94 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acadermj. 



the other instances referred to by him in his commnnication to the 

 British Association now turn out to be doubtful.-'^ The above are the 

 only properly authenticated instances of the discovery of Mammoths' 

 remains in Ireland (as far as my investigations extend). 



Gkisiy Beau (Ursus fossilis, sive ferox). 



The Irish ursine remains as determined by Ball, Carte, and others,-® 

 are stated to belong to the Ursus maritimus, TJ. spelmis, JJ. ferox, and 

 JJ. arctos. 



1. As regards Ursus maritimus, the data on which the determina- 

 tion was established comprise a humerus, femur, and fibula, besides 

 portion of the atlas and axis ; the two latter, strange to say, display 

 complete ankyloses of their articulations. These bones were found in 

 the mud of Loch Gur, in the county of Limerick, and are at present 

 in the Museum of Science and Art. 



(^In comparing the long bones with similar specimens belonging to 

 the Polar Bear, they appear to me to differ from the latter in pre- 

 cisely the same characters as distinguish the bones of the Brown, the 

 Grisly and the extinct cave Bears from the Polar Bear. These 

 jDoints of distinction as regards the latter have been clearly pointed 

 out by Owen,^^ and refer to the («) stoutness of the bones of the Polar 

 species ; {b) the size and configuration of the internal condyle of the 

 humerus, {c) the position of the deltoid ridge ; {d) the position of the 

 lesser trochanter of the femur. In all these characters the Loch Gui' 

 bones disagree with the Polar, and agree with the Brown, Grisly, and 

 Cave Bears, whose long bones are much alike. From the large di- 

 mensions of the specimens in question, they seem to belong in all pro- 

 bability to the Ursus fossilis of Goldfuss, now generally supposed to be 

 identical with the recent Ursus ferox. 



, ' The proximal epiphysis of the humerus is wanting. The length 

 of the remainder of the bone is 14^ inches. The breadth of the distal 

 articulation is 3"4 inches ; maximum width at the distal extremity 

 5 inches. Unfortunately, the supinator ridge has been destroyed close 

 to its insertion, and prevents me ascertaining the angle made by it 

 with the shaft. The antero posterior diameter at the middle of the 

 deltoid ridge is 2-2 inches; ih.e femur is entire, and 18'8 inches in 

 length; the girth midshaft is 5 inches; breadth of the proximal ex- 

 tremity is 5 inches, and the distal 4 inches ; the articular surfaces of 

 the latter are 3" 7 inches in breadth; the fibula is 13 inches in 

 length, and presents the usual variable characters of that bone. 



~' Report of the Belfast Meeting of the British Association, 1875. " On the 

 Post tertiary Fossils o£ Ireland." By the Eev. Dr. Grainger, D. D. 



28 Ball, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. iv., p. 416. Carte, Jour- 

 9 1 al of the Geological Society, Lublin, vol. x., p. 114. Scott, Geological Magazine, 

 vol. vii., p. 253. Hull, Journal of the Royal Geological Society, Ireland, vol. iv., 

 (new series), p. 51. 



■■^ British Fossil Mammals, p. 94. 



