Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/160

134 such blood-thirsty enemies as the Lion, the Hyæna, and the Bear. In all probability the sharp-pointed antlers ably resisted the attacks of the packs of Wolves which doubtless hung on the flanks and rear of the herd to pull down the young and weakly.

A few years ago, under a bog in county Longford, several bones of the Giant Deer were discovered, in which were deep incisions, as if made by man; indeed, had there not been a ready explanation to the contrary, the appearances were almost conclusive in regard to the artificial nature of the indentations, which resembled the clean cuts made by an axe or hunting-knife. On the shaft of a thigh-bone, close beside it, and fitting into the incision, was the sharp, angular side of the shaft of a tibia, or leg-bone, of the same animal. The quaking or constant up-and-down movement of the mud of the bog for ages, under the successive influences of heat and cold, had caused the tibia to cut deeply into the thigh-bone, and so imitate the appearance of a clean incision by some sharpedged implement. But, although there are no records of the contemporaneous existence of this Deer and man in Ireland, there are caverns, such as Brixham, Kent's Cavern, and Wokey Hole in Somersetshire, where stone implements of man have been found in proximity with its remains. Many of its bones found in Irish bogs contain marrow, and blaze freely when burned. The small value put on them in times past may be gathered from the fact that the intelligence of the Battle of Waterloo was celebrated in a village in county Antrim by a bonfire of the bones of this animal, while its great horns were often used to form garden fences.

The freshness of the remains, allowing for the excellent preserving influence of the marl, would seem to indicate that the decease of the Giant Deer is of more recent date than that of many of its congeners, and yet, so far as Ireland is concerned, man does not seem to have contributed in any way towards its extermination.

The former existence of the or  in the forests of ancient Britain has been inferred from several discoveries. On one occasion portions of its remains were found in the cave of Llandebie, in Wales, in proximity with remains of the Brown Bear. It is not probable, however, that the Elk was very plentiful in this country, although still not uncommon in Norway, and generally distributed over Canada; it is evident that no deer