55 6 [Proe. B.N.F.C., 



remains of extinct Mammalia, the geological character of the 

 deposits themselves, and the fact that similar implements are 

 found in abundance associated with Pre-historic or Neolithic 

 worked flints, justify the opinion that the worked flints of our 

 gravels are not attributable to the Palaeolithic stage.* 



In the North of Ireland, the absence of the older Mammalia 

 of the caves, the hippopotamus, rhinoceros, hyena, and rein-deer, 

 only shews that they had not migrated so far westward in 

 Palaeolithic times. It is probable that the hippopotamus never 

 visited the shores of Lough Neagh, and that the rhinoceros 

 never traversed the banks of the Bann or Blackstaff, Connswater 

 or the Lagan. It is probable that the hyena never took refuge 

 in the caves of Ballintoy, and that the lion never prowled in the 

 gorges of Glendun. The bear may not have visited our northern 

 area, although it is not beyond the bounds of the possible, for the 

 remains of the bear have been found elsewhere in Ireland, and 

 it is demonstrated that in Great Britain the bear survived until 

 within historic times.f 



In the North of Ireland we are not quite destitute of the 

 remains of extinct Mammalia. The teeth of the mammoth have 

 been found at Ballyrudder and Larne.t The remains of the 

 great Irish elk have been found in abundance, and distributed 

 over an extended area, including the lacustrine deposits 

 of Antrim and Down, at present obliterated by our peat-bogs ; 

 but we have no physical evidence of man's existence cotemporary 

 with the mammoth, or even with the Irish elk, one of the last of 

 the ancient Mammalia that became extinct in Ireland, and the 

 remains of which have been found near Banbridge, Dromore, 

 and at Islandmagee. We may be assured, however, that the 

 mammoth browsed along the slopes of Slieve Dhu and Bally- 



* Report on the Larne Gravels, in Proceedings of B.N.F.C., 1889-90. 



f Thompson's " Natural History of Ireland," Vol. IV. ; Prof. Boyd Dawkins' " Cave 

 Hunting," p. 75 ; J. E. Harting's "Extinct British Animals." 



J J. Grainger in Report of Belfast Meeting of British Association, 1874 ; Dr. Moran 

 in Proceedings of Belfast Nat. Hist. Society, 1888-89 > Professor Adams' 

 Journal of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, 1877, Vol. IV., new 



