420 B. H. Scott — Irish Fossil Mammalia. 



this subject is in an unsatisfactory state : and although it is certain 

 that the date of the extinction of the Megaceros in Ireland is, geolo- 

 gically speaking, very recent, yet it is a matter of opinion as to 

 whether man was or was not the agent of its extermination. 



Cervus elaphus. — The fossil Eed Deer is as abundant as, and even 

 more so than, the preceding species. Some of the antlers found are 

 very magnificent. One obtained from Ballinderry Lake, county of 

 Westmeath, presented to this Society by Mr. Hamilton, in 184:3, had 

 nineteen points. A hundred years ago they were still very abundant 

 in Erris and in Kerry. In the ninth century, Giraldus speaks of 

 them as very fat, and therefore unable to escape from their foes ; 

 and O'Flahertie, in his " Descrij)tion of West Connaught," written in 

 1684, mentions them, p. 121, They are generally known under the 

 name of Marsh Deer, and Professor Haughton is of opinion that they 

 are a variety of the Eed Deer. 



Cervus Dama. — Among the bones presented by the Eoyal Irish 

 Academy to the Eoyal Dublin Society, there is a fragment of an 

 antler of a Fallow Deer, described as an antler of a young Eed Deer 

 in the " Catalogue of Unmanufactured Eemains." This is evidently 

 not a fossil, as the date of the introduction of the Fallow Deer into 

 the Continent of Europe is known. Thompson mentions the dis- 

 covery of a Fallow Deer in a bog in the county of Antrim. The 

 specimen was in his possession. 



A skeleton of a Fallow Deer, with a silver collar round its neck, 

 was found at the same time as Mr. Cook's Bear's skull, before re- 

 ferred to. It had belonged to some member of Lord Eosse's family. 



Tarandus rangifer. — The history of all the specimens of this animal 

 which have been discovered in Ireland was read before the Society in 

 May, 1863, by Dr. Carte, and is, printed in vol. x. of the "Journal," 

 p. 103. 



Ovis. — In the collection of Mammalian remains at the Eoyal Dub- 

 lin Society, which have been deposited there by the Eoyal Irish 

 Academy, there are several skulls of Sheep, and a few Goats' skulls. 

 Of the Sheep there are two well marked types — one possessing several 

 horns, like the polycerate Sheep, at present existing in Iceland, and 

 the other identical with the horned Sheep of the Highlands of Scot- 

 land, according to the notice published by Dr. Blyth, and before re- 

 ferred to. The same authority considers the Goat's skulls to be very 

 recent. 



Cetaceans. — Professor Scouler found the rib of a Whale in the marl 

 beds of Wexford, as mentioned in his Presidential Address for 1844.^ 

 In addition to this, remains of the smaller Cetaceans are not uncom- 

 mon in localities near the sea-side. There is a vertebra of a small 

 Whale, or perhaps of a Porpoise, among the fossil bones in the Eoyal 

 Irish Academy's collection. On this subject I may observe that a 

 shoal of Ca'ing Whales was driven ashore some years ago on the 

 sands to the west of Horn Head ; the skeletons were buried in the 

 sands. 



' Journal Geol. Soc. Dublin, vol. iii. p. 18. 



