XLhc JElepbants. 



NINTH ORDER: Proboscidea. 



STEADILY decreasing 

 tribe, the last survivors of 

 a formerly numerous group 

 of mammals, invite our at- 

 tention in the Proboscidea. 

 They appear to us to be liv- 

 ing relics of former periods 

 of creation, as creatures 

 bequeathed by bygone 

 ages. Of all the species 

 of this order, which were 

 formerly numerously a n d 

 widely distributed over our 

 globe, the representatives 

 of only one family, consisting of two or three spe- 

 cies, have come down to our age; but they are 

 the obvious links which connect modern times with 

 prehistoric eras; for to their family belonged the 

 giants, the well-preserved bodies of which the ice 

 of Siberia has retained through the lapse of thou- 

 sands of years. A glance at the extinct species, with 

 which Neumayr deals in his "History of the Earth," 

 will facilitate our comprehension of this order. 

 Characteristics Our Elephants {Elephas), the only 

 of the Elephant living representatives of the family 

 Tribe. Elephantidse, are distinguished by 



their long, movable proboscis and the peculiar den- 

 tition, especially the tusks, which may be desig- 

 nated as exaggerated incisors. The body is short 

 and thick, the neck very short, the head round and 

 protuberant in places on account of the cavities in 

 the upper skull-bone; the legs are tolerably long 

 and pillar-like and the feet are furnished with five 

 connected toes and flat, horny soles. 



Importance of The most important organ of an 

 the Proboscis to Elephant's anatomy is its proboscis, 

 the Elephant. an elongation of the nasal process, 

 distinguished by its mobility, sensitiveness and es- 

 pecially by the finger-like appendage at its extrem- 

 ity. It is an organ of smell, touch and prehension. 

 It is composed of annular and longitudinal muscles, 

 the number of which Cuvier estimates at about 

 fort_\- thousand, and which enable it to turn, extend 

 and contract in all directions. It is also a substitute 

 for the absent upper lip, and through its manifold 

 uses life is rendered possible to the animal. 



Other Physical All other limbs and even the organs 

 Characteristics of of sense of the Elephant appear to 

 Elephants. De i ess worthy of notice. The eyes 

 a*e small and have a dull, but good-natured expres- 

 sion, while the ears are very large and comparable 

 in appearance and texture to leather rags. The 

 toes are so firmly enclosed in the general skin of 

 the body as to preclude their moving against each 

 other. They are covered at the extremities by very 

 small, but strong, broad and flat hoofs. 



The dentition is very peculiar. The Elephant has 

 two excessively developed tusks in the upper jaw, 



but neither incisors nor canines, and usually only 

 one huge molar on each side of both jaws. This 

 tooth consists of a large number of plates of 

 enamel, closely united with each other. When the 

 molar has so far worn away by grinding food that 

 it can no longer perform its office in an efficient 

 manner, a new tooth forms behind it, which gradu- 

 ally advances and assumes its functions contempo- 

 raneously with the shedding of the stub. This shed- 

 ding of teeth has been observed to occur six times, 

 and one may therefore speak of twenty-four molars, 

 which the animal possesses during its lifetime. 

 The tusks which are not shed have an uninter- 

 rupted growth and hence can attain a considerable 

 length and an enormous weight. 



The Powerful The Asiatic Elephant ( Eleplias asiat- 

 Asiatic Ele- icus or Eleplias indicus), which we 

 phant. are won t to consider the type of its 



species and family, is a powerful, clumsy, robust 

 animal, with a massive broad-browed head, short 

 neck, powerful body and pillar-like legs. Its head, 

 which is set on the neck at right angles to the 

 spinal column, and usually carried nearly perpen- 

 dicularly, assists materially in enhancing the over- 

 whelming impression of power the animal makes 

 on the spectator. Huge in all its proportions, it 

 strikes one as being endowed with great mobility 

 of limb, notwithstanding the apparent clumsiness 

 of its shape. 



The measurements of the size of the Elephant 

 are mostly exaggerated and frequently incorrectly 

 determined. The largest males attain a length of 

 about twenty-one feet from the tip of the trunk to 

 that of the tail, about six feet of which length 

 will be occupied by the proboscis, and the tail 

 may take up as much as five feet, thus leaving for 

 the body and head a length of eleven feet; the 

 height may amount to nine feet. Larger specimens 

 are rarely found. Sanderson, who was the English 

 government superintendent of the Elephant depart- 

 ment in British India for half a lifetime, and who 

 from his experience in that capacity is surely trust- 

 worthy authority, measured the largest among hun- 

 dreds of animals under his care and determined 

 the shoulder height as follows : The two largest 

 males were respectively 120 inches and 118 inches 

 high; the two largest females measured respectively 

 103 and 101 inches. The weight of the heaviest 

 may amount to eight thousand pounds, or perhaps 

 slightly more. 



The Hindoo Classi- The natives of India, who are doubt- 

 fication of Ele- less the most expert in this line, dis- 

 phants. tinguish three kinds of Elephants, 



according to the shape of the animal and the work- 

 ing capacity dependent upon that shape; they call 

 these three grades Kumiria, Dwasala and Mierga. 

 The Kumiria is the most perfect variety, of heavy, 

 symmetrical build, with a capacious chest, a power- 



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