GIANT Ox was a noble animal; but both 
species were gigantic in size, and were doubtless formidable 
antagonists to even the lions of the period. The Bison seems to 
have been prevalent in Great Britain during and long after the 
Roman invasion, whilst, on the other hand, there are evidences to 
imply that the one under consideration lived in the land before 
the glacial period. 
The Primeval Ox’s remains are met with in ancient tumuli, but 
perhaps it was exterminated before Czsar’s landing.* 
* Cesar mentions this animal, “ Urus,” as plentiful in the Hercynian forests, but 
does not refer to its presence in Britain—Ep. 
fy 
