THThat no real Species of Living Creatures is so utterly extinct, as to be lost entirely out of the World, since it was first Created, is the Opinion of many Naturalists; and ’tis grounded on so good a Principle of Providence taking Care in general of all its Animal Productions, that it deserves our Assent. However great Vicissitudes may be observed to attend the Works of Nature, as well as Humane Affairs; so that some entire Species of Animals, which have been formerly Common, nay even numerons in certain Countries; have, in Process of time, been soperfectly lost, as to become there utterly unknown; tho’ at the same time it cannot be denyed, but the kind has been carefully preserved in some other part of the World.

Of this we have a remarkable Example in Ireland, in a most large and stately Beast, that undoubtedly has been frequent in this Kingdom, tho’ now clear (490) ly extinct; and that so many Ages past, as there remains among us not the least Record in Writing, or any manner of Tradition, that makes so much as mention of its Name; as that most Laborious Inquirer into the pretended Ancient, but certainly Fabulous History of this Country, Mr. Roger O Flaherty, the Author of Ogygia, has lately informed me.

What Discoveries therefore we make of this Creature, we can only have from those loose parts of it we find dug out of the Earth by Accident, preserved there so many Ages from Corruption, by lying deep and close under Ground, whilst harder and of themselves more durable Bodies, moulder away and perish, by being exposed to the various Changes of the Air, and repeated Injuries of the Weather.

By the Remains we have of this Animal, it appears to have been of the Genus Cervinum or Deer Kind, and of that sort that carries Broad or Palmed Hornes, bearing a greater affinity with the Buck or Fallow Deer, than with the Stag or Red Deer, that has Hornes round and branched, without a Palme; This I lately observed, having an opportunity of particularly Examining a compleat Head, with both its Horns entirely perfect, not long since dug up, given to my Brother William Molyneux, as a Natural Curiosity by Mr. Henry Osborn, that lives at a place call'd Dardistown, in the County of Meath, about Two Miles from Drogheda, who writ him the following Account of the manner and place they were found in.

I have by the Bearer sent the Head and Horns I promised you; this is the third Head I have found by casual trenching in my Orchard; they were all dug up (491) within the Compass of an Acre of Land, and lay about four or five Foot under Ground, in a sort of Boggy Soil. The first Pitch was of Earth, the next two or three of Turff, and then followed a sort of white Marle, where they were found: They must have lain there several Ages, to be so deep enterred. (Thus far Mr. Osborn.)

I took their Dimensions carefully as follows; from the extreme tip of the right Horn, to the extreme tip of the left, as exprest in the annext Table, Figure the first. by the prick’t Line A. B. was ten Foot ten Inches, from the tip of the right Horn, to the Root where it was fastned to the Head, Exprest by the Line C. D. five Foot two Inches from the Tip of the highest Branch (measuring one of the Horns transverse, or directly across the Palme) to the tip of the lowest Branch, exprest by the Line G. F. Three Foot Seven Inches and a Half. The length of one of the Palms within the Branches, exprest by the Line G. H. Two Foot Six Inches: The breadth of the same Palm, still within the Branches, exprest by the Line I. K. One Foot Ten Inches and a half: The Branches that shot forth round the edge of each Palm, were Nine in Number, besides the Brow Antlers, of which the right Antler, exprest by the Line D. L. was a Foot and Two Inches in length, the other was much shorter: The Beam of each Horn at some distance from the Head, where ’tis mark’d M. was about Two Inches and Six tenths of an Inch, in Diameter, or about Eight Inches in Circumference; at the Root where it was fastned to the Head, about Eleven Inches in Circumference. The length of the Head, from the back of the Skull to the tip of the Nose, or rather the extremity of the upper Jaw-bone, exprest in the Figure by the Line N. O. Two Foot, (492) the breadth of the Skull where largest, mark'd by the Line P.Q. was a Foot.

The Two Holes near the Roots of the Horns, that look like Eyes were not so, (for these were placed on each side the Head in Two ample Cavities, that could not be well exprest in the Figure) but were large open Passages, near an Inch in Diameter in the Forehead Bone, to give way to great Blood-vessels, that here issue forth from the Head, and pass between the Surface of the Horn, and the smooth Hairy Skin that Covers them whilst they are growing, (which is commonly call’d the Velvet) to supply the Horns with sufficient Nourishment, while they are soft, and till they arrive at their full Magnitude, so as to become perfectly hard and solid. These Vessels, by reason of their largeness and great turgency of the Humor in them; whilst the Horn is sprouting and pliant, make deep and conspicuous furrows all along the outside of it where they pass; which may plainly be seen after the Horn is bare and come to its full growth; at which time all these Veins and Arteries, with the outward Velvet Skin, drying by the Course of Nature, shrivel up and separate from the Horn, and the Beast affects tearing them off in great stripes against the Bows of Trees, exposing his Horns naked, when they are throughly hardned, without any Covering at all. This I gather, by what Remarks I have made on the Skulls of other Deer, and what I have observed concerning the growth of these sort of Horns in Animals of the like kind, tho' not in this particular sort of Creature.

