| But that extraordinary animal, which is no longer in existence, and to which is given the name of <em>cervus megaceros</em> (from its immense antlers), is sometimes, though I believe seldom, found in regular bogs, but generally in valleys near the feet of the hills; mostly in marl-pits, but sometimes among rolled pebbles, or gravel. The are usually known by the name of the fossil elk of Ireland; to which island, however, they are not peculiar, the same species having been found in the Isle of Man, in France, Italy, and Germany. The finest specimen known, as I have already told you, is that in the Royal Museum of Dublin, a description of which was published some years ago* [footnote: *By John Hart, M.R.I.A., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, &c.], with a figure of the complete skeleton, the antlers of which are the following shape and dimensions: — <br/> [image] <br/>[p. 290] Mr. Hart observes, that "this magnificent skeleton, when surmounted by the head and beautifully expanded antlers, extended out to a distance of nearly six feet on either side, forms a splendid display of the reliques of the former grandeur of the animal kingdom, and carries back the imagination to a period when whole herds of this noble animal wandered at large over the face of the country." [pp. 289-290] |
