1913-1914.] 



5i 



We have no reason to believe that animals such as the Badger, 

 Marten, or Wild Cat would cross even the narrowest channel of 

 sea under any circumstances. 



Still other animals such as the Mammoth inhabited Ireland 

 contemporaneously with the Reindeer, Irish Elk, Bear, Wolf, and 

 Wild Horse. It probably became extinct in Ireland somewhat 

 earlier than the last four Mammals, yet from the fact that 

 Mammoth remains were found in some of the older Irish caves 

 associated with the bones of animals just mentioned, we must con- 

 clude that this large hairy Elephant roamed all over the country. 

 In a cave near Doneraile, in County Cork, numerous parts 

 of the bodies of quite young Mammoths were discovered, showing 

 that these huge creatures not only reared their young in Ireland, 

 but that plenty of green food was available at all seasons of the 

 year to provide them with the necessary sustenance. We know 

 from our experience of the modern representatives of the Mammoth 

 that this extinct Elephant required a very ample and constant 

 supply of wholesome green food for its maintenance in health. 

 Throughout its vast range from North America right through Asia 

 and Europe the proper conditions for its welfare must have 

 prevailed, and that at a time when access to Ireland could have 

 been obtained with ease. How could we suppose that such a 

 gross feeder would venture on such a perilous undertaking as 

 swimming even a mile of open sea, presuming that the present 

 distance between Ireland and Great Britain had been reduced in 

 the past to that more moderate distance ? 



In the cave already mentioned, near Doneraile, a great many 

 of the bones of Mammoth and Reindeer showed unmistakable 

 signs of having been gnawed by large and powerful Carnivores. 

 As Mr. Ussher, who excavated this cave, proceeded to the 

 interior he came upon quantities of the teeth and bones of a 

 Hyaena. The Hyaena has the strongest jaws of any Carnivor. 

 It must have carried the carcases of the Mammoth, Reindeer, 

 and Irish Elk into the den and there devoured them at its leisure. 



