THE ELEPHANTS 1113 



the ground, instead of being raised half way up the leg as in the horse. The whole 

 of the toes are inclosed in a common skin, with a flat cushion-like sole; the position 

 of the toes being indicated by the broad, flat nails, of which there maybe either 

 three or four in the hind-foot. The fore-foot is broader than the hinder one, and 

 generally has five nails. 



In most cases the males, and sometimes the females also, have a pair of tusks 

 in the upper jaw; these tusks corresponding to one of the pairs of incisors of other 

 Mammals, and not to the tusks of the wild boar and hippopotamus, which are 

 canines. There are no other front teeth in the upper, and none at all in the lower 

 jaw of the living species. The eyes are small in proportion to the size of the head; 

 the tail is nearly cylindrical, and of considerable length, with a tuft of bristly hairs 

 at the end; but the skin is nearly naked in the two existing species. The female 

 has a single pair of teats placed between the fore-legs. 



In addition to the proportions and position of the bones of the limbs already 

 referred to, it may be observed in connection with the skeleton that the two bones 

 of the lower segment of each leg are perfectly distinct from one another, and that 

 in the ankle the huckle bone, or astragalus, is nearly flat both above and below, and 

 is of slight vertical thickness, but of great horizontal extent. The vertebrae of the 

 back have very tall spines for the attachment of the powerful ligaments necessary to 

 support the enormous weight of the head, and the ribs are of great length, and thus 

 afford ample space for the viscera. It will be noticed in the figure of the skeleton 

 that the blade bone, or scapula, has a backwardly-recurved process projecting from 

 its space; and it is remarkable that a nearly similar condition of this acromial 

 process is found in the Rodents. 



From the enormous size of the skull -it might be inferred that 



elephants have very large brains. This, however, is far from the case, 

 the brain not only being very small in proportion to the size of the animal, but like- 

 wise of a low degree of organization. The brain of an elephant occupies, indeed, 

 only a comparatively-small portion of the space lying between the socket of the eye 

 and the region where the vertebras of the neck articulate with the skull. The whole 

 of the elevated upper portion of the skull is occupied by a mass of bone, honey- 

 combed into cells, and thus affords space for the attachment of the huge muscles of 

 the jaws, and forms an adequate support for the trunk without unduly adding to the 

 weight; the great size of this region being also essential in order to harmonize with 

 the immense development of the lower part of the 'skull, which has to accommodate 

 the enormous tusks and molar teeth. Similar cells also enter into the structure of 

 the hinder and basal regions of the skull. There are many other peculiarities in the 

 conformation of the elephant's skull, but it must suffice to mention here that the 

 nasal aperture is situated high up in the front of the face, and that the nasal 

 bones are reduced to mere triangular nodules, instead of having the elongated form 

 characteristic of most Mammals. 



Of the teeth a more detailed notice is necessary, since these afford 



some of the most essential characteristics of the group. As already 

 mentioned, elephants have no canine teeth in either jaw; while in the living species 

 the tusks are developed only in the upper jaw. In the young elephant there is a 



