THE WOLF. 185 



lordship, for it is universally known to the inhabitants 

 of Scotland that not a single Wolf has been seen in 

 any part of that country for more than a century past." 

 In asserting that this is universally known to the 

 inhabitants of Scotland, the translator and editor has 

 erred in the other extreme, for, as has been already 

 shown, "Wolves were killed in Sutherland within fifty 

 years of the date of his remark and within thirteen 

 years of the date mentioned by Buffon. 



Historical Evidence. — Ireland. 



From the scanty and more or less inaccessible 

 nature of the records relating to the natural history 

 of Ireland, compared with what exists in the case of 

 England and Scotland, the result of a search for 

 materials for a history of the Wolf in Ireland has 

 proved less satisfactory than could have been wished. 

 Nevertheless, some curious fragments of information 

 on the subject have been collected from various 

 sources, and are now brought together for the first 

 time. 



There is abundant evidence to show that Wolves 

 formerly existed in great numbers in Ireland, and 

 that they maintained their ground for a longer 

 period there than in any other part of the United 

 Kingdom. In bygone ages they must have fared 

 sumptuously amongst the herds of reindeer and 

 Irish elk, which at one time were contemporary with 

 them ; and the discovery of numerous skeletons, 

 often entire herds of deer, imbedded in the mud of 

 ancient lakas, has led to the surmise that these 



