ELEPHANT (Gr. Elephas), a genus of quadrupeds, of the order Pachydermata (q. v.), and of the section Proboscidea. Elephants are the largest existing land animals. The ordinary height at the shoulder is about eight feet, but sometimes exceeds ten feet. The weight of a large E. is about five tons, the body being very bulky in proportion to its height. To sustain this weight, it is furnished with limbs of colossal thickness and strength, which are also remarkably straight, each bone resting vertically on that beneath it. From the appearance of inflexibility presented by the limbs, arose the notion prevalent among the ancients, and throughout the middle ages, that the limbs are destitute of joints, and that consequently an E. cannot lie down to rest like another quadruped, and if it were to lie down, could not rise again, but always sleeps standing, or leaning against a tree. It is indeed true that the E. often sleeps standing, and when fatigued, falls asleep leaning against a rock or tree, against which it may have been rubbing itself. The flexibility of the limbs is, however, sufficient to permit elephants to run with speed nearly equal to that of a horse, to indulge in playful gambols, and to ascend and descend steep mountains. Elephants are more sure-footed and serviceable than either horses or mules, in difficult mountain roads. On the very steepest declivities, an E. works his way down pretty rapidly, even with a howdah and its occupants upon his back, his chest and belly on the ground, and each fore-foot employed in making a hole for itself, into which the hind foot afterwards follows it, and to which the weight may be trusted, that another step may be ventured with safety. In lying down, the E. does not bring his hind-legs under him, like the horse and other quadrupeds, but extends them backwards (as man does when he assumes the kneeling position), an arrangement which, by enabling him to draw the hind-feet gradually under him, assists him to rise almost without a perceptible effort.' The E.'s pace, when exceeding a walk, is neither a trot nor a gallop,

which would be too violent a motion for its con formation and huge body, but a sort of shuffle, the speed of which is increased or diminished without other alteration. The E. is incapable of springing like the deer, horse, and other animals which have the bones of their shoulders and hocks set at an angle.

The head in elephants is large; the neck is short and thick, the long flexible proboscis compensating both for the shortness of the neck, and for the inflexibility caused by the largely developed processes of its vertebræ, and enabling the animal readily to reach objects on the ground, or to a height of several feet above its head, or on either side. A great extent of bony surface in the head affords attachment for muscles destined to move and give power to the proboscis or trunk. This extent of bony surface is provided in a remarkable manner, which at the same time makes the head, heavy as it is, lighter in proportion to its bulk than is usual in quadrupeds; a great space separating the internal and external tables of all the bones of the skull, except the occipital bones, so that the space occupied by the brain is but a small part of the whole head. The space between the tables of the bones is occupied by cells, some of which are four or five inches in length; others are small, irregular, and honeycomb-like; these all communicate with each other, and through the frontal sinuses with the cavity of the nose, and also with the tympanum or drum of each ear; consequently, as in some birds, these cells are filled with air.' The huge and extraordinary bones of the skull, besides affording attachment for muscles, afford mechanical support to the tusks.

The nasal bones of the E. are scarcely more than rudimentary; but the tapering proboscis, to the very extremity of which the nostrils are prolonged, is nearly eight feet in length. Besides the great muscles connected with it at its base, it is composed of a vast multitude of small muscles variously interlaced, but chiefly either longitudinal, and divided

into successive arcs, of which the convexity is outwards, or transverse, and radiating from the internal to the external membrane. Cuvier states the number of muscles having the power of distinct action as not far short of 40,000. The trunk can be coiled around a tree, and employed to tear it from its roots; it is a formidable weapon of offence or

Various positions of the Elephant's Trunk: 1, female elephant suckling her young one; 2, the young one; 3, elephant reposing; 4, elephant swimming; 5, young elephant browsing.

defence, and is far more employed in this way than the tusks, even by those elephants which have tusks of great size; its extremity can be wound around a small handful of grass or a slender branch; it is even capable of plucking the smallest leaf, or of lifting a pin from the ground. To fit it for such actions as those last mentioned, and for many such as might be performed by a hand, it is furnished at the extremity with what may be likened to a finger and thumb; on the upper side, an elongated process-strong, soft, and flexible, like the rest of the trunk, and endowed with the most delicate sense of touch-on the under side, a kind of tubercle against which this process may be pressed. All the food of the E. is gathered and conveyed to the mouth by the trunk: by means of the trunk, also, it drinks,

many ways for their comfort or enjoyment, as in throwing dust over their backs, or in fanning themselves and switching away flies with a leafy branch, two practices to which they are greatly addicted. Their mutual caresses are also managed by means of the trunk, and through it they make a loud shrill sound, indicative of rage, which is described by Aristotle as resembling the hoarse sound of a trumpet, and from which this organ received its French name trompe, corrupted in English into trunk. With the trunk also, they sometimes, when angry, beat violently on the ground.

