ELEPHANT. 627 



its base close to the nasal aperture (PL 146, fig. 1). The tusk, 

 conical at its lirst-formed part, afterwards sub-cylindrical, being 

 subject to no habitual attrition from an opposed tooth, and worn 

 only by the occasional uses to w^hich it is applied, arrives at an 

 extraordinary length, following the curve originally impressed upon 

 it by the form of the socket, and gradually widening from the 

 projecting apex, to that part which was formed when the matrix 

 and the socket had attained their full size. 



These incisive teeth of the Elephant not only surpass other 

 teeth in size, as belonging to a quadruped so enormous, but they 

 are the largest of all teeth in proportion to the size of the body ; 

 representing in a natural state those monstrous incisors of the 

 Rodents which are the result of accidental suppression of the 

 wearing force of the opposite teeth. 



The tusks of the Elephant, like those of the Mastodon, consist 

 chiefly of that modification of dentine which is called ' ivory,' and 

 which shows, on transverse fractures or sections, striae proceeding 

 in the arc of a circle from the centre to the circumference, in 

 opposite directions, and forming by their decussations curvilinear 

 lozenges (PI. 146, fig. 8, i) This character is peculiar to the tusks 

 of the Proboscidian Pachyderms. 



In the Indian Elephant the tusks are always short and straight 

 in the female, and less deeply implanted than in the male : she thus 

 retaining, as usual, more of the characters of the immature state. 

 In the male they have been known to acquire a length of nine feet, 

 with a basal diameter of eight inches, and to weigh one hundred and 

 fifty pounds ; but these dimensions are rare in the Asiatic species. 



Mr. Corse, speaking of the variety of Indian Elephant, called 

 * Dauntelah' from its large tusks, which project almost horizontally 

 with a slight curve upwards and outwards, says, " The largest I have 

 known in Bengal, did not exceed seventy two pounds avoirdupois ; 

 at Tiperah they seldom exceed fifty pounds. "(1) There are varieties 

 of the Dauntelah in which the large tusks of the male are nearly 



(1) Loc. cit., p. 212. 



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