laio-isit.j h ? 



in fact, does not advance the solution of our faunistic problem 

 in the least. Our acquaintance with the past and present fauna of 

 Ireland drives us to the inevitable conclusion that the bulk of the 

 Irish mammalian fauna crossed from Great Britain to Ireland on 

 a solid land-bridge. This land-connection must have been wide 

 enough to afford ample shelter and food for the invaders. We 

 must likewise assume that the climatic conditions at this period of 

 immigration were certainly not less favourable than they are now. 

 Plenty of green food must have been available for the great herds 

 of Reindeer and Irish Elk that tenanted the country. The Giant 

 Deer or Irish Elk and the Mammoth were possibly able to endure 

 a Winter temperature such as we possess at present, but the fact 

 that both species flourished and reared their young in this country, 

 implies that a supply of food sufficient for their wants was accessible 

 at all times of the year. The circumstance that the Reindeer 

 formerly lived in Ireland does not prove the prevalence, as many- 

 people imagine, of a severe climate at that time, for it is quite 

 certain that the Irish Elk, Mammoth, and Hyaena were con- 

 temporaneous with it. 



The nearest living relations of the first two animals are now 

 confined to temperate and hot climates, while the Irish Cave 

 Hyaena still inhabits Central and Southern Africa. We must 

 remember also that the Reindeer almost certainly originated in 

 Pliocene times, when the climate of Europe was not cold ; and 

 that it survived in Scotland till the twelfth century, when the 

 annual temperature in all probability did not differ much from 

 that now existing. On the whole, therefore, the faunistic evidence 

 ■derived from a consideration of the larger Mammals tends to show 

 that the entry into Ireland of these creatures occurred at a time 

 when the climatic conditions were at least as favourable as they 

 are now. 



Quite a number of other interesting problems present them- 

 selves to us at this stage of our enquiries. Why, for example, 

 should many of the British Mammals have spread far north into 