The Figure I had exactly taken by a skilful Hand, to shew truly the right shape and size of these kind of (493) Horns we so commonly find here under Ground in Ireland; and have likewise added a Draught of a pair of common Stags Horns, exprest Figure the 2d. and another of a pair of common Bucks Horns, exprest Figure the 3d. all done according to the same Scale; that by this means, at one and the same time, may appear the grand disproportion between these sorts of Heads, and also the difference and agreement in their Shape. (See the Table.)

Such then were the vast Dimensions, according to which the lofty Fabrick of the Head and Horns of this stately Creature was Built; and doubtless all the rest of the parts of its Body answered these in a due proportion. So that should we compare the fairest Buck with the Symetry of this mighty Beast, it must certainly fall as much short of its Proportions as the smallest young Fawn, compared to the largest over-grown Buck.

And yet ’tis not to be question’d, but these spacious Horns, as large as they were, like others of the Deer Kind, were naturally cast every Year, and grew again to their full Size in about the Space of Four Months: For all Species of Deer, yet known, certainly drop their Horns yearly, and with us ’tis about March, and about July following they are full summ'd again. Of which strange Appearance in Nature, the learned Gerrardus Johannes Vossius making mention in his excellent Book De Idololatriâ, Lib. 3. Cap. 57. has these Words: Ponam inter Naturæ maximè admiranda breviculo adeo Tempore tam solida duraq; tantæ Molis Cornua enasci (a). (a) That is, I shall reckon it among the most wonderful Works of Nature, that Horns so hard and solid, and of so great a Bulk, should grow up in so short a time. (494) And the inquisitive Italian Philosopher, Francisco Redi, in his Experimenta circa res Naturates, &c. on the same Occasion expresses himself thus: Maximâ profecto admiratione dignum est tantam Molem Cornuum & Ramorum tam brevi tempore quotannis renasci & crescere (b). And if these judicious Persons were moved thus with Admiration by considering only the yearly Falling and sudden Growth of these smaller Horns of Bucks and Stags, with which alone they were acquainted, what would they have thought, had they known of these vast and stupendious Productions of Nature in the same Kind.

As there seems to me no small Affinity or Agreement in the Sprouting forth, and Branching of Deers Horns, with the way of Growth in Vegetables; so I conceive likewise the constant yearly dropping of them, to proceed much from the same Cause, that Trees annually cast their ripe Fruit, or let fall their withering Leaves in Autumn: that is, because the nourishing Juice, say it is Sap or Blood, is stopt and flows no longer; either on the account ’tis now deficient, being all spent, or that the cavous Passages which conveigh it, dry up and cools; so as the Part having no longer any Communication with, must of necessity by degrees sever from the Whole; but with this Difference, that Horns by reason of their hard Material and strong Composition, stick fast to the Head by their Root, Seven or Eight Months after all their Nourishment perfectly retires; whereas Leaves and Fruit, consisting of a much more tender Substance and a finer Texture of Parts, drop sooner from their native (b) That is, Truly it deserves our greatest Wonder that so large a Body of Horns and Branches should sprout up in so short a time, and be renewed every Year. (495) Beds where they grew, when once the Supply of usual Nourishment is stopt; this Analogy that Nature observes in casting the Horns of Beasts and dropping the Fruit of Trees, will appear much more evident to any one that will observe the end of a Stalk, from which a ripe Orange or any such large Fruit has been lately sever’d, and the Butt end of a cast Horn where it fasten'd to the Os Frontis: for by comparing them together, he shall find so great a Congruity in the shape of both, that ’twill be apparent Nature works according to the same Mechanism in one as in t’other.

Discoursing one Day with his Excellency the Lord Capell, then one of the Lord Justices of Ireland, an experienc’d and accurate Observer of the Works of Nature, I chanced to mention these Large Horns: He was very earnest to see them, and so mightily surpris’d at the sight of their extraordinary Bulk, that my Brother thought fit to make a Present of them to his Lordship, which he obligingly accepted; resolving to send them over, as he said, to his Majesty King William.

Such another Head, with both the Horns intire was found some Years since by one Mr. Van Delure in the County of Clare, buried Ten Foot under Ground in a sort of Marle, and were presented by him to the late Duke of Ormond, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who valued them so highly for their prodigious largeness, that he thought them not an unfit Present for the King, and sent them for England to King Charles the Second, who ordered them to be set up in the Horn-Gallery at Hampton Court; where they may still be seen among the rest of the large Heads both of Stags and Bucks that adorn that Place, but this so vastly exceeds the largest of them, that the rest appear to lose much of their (496) Curiosity by being viewed in Company with this. I am lately informed, these with the other Heads are since removed to the Guard-Room out of the Horn- Gallery.

