THROUGH EUROPE AND TO THE ISLANDS OF THE ATLANTIC. 153 
in the regions bordering the Arctic Circle and Southern 
Scandinavia, the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, and the 
North American Continent. Scharff observes that to judge 
from the fact that its remains have been found in those refuse 
heaps called “ Kitchen Middens ” in the north and west of 
Scotland and Ireland — it was probably used as an article of 
food by the early races of man in these islands. 
2. Our next illustration is that of the noblest of the deer 
tribe (the Cervus giganteus, or C. mcgaccros), whose giant 
skeletons adorn our museums, and were so abundant in the old 
lake deposits of Ireland, and especially in those of Co. Limerick 
— as to have given to them the name of “ the Irish Elk” — a 
mistaken name, as the animal was not an elk but a deer. 
Though especially numerous in Ireland, its remains have been 
found in various parts of the British Isles and Northern and 
Western Europe. It was, in all probability, a contemporary with 
man, and was probably exterminated by the wild aboriginal 
hunters of those regions. Scharff gives a restored figure of this 
noble animal (Fig. 17) after Keller- Andrke. The enormous size 
of the antlers must have prevented him from frequenting the 
forest, and thus rendering him an easy prey to the wolf and to 
the arrows and spears of the primeval inhabitants. 
3. The Mole ( Talpa Ruropa’a). — I have selected as the next 
illustration this remarkable little animal, so seldom seen, but 
whose undermining operations are often visible in the little 
mounds of earth thrown up on the surface of our meadows, 
because of the extraordinary extent of its range over the 
Europasian Continent. It is found throughout England, 
Wales, and Scotland, but is absent from Ireland, and it 
extends its range through Europe right across Central Asia 
to the Chinese Sea. Scharff observes, that like the beaver, the 
mole must have advanced westward from Asia into Europe 
apparently within recent geological times — on the ground that, 
had it advanced from Europe into Asia we should have expected 
to meet it everywhere throughout Western and Southern 
Europe since it has had ample time to spread. But I do not 
consider his reasoning on this point quite conclusive — for it 
would seem that the Alps, the Caucasus, and the Pyrenees have- 
proved effective barriers to its progress into Italy, Greece and 
Spain, notwithstanding that it has managed to “ creep round ” 
the edges of these mountains, to a small extent. The point, 
however, is immaterial. 
4. The Roedeer ( Capreolus caprca). — This graceful little deer 
has a wide range in the European area — and extends into the 
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