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On the Claims of the Gigantic Irish Deer to Be Considered As Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 400 the Oolite can be approached, vee may expect to find a large deposit of iron; but, coming southwards, it is almost certain the same deposit has disappeared, although it may re-appear in Northamptonshire. ON THE CLAIMS OF THE GIGANTIC IKISH DEER TO BE CONSIDERED AS CONTEMPORARY WITH MAN, BY MR. H. DENNTj A.L.S., CORR. MEM. ACAD. NAT. SCIEN. PHILADELPHIA, &C. Of all the Mammalia whose remains attest to us their former existence in Britain, perhaps none possess stronger claims upon our attention than the Gigantic Irish Deer, from the number, magnitude, extraordinary state of per­ fection, and singular association of its bones j as also from the fact of its having,been almost entirely confined to certain parts of the British Isles. That the date of its extinction has been geologically recent, and that it was also one of the last which ceased to exist, we have abundant evidence. But whether its period of active life was prior or subse­ quent to the creation of man, is a very debateable and doubt­ ful point, as also the causes which brought about its extinction. Individuals, eminent for their scientific labours, are divided on this question, which is one of no Utile import­ ance, involving as it does, the geological age of other large quadrupeds which are allowed to have been its contempo­ raries. Such being the interest of the subject, and as the West Riding supplied the first British example of its remains, I conceive it not unworthy to occupy the attention of this Society for a few minutes. I shall therefore more especially consider the subject under the following heads:— I. Its recent extinction. 2. The causes of its extinction. 3. Its claims to be considered as contemporary with man; and in so doing shall adduce such evidence in support of each as I have been able to extract from various sources. Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 401 The Gigantic Irish Deer, (Megaceros Hibernicus) more familiarly known as tlie Irish Elk, from the earliest discovery of its remains having been made in Ireland, and being still found there in greater abundance than in any other part of Europe, was first described by Dr. Molyneux in the Philoso­ phical Transactions for 1697—since which period its bones have been discovered in various parts of this Kingdom, as also in France; but in no locality in such a state of perfec­ tion, or in such numbers as in Ireland and the Isle of Man. No specimens have hitherto been found in Scotland. South Shields is the furthest part in the North of England where fragments were found, beneath 12 feet of clay, in a brick­ field, during the month of July, 1854. But if, from the Isle of Man, we pass to Lancashire, we find their bones occur in greater abundance than in any other part of England. Portions of the skeleton of this animal have been found in Essex, Devonshire, Norfolk, and Yorkshire; but in every case these have been few and scattered. It is less abundant in France than in England, but extends into Ger­ many along the Rhine, and in a southern direction as far as the plains of Lombardy. The first instance, however, as I have stated, of which we have any record of its exhumation in England, was at Cowthorpe, near Wetherby, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1744, when a fine head and horns, weighing 68 lbs., were found at a depth of six feet in a Peat Moss. These horns were supposed not to have arrived at their full growth from the circumstance of their being still covered with the velvet coating, a fact of considerable importance as bearing upon the principal object of this paper. The first point to which I call attention is The proofs of its recent extinction. The most conclusive argument, in favour of the recent existence of any animal whose remains have been exhumed, Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 402 is in their baring undergone, comparatively speaking, but littl© change,—that not only the structure of the bones is perfect, but their constituents remain in a state of combinaf« tion. Now, to prove that tbia is the case with the bonea of the Megaceros, I shall adduce the following evidence:— Dr. Hart in his pamphlet on the Fossil Deer of Ireland, gtvea the following analysis of a portion of a rib :— Animal Matter 42.87 Phosphates with some Fluates ... 43.45 Carbonate of Lime. , 9.14 Oxides 1.02 Silica 1.14 Water and Loss 2.38 100.00 He then, with a view to ascertain the state of the anima? matter, submitted a portion of bone to Dr. Apjohn, of Dublin for examination, who reported as follows:—The bone was subjected for two days to the action of dilute Muriatic Acid, when examined at the end of this period, it bad become as flexible as a recent bone submitted to the action of the same solvent. The periosteum was in some parts puffed out by Carbonic Acid Gas disengaged from the bone, and appeared to be in a state of perfect soundness. To a portion of the solution of the bone in the Muriatic Acid some infusion of galls was added, which caused a copious precipitate of a dun colour. This proved to be Tannate of Gelatine, mixed with a small portion of the Tannate and Gallate of Iron. The cartilage and gelatine, therefore, so far from being destroyed, had not been per­ ceptibly altered by time.* Archdeacon Maunsell found the marrow in some of the large bones changed into adipocere, and from these he caused some soup to be made, and sent a sample to the Royal Dublin Society. * Hart, p. 10. Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 403 It is stated by Mr. Flart, that, at the time of the battle of Waterloo, this event was celebrated by a bonfire made of a heap of these bones, in a village in the county of Antrim, which gave out as good flame as the recent bones of horses which are usually burnt on such occasions.* MT. Richardson, of Dublin, says,—He has frequently peeled off the periosteum from the bones, and that q^uantities of a substance called mineral tallow have been found near the osseous deposits of this Deer, which he believes to have been derived from them.f Some years since, a portion of the leg of a Giant Deer, with part of the tendons, skin and hair upon it, was exhumed with other remains from a deposit on the estate of H. Grogan Morgan, Esq., of Johnstown Castle, county of Wexford. This leg was exhibited in the Lecture-room of Mr. Peel, Veterinary Surgeon, Dublin.J In the Zoologist for 1847, it is stated that Mr. Glennon, of Duhlin, had obtained a skull of the Giant Deer with portions of fatty matter, flesh, and skin still attached to the forehead and lower parts of the head, and that the fatty matter bore the impression of coarse hair, and burned readily when held in the flame of a can die. 11 As the occurrence of the leg of the Deer, still retaining its skin and tendons, appeared to be the most conclusive evidence of the recent existence of the animal, it was very essential to authenticate the statement. I therefore wrote to Mr. Morgan asking if sucln was the fact, ani also wbat portion of the leg he had, with the colour of the hair, which I considered an interesting point to determine, to which Mr. Morgan politely replied " The leg which you allude to, I found in my father's museum, and made it a present to the Royal Dublin Society some years ago. It was that part of * Ilart, p. 20. + Gigantic Irish Deer, H. D. Eicliardson, {). 11. t Zoologist, 1847, p. 1592. || Il)id, p. Ifiltt. O G Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 404 the leg from the knee to the hoof, which was perfect, and the hair was tan colour and short." The recent existence of the Megaceros is also inferred from some of the localities in which its bones are found being the sites of lakes, known as such during historic times. In Ireland these situations are generally connected with the remains of ancient forts, to which I shall shortly refer. In the Isle of Man the limited district named Ballaugh, from whence the greatest number of bones have been procured, is, according to Dr. Hibbert, nothing more than a corruption of the name Balla Lough or Lake, the place of the lake, one of which remained at so recent a date as to be actually described in a map of the Isle of Man, published in 1656, by James Chaloner, in which, other ancient lakes, now obliterated, are also marked down and named. The existence of other large lakes, within the historical period, is attested by ancient records, and is inserted in a map of the island, prepared as early as 1595. Lough or Loch Gur, a lake near Limerick, whore numerous bones have been found, is said to be particularly noticed in Pepper's History of Ireland. These sites are generally indi­ cated by a wet hollow or morass, filled with aquatic plants, as the Equisetum, and others of a similar character; and, when the lacustrine marl is penetrated through, are suddenly inun­ dated with water from the subsoil.
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