The sense of smell is very acute in the E., as is also that of hearing. The ears are large and pendulous, the eyes are small.

Elephants have no canine teeth, nor have they any incisors in the lower jaw. The upper jaw is furnished with two incisors, which assume the peculiar character of tusks, and attain an enormous size, a single tusk sometimes weighing 150 or even 300 lbs. The tusks are, however, often imperfectly developed, ten or twelve inches in length, and one or two in diameter. These stunted tusks are often used for such purposes as snapping off small branches and tearing climbing plants from trees. Those elephants which possess great tusks employ them also for such other uses as loosening the roots of trees which they cannot otherwise tear for such labours as moving great stones, and piling from the ground; or in a state of domestication, or carrying timber. A powerful E. will raise and carry on his tusks a log of half a ton weight or more. The tusks of the E. surpass in size all other teeth of existing animals, and are the largest of all teeth in proportion to the size of the body. They consist chiefly of that variety of dentine called IVORY (q. v.), and continue to grow-like the incisors of the rodents, to which they are in some respects analogous-even when the animal has

1, elephant drinking; 2, elephant gathering long herbage; 3, elephant spouting water over its back.

sucking up into it a quantity of water sufficient to fill it, and then discharging the contents into the mouth. Valves at the base of the trunk prevent the water from going too far up the nostrils. The trunk is constantly employed by elephants in providing in

A, skull of Indian elephant; B, skull of African elephant; C, D, upper and lower molar teeth of Indian elephant; E, F, upper and lower molar teeth of African elephant; G, the original state of the grinders when the lamina of which they consist are as yet unconnected together; H, the lamina as they are attached in parallels one to the other by cortical substance.

attained a great age, if not to the very end of its life. The young E. is at first furnished with deciduous incisors, which are shed between the first and second year, and are succeeded by the permanent tusks.-The molar teeth of the E. are developed in succession; and at least in the Indian E., never more than two are to be seen in the same side of a jaw at one time. The first molars cut the gum in about two weeks after birth, and are shed about the end of its second year. The sixth molars,

to appear about the fiftieth year of the E.'s life. The molar teeth of the E. are remarkable for their great size, and for the extreme complexity of their structure, to which the nearest resemblance is found in some of the small rodents. They are composed of vertical plates of bony substance, separately enveloped with enamel, and cemented together by a third substance, called crusta petrosa, cortical, or cement, more resembling bone than enamel. Each succeeding tooth is not only more complex, but occupies a greater space in the jaw than its predecessor. Although formed from a single pulp, the molar tooth of an E. resembles an aggregation of teeth; and in the earlier stages of its growth, when the cement is not yet deposited, it seems as if many separate teeth were soldered together. As the surface of the tooth is worn down by mastication, the harder enamel is exposed in elevated ridges. The whole of a tooth is not in employment at once. From the peculiar manner of its growth, the anterior part begins to be employed, and to be worn away, whilst the latter part is still in process of formation.

The digestive apparatus of the E. is similar to that of the other pachydermata; but the stomach, which is of a very lengthened and narrow form, exhibits a peculiarity which assimilates it to that of the camel; the internal membrane, at the extremity beyond the cardiac orifice, forming thick wrinkles and folds, the broadest of which, and nearest to the gullet, seems to act as a valve, making that end of the stomach a reservoir for water, capable of containing about ten gallons; whilst a peculiar muscle, connecting the windpipe and gullet, enables the animal to open this reservoir at pleasure, for the regurgitation of the fluid, which is then sometimes received into the trunk, and squirted over the body, to free it from the nuisance of flies, or the heat of a tropical sun.

The female E. has only two teats, situated between the fore-legs. The young suck with the mouth, and not with the trunk. They are suckled for about two years. The period of gestation is also nearly two years, and a single young one is produced at a birth.

