mediate between the two in size. The wolf became extinct about the middle of the 18th century. A few other animals such as the brown bear and the wild cat undoubtedly lived in Ireland in early Christian times, while it is also probable that the great Irish elk, whose remains are found so abundantly in our extensive bogs and marls, and the reindeer lived contemporaneously with early man in this country. We have evidence that in still earlier times perhaps the mammoth accompanied by its enemy, the hyaena, roamed among the Irish forests.

Common British mammals, such as the mole, the English weasel, the voles and others are quite absent from Ireland, while our hare resembles the Scottish hare and is quite different from that found in England. With us, moreover, it is not confined to the mountains, as it is in Scotland, but lives in the plain as well, and in Ireland this hare does not usually become white in winter, as it does in colder countries, but remains in its brown summer fur throughout the year.

As I remarked, we cannot deal with the domesticated animals here. It is possible that both the horse and the pig called the Irish greyhound pig, now extinct, were domesticated in Ireland from originally wild stock.

Our bird fauna differs from the English chiefly in being poorer in species. Ornithologists will look in vain for the nightingale in Ireland, whilst birds familiar to the English naturalists, such as the wry-neck, the reed-warbler, and the green wood-pecker, are SO rare with us as to be scarcely admitted i..to the list of the Irish fauna. A recently extinct Irish species is that remarkable bird the great auk, which is considered such an adornment to a museum collection and of which Trinity College possesses a specimen. The great auk lived in Scotland and in Ireland less than a hundred years ago. To judge from the fact that its remains have been found in those refuse heaps of our ancestors called "kitchen middens" both in the north and south of Ireland, it was probably used as food by the early races of man in this island.

Snakes are altogether absent from Ireland, and the whole class of reptiles is represented by only a single species, viz., the common viviparous lizard.

The frog is abundant everywhere in Ireland, and, though

the common toad of England and Scotland is not found, the natterjack toad exists in a very circumscribed area in the south west of Ireland, as it also does in the corresponding region of Scotland.

Among the newts, only one kind has hitherto been observed as against three in England.

SO

When we examine the invertebrate fauna of Ireland, we find that in many groups the number of species compare mcre favourably with those of Great Britain, being in some cases almost equal. In the land and fresh water molluscs, including the snails and slugs, some very peculiar species are found which are altogether unknown in the rest of these islands. Hidden among the lichens which grow luxuriantly on the rocks in the counties of Cork and Kerry, and hardly distinguishable from them, there lives a beautifully spotted slug, known among naturalists by the name of Geomalacus maculosus. It is unknown elsewhere in our islands, and on the Continent it occurs only in north western Spain and Portugal. Nor far from where this remarkable slug was first discovered lives a water-snail in a small and almost inaccessible lake, the like of which occurs nowhere else in the world. It is known as Limnoa involuta. The fresh-water pearl mussel is a notable inhabitant of our rivers. The mussels were at one time much collected for the sake of the pearls contained in them, and occasionally pearls have been found of a value of £30-£40.

Among butterflys, moths and beetles, and spiders, there are some kinds peculiar to Ireland. In Dublin and the south of Ireland a large spider is frequently noticed in houses which is distinct from the common English house spider and has been named Tegenaria hibernica. In County Waterford and along the banks of the river Barrow, a little wood-louse occurs, which like the preceding species, is unknown in Great Britain. There are many others which I need not particularize, since they are mostly inconspicuous and not frequently met with. Yet in all these groups of Invertebrates the same general features prevail that some kinds are related to species found in Southern Europe, while others can be traced to a northern origin-a curious mingling of the north and south with a corresponding scarcity of the eastern element which is so conspicuous in England.

R. F. SCHARFF.

The Feis Ceoil.

The objects of the Feis Ceoil are:-(a) To promote the study and cultivation of Irish music; (b) to promote the general cultivation of music in Ireland; (c) to hold an annual musical festival or Feis Ceoil, consisting of prize competitions and concerts; (d) to collect and preserve by publication the old airs of Ireland.

Dr.

