III.—On the Occurrence of Megaceros Hibernicus, Owen, in the Ancient Lacustrine Deposits of Ireland; with Remarks on the Probable Age of these Beds

Abstract

The old lacustrine deposits of Ireland do not seem to have attracted so much attention from geologists as they deserve. By the old lacustrine deposits, we understand the dried-up lakes at present occupied by peat-bogs, with their underlying beds of marl and clays. During the past century it was known that in these bogs, or in the marl-beds beneath them, were found antlers and bones of a gigantic extinct deer, which Professor Owen named Megaceros Hibernicus, and now popularly known as the “Irish Elk,”1 not that it was exclusively confined to Ireland, its remains having been found in England and Scotland, also in France and Germany, and it is even reported to occur in caves as far east as the Altai Mountains in Asia.