JR. H. Scott — Irish Fossil Mammalia. 419 



are so mimerous, that I shall only give a few cases of their being 

 found in juxtaposition with bones of other animals and with other 

 articles. 



It is, however, necessary to examine evidence of this nature with 

 great care before receiving it. In the course of a discussion which 

 took place before this Society on the 11th December, 1861, '^ some 

 facts of interest were elicited. Dr, Petrie said that he had in his 

 possession an iron sword which had been found, with the bones of a 

 Megaceros, in the county of Meath ; and Mr. Baily referred to the 

 discovery of remains of the Megaceros which were found with spear- 

 heads and pottery in a lake, in the canton of Berne, in Switzerland, 

 as mentioned by Professor Morlot. The discovery of jet rings with 

 the specimen in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, as noticed 

 by Archdeacon Maunsell, was also alluded to. Two quotations from 

 the " Book of Lismore" have also been recently brought under our 

 notice, in which the chase of a large deer, supposed to be the 

 Megaceros, is described. One of these was read on the evening to 

 which we are referring, and the other in the course of Dr. Carte's 

 paper on Lough Gur, which appears in this volume of the "Journal," 



In a paper by Mr, H, Denny, of Leeds,^ " On the Claims of the 

 Gigantic Irish Deer to be considered as contemporary with Man," 

 there is a long discussion on this subject, from which I extract the 

 following statements, which I have not verified personally : — The 

 leg of a Megaceros, with a portion of the tendons, skin, and hair on 

 it, was found in the county of Wexford, on the estate of H, G-rogan 

 Morgan, Esq., at Johnstown Castle. This specimen was sent to the 

 Eoyal Dublin Society, and was exhibited by Mr. Peall, Professor of 

 Veterinary Surgery, at his lectures. ^ 



A very scarce book — a " History of Ireland," which is said to be 

 by Peppard, published in the seventeenth century — contains a 

 statement to the effect, that the ancient Irish lived on the flesh of 

 a great black Deer ; and similar information is said to have been 

 obtained by the late Sir W. Betham from some brass or bronze tablets 

 containing an inscription. This fact was mentioned by Mr. Glennon, 

 of Suffolk-street, who with Mr. Eichardson, carried on a long dis- 

 cussion on this subject in 1846, in the "Zoologist," and elsewhere. 

 Several instances of the finding of bones of the Megaceros in com- 

 pany with other remains, are given by Mr. Denny, to whose paper 

 I must refer you. In addition to the facts and statements just 

 quoted, there is the evidence which may be derived from the existence 

 of cuts, &c., on antlers and bones of the giant deer, which was dis- 

 cussed at considerable length by Mr. Jukes, and by the members who 

 were present when his paper was read, in December last.* 



It will be seen from what I have mentioned, that the evidence on 



1 " Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin," vol. ix., p. 339, 



2 " Proceedings of the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the "West Eiding of 

 Yorkshire," vol. iii., p. 400. 



3 Unfortunately, this specimen appears to have been mislaid, and cannot now be 

 found. 



* Journal Gaol, Soc, Dublin, vol, x, p. 127. 