The origin of the movement was an article by Mr. T. O'Neill Russell deploring the neglect of Celtic music in Ireland. A newspaper correspondence ensued with the result that a committee of persons interested was formed. (now Sir Charles) Stanford, the eminent Irish musician, was invited to formulate a scheme for the Festival of Irish Music. In its main outlines his scheme resembled that of the great English festivals of Leeds, Birmingham, etc. It also provided for the hearing of itinerant and country musicians, pipers, fiddlers, and singers, for the purposes of collecting samples of Irish traditional music hitherto unpublished. One important condition insisted upon was the engagement of the Hallé orchestra for the performances, there not being any resident Irish orchestra at the time. A programme of such magnitude was altogether beyond the resources financial and otherwise, of the Committee, and for a time the idea of an Irish Musical Festival languished and was almost abandoned. Early in 1896 a considerable accession of professional musicians reanimated the movement, and, after many meetings, a new scheme was drawn up. In this the Committee relied entirely upon the local talent and resources, and the programme of a festival, akin in many respects to that of the musical portion of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, was the result. Prizes were offered for musical compositions of all classes and in all branches of executive musical art from vocal and instrumental solos to full orchestras and choirs. Singing in the Irish language was also provided for, and prizes given for unpublished Irish airs, and for performances on the Irish pipes, etc. Recog

nising the backward condition of music in Ireland, the Committee felt that for a considerable time to come the stimulus and encouragement of such competitions was necessary before what might be called a distinctive Irish school of music could be created. In addition to the contests the prize compositions and other works by Irish musicians were to be performed at concerts with such band and chorus as could be got together in the country. The first Feis Ceoil was held on these lines in May, 1897. The number of entries was so great that it took a week to get through the adjudications. From time to time the Committee has modified the programme, as was found necessary, but in general features this festival has been the model for all subsequent years. In 1902 and 1903 an effort was made to establish choral societies and choirs in large business houses and factories in Dublin, and a large measure of success attended the effort. Indeed, the singing of the commercial and trades' choirs has become one of the most interesting features of the Feis Ceoil. Competitions have since been introduced for choral and quartette singing in Irish.

At the initiation of the movement it was intended that, like the Eisteddfod of Wales, the Feis Ceoil should move to a different centre each year. But on two occasions only has it left Dublin when it was held in Belfast, negotiations to hold it elsewhere having always fallen through. It has been impossible to get a local committee which could guarantee a sum sufficient to cever all the expenses of the year, there not being anv reserve fund in the central office to meet possible deficits. The advantage of the changing the centre would not be so great if there were in other parts of the country, Feiseanna like those of Derry and Sligo, an outcome of the Feis Ceoil, with a programme modelled upon that of the parent association.

As a result of the Feis Ceoil competitions many musical compositions of merit, cantatas, quartette, songs, anthems, overtures, etc., have been produced, and many musicians have taken a higher position in their profession by reason o the ability displayed in their works. Irish national music is cultivated as it never was before.

In every class of solo singing one of the test pieces is an Irish air, and there is hardly a concert held in Ireland now in which Irish music does not find a place. Many of our

prominent singers owe their first recognition to being the winners of Feis gold medals. The advance in choral music has been rmarkable. In the year of the first festival the total number of choirs of all classes competing was 17; last year it was 47. There is a corresponding increase in chamber music and ensemble music generally.

With regard to the fourth object of the Feis Ceoil, the Committee have given prizes annually for the best unpublished airs sent up for competition. Those have been carefully kept, and a selection of about 100 of the best is about to be published.

The measure of public support which the Feis Ceoil receives has never been adequate to its needs. For some years it has been possible to offer prizes for composition only every second year, and the performance of the larger prize works, which involve the engagement of an orchestra, has been held over. This restriction of the usefulness of the movement is greatly to be regretted. A right appreciation of the work already achieved by the Feis Ceoil should remedy this defect. The interest in the competitions has steadily increased since the first year. But it should be realised that a movement of this kind cannot be self-supporting, and that a large measure of public recognition is necessary to meet the very heavy necessary expenditure. A glance at the syllabus of test pieces which is issued every year will show what a high standard is aimed at, and how favourably it compares with that of competitions in other countries. On this point the adjudicators, no matter where they come from, are agreed, and also upon the very great talent displayed by the competitors.

The direction of the Feis Ceoil is in the hands of an Executive Committee, elected annually by the members, two Hon. Secretaries, Miss Rachel Geoghegan and Miss Alice B. Griffith, and a Registrar, Mr. C. W. Wilson. The offices are at 37 Molesworth Street, Dublin. The annual subscription entitling to membership is one guinea.

R. I. BEST.