THE GIANT DEER. 5 



Other interesting antlers are described by G-astaldi (1875) (60), Nehring (1891) (87), 

 and Pohlig (1894) (94). A paper by Pocock (1912) (127) on antler growth in the 

 Cervidse bears on Megaceros, and will be referred to in the section dealing with antlers. 



Among the more recent British records are those by Kermode and Herdman 

 (1904) (109) from the Isle of Man, and by Bemrose and Newton (1905) (110) from 

 Hoe Grange Cave, Longcliffe, Derbyshire. A very complete account of the occurrence 

 of the Irish Giant Deer in the Isle of Man is given by Lamplugh (1903) (108). 



During the present century important papers have been published on the continent 

 describing deer ancestral to or related to the Irish Giant Deer. Papers by Stehlin 

 (1912) (125), Joleaud (1912) (126), Hescheler (1909) (120), Soergel (1927) (139), and 

 Frentzen and Speyer (1928) (140) fall within this category. They are referred to in 

 the sequel. Hescheler's paper includes a very full general account of the Giant 

 Deer, while in Soergel's there are some novel conclusions regarding the homology of 

 the tines. 



While it might have been supposed that the relatively close relationship between 

 the Irish Giant Deer and the Fallow Deer was beyond dispute, in 1906 Lonnberg (112) 

 maintained the almost abandoned opinion that the Giant Deer is an ally of the 

 Reindeer, considering it no more related to the Fallow Deer than to the Elk, such 

 resemblances as exist being due to specialization rather than to affinity. Lonnberg 

 based his opinion in part on the character of the vomer, which he maintained to be 

 fully ossified and firmly united to the palatine, and, as in the Reindeer, completely 

 dividing the nares. Lonnberg's paper was replied to by Lydekker (1906) (115) and 

 Scharff (1907) (116), who considered that the retention by the Irish Giant Deer of part 

 of the proximal ends of digits n and iv, as well as the distal ends, while the Reindeer 

 retains only the distal ends, makes any theory of the close relationship between the 

 Irish Giant Deer and Reindeer untenable. As regards the vomer, Lydekker points out 

 that its ossification may be correlated with the weight of the antlers, while Scharff 

 states that in several skulls examined bv him the vomer, though thickened, is free 

 from the palatines. 



Sir H. H. Johnston's ' British Mammals ' (1903) (107) contains a full and admirable 

 account of the Irish Giant Deer, as does Millais 5 ' British Deer and their Horns ' 

 (1897) (99), while shorter accounts are given in the latter author's ' Mammals of 

 Great Britain and Ireland ' (1906) (113), and in a paper by Scharff (1924) (137). 



II. DISTRIBUTION OF THE IRISH GIANT DEEE IN THE 



BRITISH ISLES. 



The following lists of localities in Great Britain and Ireland in which Megaceros 

 remains have been found are based on those given in Woodward and Sherborn's 

 ; Catalogue of British Fossil Vertebrata.' It would probably be impossible, even if 

 desirable, to record all the Irish localities where Megaceros remains have been met 



