178 The Wild Elephant. 



young consist of cartilages ; but in the adult become 

 uniformly osseous and solid. So long as the epiphyses 

 are distinct from the bones, the groAvth of the animal 

 is proceeding, but it ceases so soon as the consolidation 

 is complete. In man, according to Fleurens, this con- 

 summation takes place at 20 years of age, in the horse 

 at 5, in the dog at 2 ; so that conformably to this theory 

 the respective normal age for each would be 100 years 

 for man, 25 for the horse, and 10 for a dog. As a datum 

 for his conclusion, Fleurens cites the instance of one 

 young elephant in which, at 26 years old, the epiphyses 

 were still distinct, whereas in another, which died at 31, 

 they were firm and adherent. Hence he draws the in- 

 ference that the period of completed solidification is 

 thirt)'^ years, and consequently that the normal age of the 

 elephant is one hundred and fifty. '^ 



Amongst the Singhalese the ancient fable of the 

 elephant attaining to the age of two or three hundred 

 years still prevails ; but the Europeans, and those in im- 

 mediate charge of tame ones, entertain the opinion that 

 the duration of life for about seventy years is common 

 both to man and the elephant ; and that before the ar- 

 rival of the latter period, symptoms of debility and decay 

 ordinarily begin to manifest themselves. Still instances 

 are not wanting in Ceylon of trained decoys that have 

 lived for more than double the reputed period in actual 

 servitude. One employed by Mr. Cripps in the Seven 

 Korles was represented by the cooroowe people to have 

 served the king of Kandy in the same capacity sixty 



' Fleurens, De la Lon^eviic Humaine, pp. S2, Sg. 



