220 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



and lively ; his ears are broad, long, and pendulous. He has 

 two large tusks, and a trunk or proboscis at the extremity 

 of the nose, which he uses to take his food with, and, in 

 case of necessity, for attack or defence. His legs are thick 

 and long, and his feet are divided into five rounded toes. 

 His colour is a dark ash brown. There are elephants, 

 however, of a white or cream colour. The African is dis- 

 tinguished from the Indian variety by the size of its ears, 

 which in the African species are very large. Dr. Livingstone 

 gave the measurement of the ears of a female he killed, as 

 four feet five inches in depth and four feet in horizontal 

 breadth, and said he had seen a native creep under one so 

 as to be completely covered from the rain. The ear of the 

 Indian variety is not more than a third of this size. Gen- 

 erally the elephants of Africa and especially those of the 

 south are larger than those of India. The most striking 

 characteristic of the elephant is his trunk " In this," says the 

 Rev. J. G. Wood, "there are about forty thousand muscles, 

 enabling the elephant to shorten, lengthen, coil up, or move 

 in any direction this most extraordinary organ. The trunk is 

 pierced throughout its length by two canals, through which 

 liquids can be drawn by suction. If the elephant wishes 

 to drink, after drawing the liquid into its trunk, it inserts 

 the end of its proboscis into its mouth, and discharges the 

 contents down its throat; but if it merely wishes to wash 

 itself or play, it blows the contained liquid from the trunk 

 with great violence. Through the trunk the curious trumpet- 

 like voice of the elephant is produced. At the extremity is 

 a finger-like appendage, with which it can pick up small ob- 

 jects. " The elephant is thirty years old before he attains 

 maturity. He lives on foliage, herbs, and fruits, haying a spe- 

 cial taste fqr those which are sweet. 



The Wild The elephant is naturally a quiet and inoffensive 



Elephant, animal, and being gifted with an unusually keen 



scent and sense of hearing, will usually decamp on the approach 



