148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



by acting as handy beasts of burden in rough countries 

 and over rocky mountain paths, and the pig by its abun- 

 dant food supply. How the camel has acted as the ship 

 of the desert by conveying men and merchandise across 

 the sandy wastes. And how the inteUigent Asiatic 

 elephant has been enlisted into the service of civilization 

 as a mighty bearer of burdens both in peace and in war. 



As I have mentioned the elephant, I will at this point 

 of my paper read a note which I have recentlv made con- 

 cerning that animal. 



At the present time Mr Hagenbeck, a German, is 

 engaged in a scheme for re-domesticating the African 

 elephant for use in German East Africa. I say re-domesti- 

 cating, for the African elephant was trained and success- 

 fully employed by Pyrrhus and by Hannibal in their wars, 

 but of late it has only been regarded as a wild beast and 

 shot down for its ivory. But if the African elephant 

 could be re-domesticated and used as a beast of burden in 

 the districts where the tetse fly stops all animal carriage, 

 and where for generations human transport has been the 

 only means of conveying goods from the interior to the 

 coast, it would be of vast service to civilization. The 

 African elephant is hard to tame, and is deficient in 

 memory, and is said to be descended from the mastodon. 

 The teeth of the African elephant correspond with those 

 of the mastodon, and it may be that it has inherited the 

 mental qualities of its huge ancestor. 



With regard to the Asiatic elephant, it is easily domesti- 

 cated and has a good memory, and it is possible that it 

 owes these qualities to its descent from the mammoth. 

 The teeth of the Asiatic elephant are analogous to those 

 of the mammoth. 



But were I to enter into a full description of the 

 manner in which these and other animals have contributed 



