Relation of Higher Animals to Man 561 



The sagacity and high mentahty of the elephant have evoked 

 comment since the days of the early Greek naturalists. The 

 large and highly convoluted cerebrum, though not greatly ex- 

 panded posteriorly, is in keeping with the high mental develop- 

 ment. Though our knowledge is still fragmentary, as to its 

 earliest ancestors, it has evidently been derived from some 

 form like Moeritherium found fossil in the mid-eocene of Egypt. 

 Starting with some such type the entire naso-maxillary region 

 has steadily elongated and become flexible. Were the question 

 asked: What would the elephant be without its trunk .-^ all prob- 

 ably will concede that it would be a very sluggish and unin- 

 telligent animal. With small eyes, hea^^ neck, rather slowly 

 moving head, awkward gait, digitigrade progression on heavy 

 feet, and thick tough skin, it is the opposite of an animal that 

 might be expected to show high brain capacity. The evolu- 

 tion of the trunk explains the entire problem we believe, and 

 this on the principle of action and reaction along proenvironal 

 lines. For the proboscis is one of the most sensitive and plastic 

 structures in the entire mammalian world, excelling in some 

 respects the human arm. 



By it the animal feels delicately, coils round objects, reaches 

 to heights above its head and to distances otherwise beyond 

 its range, grasps even the smallest objects, places and balances 

 loads on its tusks, absorbs and distributes water over its body 

 or to its mouth, conveys food to the mouth, absorbs and shoots 

 out sand, projects objects that are out of reach by airjets, so 

 as on rebound to seize them, constructs conduroy paths through 

 swamps, and not least uses its trunk as an organ for showing 

 caressing endearment toward members of its own herd. 



Now, in the works of Houzeau (182), Lauder-Lindsay (49 

 passim), Romanes (50: 386), and other authors, numerous 

 examples are cited of high mentality, memory, and reasoning 

 power, that place the elephant, according to some of these 

 authors, almost on a level with the dog and higher apes. Such 

 mentality is an effect of high brain organization. The stimu- 

 lating cause for the mentality has to be looked for and ex- 

 plained. No part or parts of the body, taken separately or 