In the Year 1691., Major Folliot told me, that digging for Marle near the Town Ballymackward, where he lives, not far from Ballyshannon in the County of Fermanagh, he found buried Ten Foot under plain solid Ground, a Pair of these sort of Horns, which he keeps still in his Possession.

In the Year 1684., there were Two of these Heads dug up near Turvy, the Mansion Seat of the Lord Barnevall, within Eight Miles of Dublin; that which was most compleat of the Two was fixt over the Chimney in the Publick Hall; and there still remains as an ancient and lasting Curiosity to future Ages.

Not long since, a Head of this Kind with its Horns was found near Portumny, the House of the Earls of Clanricard, seated on the River Shannon, in the County of Gallway, where it is carefully preserved, and still admired by all that view it.

Such a Forehead with Two extraordinary Beams of these Kind of Horns, may be now seen fastened against one side of the Common Hall of his Grace Michael Lord Archbishop of Ardmagh's House here in Dublin; they are both imperfect and want their Palmes, yet by the vast thickness and length of the Beams, I judge when entire they much exceeded the Size of those I have given the Dimensions of above. The Primate told me, they were found somewhere in the Province of Ulster, (497) and presented to the Earl of Essex, then Governor of Ireland, who gave them his Grace.

To these I should add many more Instances of the like, as those found by the late Lord Mountjoy, near his House at Newtown-Stewart; and those kept at Stockallen in the County of Meath, for to my Knowledge within less than Twenty Years, above Twenty, I might safely say, Thirty Pair of these sort of Horns have been dug up in several places of this Country, all found by Accident; and we may well suppose vast Numbers still remain undiscovered, but to mention any more of them particularly would be tedious, and to little purpose, since these may suffice plainly to shew, this Creature was formerly Common with us in Ireland; and an Indigenous Animal, not peculiar to any Territory or Province, but universally met with in all parts of the Kingdom.

For if we draw a Line through the several Places of this Island where these Heads have been found, viz. the County of Clare, the County of Dublin, and the County of Farmanagh, omitting those other parts I have mentioned, we shall make a Triangle whose shortest Side will be in length above an Hundred English Miles, which is near as large a Figure of this Sort, as we can well describe in the Map of Ireland.

And besides, we may reasonably, I think, gather; That they were not only common in this Country, but by what Mr. Osborn mentions in his Letter to my Brother, That they were a Gregarious Animal, as the Naturalists call them, or such a sort of Creature as affect naturally keeping together in Herds; as we see the Fallow Deer with us, and as 'tis reported of the Elches in (498) Sweden, and the Rain Deer in the Northern Countries of Europe; for otherwise we cannot easily fancy it should happen; that Three of their Heads should be all found within the narrow Compass of one Acre of Ground.

That these and several others, and indeed I think I may say, all that I have been particularly informed of, though dug up in far distant Places of Ireland, should be constantly found buried in a Sort of Marle, seems to me to intimate, as if Marle was only a Soil that had been formerly the Outward Surface of the Earth, but in process of Time, being covered by degrees with many Layers of Adventitious Earth, has by lying under Ground a certain Number of Ages, acquired a peculiar Texture, Consistence, Richness, or Maturity that gives it the Name of Marle. For of necessity we must allow the Place where these Heads are now found, was certainly once the external Superfice of the Ground; otherwise ’tis hardly possible to suppose how they should come there.

And that they should be so deep buried as we at present find them, appears to have happen’d, by their accidentally falling where it was soft low Ground; so that the Horns by their own considerable Gravity might easily make a Bed where they setled in the yielding Earth; and in a very long Course of Time, the higher Lands being by degrees dissolved by repeated Rains, and washt and brought down by Floods, covered those Places that were scituated lower with many Layers of Earth: For all high Grounds and Hills, unless they consist of Rock, by this means naturally lose a little every Year of their Height; and sometimes sensibly become lower even in one Age; of which we may see several satisfactory Instances related by Dr. Plott in his (499) Natural History of Staffordshire, Chap. 3. Page 113. as for all such Heads that might chance to fall on high or hard Grounds, where they could not possibly be covered or defended, these must of necessity rot, perish, and be destroyed by the Weather: And for this Reason it is, that never any of these Horns are discovered in such sort of Ground, but always in a light Soil, and in some low Part of the Country.

