Prof. Harkness. — Elephant-remains in Ireland. 257 



stalagmitic breccia at Shandon has been the falling of fragments of 

 limestone' from the roof of the cave while the bones lay exposed on 

 the surface of the floor; and subsequently the infiltration of car- 

 bonate of lime has consolidated the fallen fragments into the hard 

 breccia in which the animal remains are imbedded. 



As concerns the occurrence of mammalian remains in the breccia of 

 Shandon, there are some circumstances in connection with this which 

 lead to the conclusion that neither the transporting agency of water, 

 nor the influence of carnivora, had anything to do with their appearance 

 here. The bones have no traces upon them of the action of such a 

 force as running water, the only evidence of siTch a force being in 

 the occurrence of the thin film of clay which, in some cases, invests 

 the bones, and this clay has emanated from' water from above perco- 

 lating through the joints of the rock. There is no trace of anything 

 in the form of a rolled pebble in the breccia, the limestone frag- 

 ments being as sharply angular as when first detached from their 

 parent rock. 



With reference to the influence of carnivora the conditions of the 

 bones indicate that such animals had not used the caves as dens. 

 The more cellular portions of the skeleton are as intact as any other 

 part; and there is nothing to show that the bones were broken in 

 such a manner as they exhibit when they are found associated with 

 the remains of the hygena. 



The only carnivora of which the bones are mentioned by Dr. 

 Carte as occurring in the Shandon breccia are the cave-bear and the 

 brown bear, the former being most probably only a very large 

 variety of the latter, a relationship similar to that which the ancient 

 cave-lion had to his modern African representative. Besides these 

 remains of carnivora, alluded to by Dr. Carte, it would appear that 

 the wolf was also a contemporary with the mammoth in Ireland, as 

 Mr. Brenan has in his possession a portion of a large lower jaw of 

 this animal, which was obtained from the Shandon breccia. 



The late Dr. Falconer mentions the occurrence of the remains of 

 the wolf with those of the mammoth in connection with the caves of 

 the Gower peninsula. One of these caves, Spritsail Tor, besides yield- 

 ing the remains of these animals, afforded evidence of a much more 

 extensive fauna than the Shandon breccia. In the case, however, of 

 Spritsail Tor Cave, this seems to have been a hyeena's den, as copro- 

 lites of this animal occur in it, and also gnawed bones of Bos Equus 

 and Cervus} 



Ireland has hitherto afforded no traces of either the hygena or the 

 lion. The Pleistocene carnivora of this country were confined to 

 the bear ; of which there are, however, no historical records ; and 

 the wolf, which was finally extirpated about the year 1710.^ These 

 two animals seem to have had very little influence in the dragging 

 of the bodies of other mammals into caves ; and although we have 

 their bones associated with those of herbivora in the Shandon 



1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xvi.,page 491. 



1 Smith's History of the County of Kerry, page 173. 



