360 TV. Williams — The Megaceros in Ireland. 



soil by this time fertile ; it had few, if any, human enemies : if such 

 did exist, they were armed with poor weapons. The Tiger, the Lion, 

 and the Hysena were absent, for their remains have not been found 

 in this island. The largest predatory animal was the Wolf, which 

 could hardly cope with this great beast. It had extensive prairies 

 to roam over, it multiplied freely, having no drawback except the 

 combativeness of the males at certain seasons, and the chance of 

 getting drowned occasionally in the lakes — by this happy accident 

 insuring for itself a resting-place in museums all over the world. 



The growth of the wide-spreading antlers of the animal is worthy 

 of notice. They weigh on an average 60 lbs. ; they were of course shed 

 annually, as in other deer; about four months, say 120 days, was 

 occupied in the growth of the new antlers after the fall of the old 

 ones; hence 8oz., that is, half a pound, of phosphate of lime must 

 have been secreted or deposited by the blood of the animal each day 

 of the period to build up these grand defences ; the wonder is how 

 the blood could supply so vast a mass of new material in so brief 

 a space of time. 



It has been assumed by some that the animals perished in herds 

 in the lakes ; but we have no evidence whatever of this. A number 

 being found together does not prove it. On the contrary, they may 

 have been the accumulation of centuries. The different age of the 

 antlers seems to prove that they died singly. We sometimes find 

 a head with the tracks of the blood-vessels of the antlers as sharp as 

 if it had come out of the "velvet" but yesterday ; this individual 

 died about August, just as the antlers were finished. Again I have 

 found beside it antlers well worn and polished, as if it had died in 

 the winter. Again I have found shed-antlers that must have fallen 

 about April. But I never found a skull from which the antlers had 

 fallen because, after dropping them, he may, being so much lighter, 

 have managed to get out of the tenacious lake clay. Female skulls 

 are rarely met with ; either they were more timid in swimming 

 lakes, or having no antlers they may have struggled out, or the care 

 of their young prevented their keeping company with the males in 

 the summer season, when they were most likely to get into the lakes 

 to bathe. 



Having treated the light brown clay (No. 3) which surrounds 

 and covers up the Megaceros remains, we now come to the greyish 

 clay which overlies the latter and underlies the peat. This bed I 

 consider of great importance, as it seems to indicate a change of 

 conditions of deposit and a marked change of climate. 



Clay No. 3 appears to be, as I have said, an ordinary lake settle- 

 ment. The line of separation between it and the overlying bed is 

 pretty sharp and well defined. It was quite usual for the workmen, 

 when the point of their spades touched this clay, to say, " There is the 

 brown;" for we had been taught by experience that the remains of 

 the great deer were not to be expected in the grey clay No. 4. This 

 line of separation is to be found in every part of the bog — it is ap- 

 parently an invariable line. In describing the bog I said it occupied 

 two depressions making originally two small lakes in form like the 



