354 W. Williams — The Megaceros in Ireland. 



III. — On the Occurrence of Megaceros Hibernicus, Owen, in the 

 Ancient Lacustrine Deposits of Ireland ; with Remarks on 

 THE Probable Age of these Beds. 



By "W. "Williams. 



r|"^HE old lacustrine deposits of Ireland do not seem to have 

 L attracted so much attention from geologists as they deserve. 

 By the old lacustrine deposits, we understand the dried-up lakes at 

 present occupied by peat-bogs, with their underlying beds of marl 

 and clays. During the past century it was known that in these bogs, 

 or in the marl-beds beneath them, were found antlers and bones of 

 a gigantic extinct deer, which Professor Owen named Megaceros 

 Hibernicus, and now popularly known as the " Irish Elk," ' not that 

 it was exclusively conj&ned to Ireland, its remains having been found 

 in England and Scotland, also in France and Germany, and it is 

 even reported to occur in caves as far east as the Altai Mountains 

 in Asia. 



Much of the information we have on the subject is oral or tra- 

 ditional, having been obtained from peasant labourers, who (especially 

 in the Co. Limerick) have been long employed to collect these re- 

 mains for dealers ; hence our knowledge on the subject is vague, and 

 in some respects inaccurate. 



We are told that the bones of this great animal are found in the 

 bogs of Ireland, the term bog being generally applied to our peat 

 deposits ; but as far as I know, they have never yet been actually 

 found in peat. They are always found in the beds of clay or marl 

 which underlie the peat. By some it has been supposed to have 

 survived almost down to recent times. Thirty years ago some 

 Dublin writers even asserted that it was one of the domestic 

 animals of the ancient Irish, and was kept to give milk. Another 

 idea was that, because its bones were sometimes found in consider- 

 able quantities in small lake-basins, it must have perished in herds. 

 Again, where the heads of these animals were found totally detached 

 from the bones, it was inferred that the bodies had been eaten by 

 man, and the heads had been thrown into these small lakes, where 

 they were covered up. Or at the time these bogs were marshes, it 

 was believed that the animals by some means were mired in them, 

 and dying, their bodies sank to the bottom. 



It was generally supposed that the animal was exterminated by 

 early man. This may have been so on the Continent ; but if it can be 

 proved that climatic changes took place in Ireland so as to render 

 it unfit for its existence, then it becomes probable that change of 

 climate was the cause of its extinction here. Such are a few of the 

 vague, and as it appears to me erroneous, ideas entertained on the 

 subject. To dissipate these and to establish more correct conclusions 

 is the object of this paper. 



In the year 1876 I was first engaged in explorations. My object 

 was not primarily scientific research. Being a Natural History 



1 The term " Elk" is calculated to mislead, as it is not an Alecs or Elk at all, 

 but a true Cervus. " Giarantic Irish Deer" would be the more correct name for it. 



