438 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
The Roe-deer, we know, was never indigenous to Ireland; the 
Fallow-deer was introduced. But when? Apparently not before 
the date of the ‘Topographia Hibernica.’ Its abundance at a 
later period we shall have occasion to notice presently. 
The Hedgehog in all probability was overlooked by Giraldus, 
for it is known to be generally distributed throughout Ireland. 
This is the case also with the Stoat (marked “absent” by 
Giraldus), though not with the Weasel, which he characterises as 
numerous: ‘‘ Mustele hic multe sed minute plurimum et sub- 
rufe.’’ This is curious, for at the present day it is still doubted 
by many whether the Weasel is really to be found in Ireland; an 
impression prevailing amongst naturalists that this name is 
bestowed upon the Stoat.* 
The absence from Ireland of the Mole, as noted by Giraldus, 
is confirmed by modern investigations. Mice were said to abound 
and to do great damage. 
It was apparently not enough to assert that no poisonous 
reptiles existed in Ireland, for Giraldus adds that none such 
could live there if imported from other countries; and further 
that the dust of Irish soil, if taken abroad, would be fatal to 
such reptiles! Frogs were occasionally to be met with, for he 
saw one which had been found at Waterford in 1179. 
Here we must take leave of Giraldus, for at this point in his 
work he quits the domain of Natural History for the field of 
marvels and miracles, which, however curious and entertaining, 
can scarcely be regarded as pertinent to our present purpose. 
Ranulph Higden, a Benedictine monk, of St. Werburg’s 
Abbey, in Chester, who died at an advanced age about 1363, 
compiled a ‘ Polychronicon,’ or Universal History, reaching to . 
his own time, which was one of the most popular histories during 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and continued to be much 
in use during the following century also. 
* Andrew Murray, in his ‘Geographical Distribution of Mammals’ (p. 114), 
says the Weasel formerly inhabited Ireland, but is no longer found there. 
Macgillivray states that it is generally distributed in Ireland, but Thompson 
says he never met with it there, nor does he consider that it has been proved 
to be a native, though it may beso. The Stoat, which is called Weasel in 
Treland, is common there (Nat. Hist. Irel., vol. iv., pp. 6, 7). For positive 
evidence, however, of the occurrence of the Weasel in Co. Mayo, ef. Borrer, 
‘ Zoologist,’ 1877, p. 291. 
Te 
