50 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Domestic Cat (Fells domestica). 



The cave deposits contained but few remains of cats, and most of these 

 were in the first stratum, together with rabbit, horse, sheep, and ox. About 

 half of the teeth and bones of the cats found belonged to adult animals, the 

 remainder being young. All the cats were undersized and below the average 

 stature. The lower carnassial tooth seemed somewhat larger than is usually 

 the case in domestic cats. Nevertheless, all of these cat-remains must be 

 referred to small domestic cats, for none of them showed signs of antiquity. 

 No certain evidence in this cave of the Wild Cat could be detected — an animal 

 which had been observed in the Clare caves and in Ballinamintra Cave. 



[rish Stoat {Mustela Mbernica, Thomas and Barrett-Hamilton) 

 = Pviorius ermiru us Mbt micus. 



Daring the three yean that Mr. I'ssher was actively engaged in the 

 Castlepook Cave excavations not a single tooth or bone of any Stoat-like 

 creature was discovered. When lie resumed operations shortly before his 

 death in the summer of 1913, he met with the left ramus of a small jaw, 

 whioh proved to be that of an Irish Stoat. As it was found under a layer of 

 stalagmite together with the bones of Mammoth, Bear, and Reindeer, there 

 can be no doubt of its antiquity. Irish Stoat bones have occurred in the 

 Caves of Kcsh and those of Co. Clare. In the former, the bones were 

 associated with those of Lemming and Field Mouse. These facts indicate 

 that the Iii-h Stoat is one of the early inhabitants of Ireland, and that it 

 came with animals long since extinct in this country. 



K"X ( Pi I = Cants vulpes). 



1 \ remains occur abundantly in all or most of the Irish Caves that have 

 been critically examined, and the Fox is still plentiful in Ireland at the 

 present day. In my report on the Fox of the Clare Caves' I dwelt on the 

 difficulty of discriminating l»otween small forms of the Common Fox and the 

 Arctic Fox, In the present case, some of the smaller teeth and bones were 

 recent-looking, and thus probably belonged to the Common Fox. Others 

 were distinctly ancient in appearance, yet, although small, they seemed to be 

 referable to this species. A right tibia (M.D. 127) has been gnawed by small 

 rodents. 



1 "Exploration of the Caves of County Clare." Trans. R. I. Acad., vol. xxxiii 

 (Sect. B). p. 47. 1906. 



