Game Animals of India, etc. 



first tooth, in which there are four, to the last, which 

 may have as many as twenty- four. The teeth are 

 pushed up in the jaws in an arc of a circle, and as each 

 tooth in the front of the series becomes worn down, it 

 is gradually thrust out from behind by its successor, 

 which at the same time takes its place. The end of 

 this process is, of course, that the animal is eventually 

 left with but a single pair of grinding teeth in each jaw ; 

 and when these are completely worn away, a term is put 

 to the life of their owner. 



Compared with those of its African relative, the 

 molars of the Indian elephant have their component 

 plates narrower and more numerous, with the layers of 

 enamel thrown into a number of fine puckers or pleats. 

 Consequently, on the worn surface of the crown, the 

 disks formed by the abraded plates are more numerous 

 and narrower in the Indian species, while their enamel- 

 borders are thin and pleated instead of comparatively 

 thick and plain. 



The females of the Indian elephant carry, as a rule, 

 only very small tusks, which do not project beyond the 

 lips, and in some cases the males show an equally poor 

 development of these weapons. Such tuskless males 

 are known in India as makhna^ in contradistinction to 

 the dauntela^ or tuskers. 



Usually the Indian elephant has five polished hoof- 

 like nails on the fore, and four on the hind feet ; 

 but the most striking external point of distinction 

 between it and the African species is to be found 

 in the comparatively small size of the ears. Next to 

 this comes the presence of a finger-like process on the 

 front edge only of the tip of the trunk, the African 

 species having such a process on both the front and 

 hind margins. The trunk, too, of the Indian species 

 differs markedly from that of the African elephant, 

 being comparable to a tapering india-rubber tube, 

 whereas in the African elephant this appendage consists 

 of a series of segments of varying calibre, and may be 



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