132 THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Llct. II. 



illustration complete, some bones of the Dodo have been 

 found in a tufaceous deposit, beneath a bed of lava, in the 

 Isle of France, and in a cave in the Isle of Rodriguez ; so 

 that if the figures and remains of the recent birds above 

 mentioned had not been preserved, these fossils would have 

 constituted the only proof that such creatures had ever 

 existed. 



Thus it appears that of the few genera comprised in the 

 remarkable family of birds, to which the Ostrich and 

 Cassowary belong, no less than two have become extinct ; 

 one, the Dodo, within the last century and a half; the 

 other, the Moa, at no very remote period ; while a third, 

 the Apteryx, will soon share the same fate.* 



We pass on to the consideration of the extinct mam- 

 malia. 



8. The Irish Elk, (Cervus megaceros, or Elk with 

 great antlers.) The shell marls of Ireland contain the 

 bones of an animal which, like the Dodo, was once con- 

 temporary with the human species, but is now extinct : the 

 last individuals of the race having, in all probability, been 

 destroyed by man. These remains commonly occur in the 

 beds of marl beneath the peat-bogs, w T hich are apparently 

 like those of Scotland, the sites of ancient lakes, and bays. 

 In Curragh, immense quantities of these bones lie within 

 a small space; the skeletons appear to be entire, and are 

 found with the skull elevated, and the antlers thrown back 

 on the shoulders, as if a small herd of these Elks had sought 

 for refuge in the marshes, and had sunk into the morass 

 and been suffocated. Remains of the Elk occur also in marl 



* The Struthionidae are remarkably restricted in their geographical 

 distribution. Thus the Ostrich inhabits Africa, and the Rheus, Ame- 

 rica; while the Dodo appears to have been limited to the Mauritius, 

 and the Moa and Apteryx confined to New Zealand. See a highly 

 interesting article on the Dono in the Penny Cyclopedia. 



