434 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
indigenous to Ireland, or how many species of Chiroptera are to 
be found there; whether the Black Grouse was ever a native of 
the Emerald Isle, or what is the distribution in that country, say, 
of the Crayfish. These examples, taken at random, and numerous 
other cases might be suggested, only serve to show that there 
are still questions relating to the fauna of Ireland which require 
investigation, and which it is a reproach to naturalists of the 
present day to leave unsettled. 
When we consider that more than a quarter of a century has 
elapsed since the publication of what is generally regarded as the 
standard work on the Natural History of Ireland, it seems high 
time that steps were taken to furnish a more accurate view of the 
fauna of that country than is presented to us in the work referred to. 
Not that we regard Thompson's work as inaccurate in its details, 
so far as they go,—for it would be difficult to name a more careful 
or competent observer than he has proved himself to be,— but the 
researches of other naturalists in Ireland since the date of his 
publication have brought to light results which necessitate a modi- 
fication of many of his statements, although the latter, no doubt, 
were true enough at the time they were made, so far as could be 
judged from the materials at command. The same may be said 
of some few writers who preceded Thompson in the same line of 
research, although the further back we go in the annals of Irish 
Zoology the more vague and indefinite is the information to be 
derived. This want of precision on the part of some of the earlier 
writers on Irish Natural History deprives their works, in a great 
measure, of that value which would otherwise attach to them. 
Nevertheless, as illustrating the progress of scientific research in 
Ireland, such works ought not to be overlooked by naturalists of 
the present day in any attempt to improve upon the labours of 
their predecessors. 
In view of the foregoing reflections, it may be not altogether 
unprofitable to enquire who are the writers, either ancient or 
modern, who have contributed in any way to a knowledge of the 
fauna of Ireland, and what may be the value of their testimony. 
The earliest notice, so far as is known, of the wild animals of 
Ireland is to be found in a tract, ‘De mirabilibus Sacre Scripture,’ 
written by an Irish ecclesiastic, by name Augustine, about the 
middle of the seventh century. It is very brief, amounting, in 
fact, to only a few lines, but deserves at least a passing notice, 
bys 