The skin of the E. is very thick, of a dark-brown colour, and in the existing species, has scarcely any covering of hair. The tail does not reach to the ground, and has a tuft of coarse bristles at the end. The feet have in the skeleton five distinct toes, but these are so surrounded with a firm horny skin, that only the nails are visible externally, as on the margin of a kind of hoof. The foot of the E. is admirably adapted for steep and rough ground, the protective skin which covers the toes allowing them considerable freedom of

motion.

Only two existing species of E. are certainly known, the Indian (E. Indicus) and the African (E. Africanus), although differences have recently been observed in the E. of Sumatra, which may perhaps entitle it to be ranked as a distinct species. Elephants are found in all parts of Africa, from the Sahara southwards, where wood and water are sufficiently abundant; also throughout India and the south-eastern parts of Asia, and in some of the tropical Asiatic islands. They extend northwards to the Himalaya; and Chittagong and Tiperah vie with Ceylon in the superior excellence of the elephants which they produce. The Indian E. is distinguished by a comparatively high oblong head, with a concave forehead; whilst the African has a round head and convex forehead. The ears of the African E. are much larger than those of the Indian, covering the whole shoulder, and descending

1, head of African elephant; 2, head of Asiatic elephant.

divisions of the crown of the tooth fewer, broader, and lozenge-shaped.

Elephants live in herds, not generally numerous, but several herds often congregate together in the same forest or at the same place of drinking. Each herd has a leader, generally the largest and most powerful animal. The leader seems to exercise much control over the movements of the herd, gives the alarm in case of danger, and seems to examine and decide for the whole herd as to the safety of proceeding in any particular direction. On account of his tusks, the leader is very often the animal against which the efforts of the hunter are directed; but the rest of the herd do their utmost to protect him, and when driven to extremity, they place him in the centre, and crowd so eagerly to the front of him that some of them must often be shot ere he can be reached. A family resemblance is usually very visible among the elephants of the same herd; some herds are distinguished by greater stature, and others by more bulky form and stronger limbs; some by particularly large tusks, some by slight peculiarities of the trunk, &c. In the East Indies, distinctions of this kind have long been carefully noticed, and particular names are given to elephants according to them, some being considered as highcaste, and others as low-caste elephants. An E. which by any cause has been separated from its herd, seems never to be admitted into another, and these solitary elephants are particularly troublesome, in their depredations exhibiting an audacity which the herds never exhibit; they are also savage and much dreaded, whilst from a herd of elephants danger is scarcely apprehended. The E. is generally one of the most inoffensive of animals, although in a state of domestication, it shews, as is well known, a power both of remembering and resenting an injury.

The favourite haunts of wild elephants are in the depths of forests-particularly in mountainous regions-where they browse on branches, and from which they issue chiefly in the cool of the night to pasture in the more open grounds. They are ready to plunder rice or other grain-fields, if not deterred by fences, of which, fortunately, they have, in general, an unaccountable dread, even although rather imaginary than real. A fence of mere reeds will keep them out of fields, where, as soon as the grain is removed, they enter by the gaps of the fence, and may be seen gleaning among the stubble.

When the E. eats grass, nothing can be more graceful than the ease with which, before conveying it to his mouth, he beats the earth from its roots by striking it on his fore-leg.' A cocoa-nut is first rolled under foot, to detach the outer bark, then stripped of the fibrous husk, and finally crushed between the grinders, when the fresh milk is swallowed with evident relish. The fruit of the palmyra palm is another favourite food of elephants, and they seem to have an instinctive knowledge of the time of its ripening. Sugar-canes are also a favourite food; indeed, elephants are very fond of sweet things. Those which are brought to Britain are generally fed on hay and carrots. The amount of daily food necessary for the E. in a state of domestication may be stated, on an average, at about two hundred pounds in weight.

Elephants delight in abundance of water, and enter it very freely, often remaining in it for a considerable time and with great evident enjoyment. They sometimes swim with not only the body but the head under water, the only part elevated above it being the extremity of the trunk.

The habits of the African E. appear in no import ant respect to differ from those of the Indian elephant. It is the latter only that is at the present day domesticated; but it is certain that the African species was anciently domesticated, and the figures on many Roman medals attest it.

