Sheppard: Extinct Animals of East Yorkshire. 229 
century ago by the late W. H. Dykes, of Hull, who sought 
the aid of the late Professor Phillips, and it was described 
by Messrs. Harcourt, Salmond and Phillips in the “ Philo- 
sophical Magazine”’ for 1829. Some hundreds of cart 
loads of marl had been removed with the object of improving 
the adjacent sandy soil, and amongst it were found a large 
number of bones of Lion, Rhinoceros, Bison, Mammoth, 
Irish Elk, Red Deer, Bos primigenius, Horse, Wolf and 
Duck. These bones were divided between the York and 
Hull museums. For nearly a century little was known 
of this deposit beyond the original very excellent descrip- 
tions. A short time ago the British Association gave a 
grant in order that more might be ascertained respecting its 
nature, and some extensive excavations were made under 
the supervision of some local geologists. The position 
and relative order, as well as the extent of the beds, were 
ascertained, and a large number of bones of Bison and 
Elephant were found. These the British Association 
handed over to the museum at Hull. 
Resting upon the glacial deposits of East Yorkshire are 
a number of Lacustrine or old lake beds, containing many 
fresh-water shells, and occasionally fish remains. ‘These 
meres are now all dry, with the exception of Hornsea Mere, 
and are exposed on the coast, or in the sides of drains or 
artificial cuttings inland. There are many evidences that 
Holderness was once covered by meres and presented a 
similar appearance to that of the Norfolk Broads of to-day. 
In the peat beds the remains of the red deer are plentiful ; 
whole skeletons, and fine pairs of antlers being not at all 
uncommon. The list from these beds includes Bos primi- 
genius, Bos longtfrons, Red Deer, Irish Elk, Reindeer, 
Horse, Beaver, Dog or Wolf, Birds (including Duck), Perch 
and Pike. Remains of the Lion and Mammoth have been 
recorded as from the Holderness peat, but it has been shown 
that these records were made in error.* 
In connection with these peat beds it should be recorded 
that Mr. Clement Reid has recently described the compact 
peaty material, known as ‘“ Moorlog,”’ which is frequently 
brought up from the Dogger Bank by the trawlers. Mr. 
Reid has carefully examined this material by the aid of the 
microscope, and drawn up an extensive list of animal and 
plant remains found in it. The list indicates that at one 
time the North Sea was similar in appearance to that of the 
Norfolk Broads of to-day, and he suggests that there has 
probably been a land connection between England and the 
Continent long after the ice had melted away. This being 
* “The Naturalist’, April, 1904, pp. 102-104. 
igi June t. 