By what means this Kind of Animal, formerly so common and numerous in this Country, should now become utterly lost and extinct, deserves our Consideration: and seeing it is so many Ages past, that we have no manner of Account left to help us in our Enquiry, the most we can do in this Matter is to make some probable Conjectures about it; I know some have been apt to imagine this like all other Animals might have beeen destroyed from off the Face of this Country by that Flood recorded in the Holy Scripture to have happened in the the time of Noah; which I confess is a ready and short way to solve this Difficulty, but does not at all satisfy me: For (besides that that there want not Arguments, and some of them not easily answer’d, against the Deluge being Universal) if we consider what a fragil, slight and porous Substance these and the Horns of all Deer are, we can't well suppose they could by any means be preserv’d entire and uncorrupt from the Flood, now above Four Thousand Years since; and I have by me some of the Teeth, and one of the lower Jaw-bones of this Creature so perfect, solid, ponderous and fresh, that no one that sees them can possibly suspect they could have been in nature so many Ages past: And therefore it seems more likely to me, this kind of Animal might become extinct here from a certain ill Constitution of Air in (500) some of the past Seasons long since the Flood, which might occasion an Epidemick Distemper, if we may so call it, or Pestilential Murren, peculiarly to affect this sort of Creature, so as to destroy at once great Numbers of 'em, if not quite ruine the Species.

And this is not so groundless an Assertion as at first it may appear, if we consider this Island may very well be thought neither a Country nor Climate so truly proper and natural to this Animal, as to be perfectly agreeable to its temper; since for ought I can yet learn it neither is, nor ever has been an Inhabitant of any of the adjacent Kingdoms round about us. And besides, the Three Heads above mentioned, found so close to one another in the County of Meath, and the Two near Turvy, seems not a little to countenance this Opinion; as if these Animals dyed together in Numbers, as they had lived together in Herds.

To this purpose I have met with a remarkable Passage in Scheffer's Description of Lapland, Chap. 28. speaking of the Cervus Rangifer, an Animal that agrees in Kind with ours, though it be a quite different Sort of Deer, he says that whole Herds of them are often destroy’d by a Raging Distemper common among them; these are his Words: Est & Morbis suis genus hoc Obnoxium qui si ingruant Gregem totum solent pervagare & ad necem dare; qua de re Johannes Bureus ita habet in Schedis suis, solet interdum Rangiferos morbus quidam velut Pestis invadere sic ut moriantur omnes Lappoq; compellatur novos sibi comparare Rangiferos (c). By (c) That is, this Kind of Creature is likewise subject to its Diseases which if they seize a Flock, goes through them all; concerning which Johannes Bureus, has it thus in his Papers; sometimes a sort of Disease after the manner of a Plague, affects the Rain Deer, so as they all dye, and the Laplander is forced to supply himself with new Rain Deer. (501) which we may see what we conjecture in our Case, is not meer Supposition, but certainly happens elsewhere to Animals of the like Kind.

But since we have an Instance of so destructive a Mortality among Beasts as quite to extinguish a whole Species at once, we may think some might have escaped the Common Calamity; but these being so few in Number, I imagine as the Country became peopled, and thickly inhabited; they were soon destroy'd, and kill'd like other Venison as well for the sake of Food as Mastery and Diversion. And indeed none of these Animals by reason of their Stupendious Bulk and Wide Spreading Horns could possibly lye sheltered long in any Place, but must be soon discovered, and being so conspicuous and heavy were the more easily pursued and taken by their numerous Hunters, in a Country all environed by the Sea: For had they been on the wide Continent they might have fared better, and secured themselves and their Race till this time, as well as others of the same Kind have done elsewhere. Of which more hereafter.

Or had those Barbarous Times been capable of taking Care for the Preservation of this stately Creature, our Country would not have entirely lost so singular and beautiful an Ornament: But this could not be expected from those savage Ages of the World, which certainly would not have spared the rest of the Deer Kind, Stags and Hinds, Bucks and Does, which we still have; but that these being of much smaller Size, could shelter and conceal themselves easier under the Covert of Woods and Mountains, so as to escape utter Destruction.

But be that matter as it will, I think its time to put an end to a Letter, that’s already grown much longer then was design’d; I shall therefore add no more concerning these Shells, being unwilling to burn my Fingers with that intricate and perplext question, What they are? All that I shall say of this matter shall be only this; If they be real Shells, their being found in such different parts of the World, and at such great distance from any Sea, may serve for a fair and convincing Argument of the Universality of the Deluge. And if they be not Shells, but only stones form’d by (what some People call) Fanciful and sporting Nature, we may at least conclude thus much from it, That since even these Lusus Naturæ, these Freaks, and random strokes of Nature, have not only a Beauty, but a real use, that nothing in Nature is made in vain: And that many other Fossils that we now contemn as toys and trifles, fit only for furnishing out a Musæum, may have other remarkable Virtues, that may in time bring even them to be taken notice of, and valu’d, as well as the long neglected and despis’d Ostracites.