Elephants rarely breed in a state of domestication, although, a few years ago, the birth of an elephant took place in the Zoological Gardens of London, an occasion of much interest not only to the scientifio but to the general public. They are generally tamed within a few months after they are captured; some degree of severity being employed at first, which, however, as soon as the animal has begun to respect the power of man, is exchanged for kindness and gentleness of treatment. Elephants intended for domestication are captured in various ways. It was formerly common to take them in pitfalls, but in this way they were often much injured. Another method frequently practised is by the aid of tame elephants. Male elephants chiefly are captured in this way, the decoy elephants employed being females, trained for the purpose. With these the hunters very cautiously approach the animal they mean to capture, and he generally permits them to come up to him, and is so pleased to make the acquaintance of the females, that he takes no notice of their riders and other human attendants. Two of the females take their places, one on each side of him, and whilst he is occupied with them, men, the profession of whose lives it is, and who display a wonderful expertness in the work, contrive to get beneath their bodies, and to pass ropes round the legs of the intended captive. His two hind-legs are fastened together by six or eight ropes in the form of the figure 8, another rope keeping them tight at the intersections, and a strong cable with a runningnoose is attached to each hind-leg. About twenty minutes are usually spent in fixing the necessary ropes, profound silence being maintained if the process goes on unobserved, or some of the other hunters distracting the attention of the E. from those who are engaged in this work; and when at last, becoming sensible of his danger, he tries to retreat, an opportunity is soon found of tying him, by means of the long cables which trail behind him, to some tree strong enough for the purpose. His fury then becomes ungovernable, and he makes violent and prodigious efforts to get free, throwing himself on the ground, and twisting him. self into the most extraordinary positions. It is not until he has thoroughly exhausted himself, and begins to suffer severely from fatigue, thirst, and

hunger, that the next steps are taken towards taming him and making him a willing servant of man.

Still more wonderful is the capture of a wild E., sometimes by not more than two hunters, who for this purpose will go into the woods, without aid or attendants, their only weapon a flexible rope of hide. With this they secure one of the E.'s hindlegs, following his footsteps when in motion, or stealing close up to him when at rest, or sometimes spreading the noose on the ground, partially concealed by roots and leaves, beneath a tree on which one of the party is stationed, whose business it is to lift it suddenly by means of a cord. When arrested by the rope being coiled around a tree, the E. naturally turns upon the man who is engaged in making it fast, but his companion interferes on his behalf, by provoking the animal; and thus not only is the first rope made fast, but noose after noose is passed over the legs, until all are at last tied to trees, and the capture is complete; upon which the hunters build a booth for themselves in front of their prisoner, kindle their fires for cooking, and remain day and night till the E. is sufficiently tamed to be led away.

But these huge animals are not always captured singly; whole herds are often taken at once. This is accomplished by means of an enclosure, towards which the elephants are driven by great numbers of men encircling a considerable space, and contracting the circle by slow degrees. Weeks, or even months, are spent in this operation, and at last the elephants, hemmed in on every side except the mouth of the enclosure, enter it, and the gate is immediately closed. The modes of constructing the enclosure are different in different parts of the East. Tame elephants are sometimes sent into it, and the captives are in succession made fast to trees there, in a way somewhat similar to that practised in capturing single elephants.

The E. first became known in Europe from its employment in the wars of the East: in India, from the remotest antiquity, it formed one of the most picturesque, if not of the most effective, features in the armies of the native princes.' Elephants have been taught to cut and thrust with a kind of scimitar carried in the trunk, and it was formerly usual for them to be sent into battle, covered with armour, and bearing towers on their backs, which contained warriors. But the principal use of the E. in war is for carrying baggage, and for dragging guns. An E. will apply his forehead to a cannon, and urge it through a bog, through which it would be almost impossible for men and cattle to drag it; or he will wind his trunk round it, and lift it up, whilst horses or cattle drag it forwards. Elephants are used in the East for carrying persons on their backs, a number being seated together in a howdah, whilst the driver (mahout) sits on the E.'s neck, directing it by his voice and by a small goad. Elephants have always a conspicuous place in the great processions and state displays of eastern princes, and white elephants-albinos-are peculiarly valued. Elephants are also employed in many kinds of labour, and display great sagacity in comprehending the nature of their task and adapting themselves to it. In piling timber, the E. manifests an intelligence and dexterity which is surprising to a stranger, because the sameness of the operation enables the animal to go on for hours disposing of log after log, almost without a hint or direction from his attendant.'

Of the sagacity of the E., many interesting anecdotes are on record, as every reader of books of travels and of natural history knows. But Cuvier refuses, and apparently with justice, to ascribe