598 



ZOOLOGY. 



bones (Fig. 520, a). The trunk ends in a finger-like, highly 

 sensitive point, below which are situated the nostrils. The 

 brain has a large cerebrum, with numerous convolutions, but 

 more of the cerebellum is exposed than in any of the succeed- 

 ing orders ; in this respect and in the large incisors the Pro- 

 boscidians approach the Rodentia. 



In the nature of the limbs, especially from the fact that 

 elephants walk on their toes, a relation to the Ungulates is 



indicated. They are 

 five-toed, but the dig- 

 its are represented ex- 

 ternally only by the 

 five broad, shallow 

 hoofs, the foot being 

 supported by thick, 

 broad pads. The legs 

 are almost wholly free 

 from the body. The 

 placenta is zonary, 

 non-deciduate. The 

 skin is naked in the 

 existing elephants, 

 but the extinct mam- 

 moth was covered 

 sparsely with hairs. 

 Elephants live in 

 herds, browsing on 

 the leaves of trees 

 and herbs. They at- 

 tain a height of from 

 three to four metres 

 (10-12 feet). The 

 Asiatic elephant has a concave forehead and small ears, while 

 the African species has a full, rounded forehead and large 

 ears, with four hoofs on the fore feet and three on the hind 

 feet, the Asiatic elephant having one more hoof on each foot. 

 The fossil mammoth (Elephas primigenius Blumenbach), 

 which was contemporaneous with early man, was not much 

 larger than the existing species. Its tusks, however, were of 



Fig. 520. Section of an elephant's skull, showing 

 the small size of the brain cavity as compared to the 

 whole skull, and the numerous large air cells, v, 

 posterior nostrils ; 13, cavity of the nose ; a, front 

 opening of the bony nostrils, to the edge of which 

 the trunk is attached. After Owen. 



