THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 223 



days or nearly two years. These great proboscidians 

 rarely breed in captivity. Some years ago the birth 

 of an elephant took place in the Zoological Gardens in 

 London. 



The eye of the elephant is comparatively small, 

 the organ being but little larger than it is in the horse. 

 The sclerotic tunic is very dense, and the fascias 

 which bind the eye in the orbit are thick and tough. 



The external ear of the African elephant is ex- 

 ceedingly large and leathery. In fact, the size of the 

 ear is one of the characteristic features of the species. 

 Muscles keep the auricles in flapping motion, especially 

 when flies or other insects are to be driven away. The 

 external auditory passages as well as the fluted con- 

 chas are freely exposed outwardly, and not covered 

 by the overlapping auricle as in animals with drooping 

 ears. The hearing of the elephant is very acute, as 

 well as the sense of sight. The membrana tympani is 

 a complete oval, and seems to send fibers from its cen- 

 ter where the handle of the malleus rests, to the cir- 

 cumference with regular radiation. 



The ligamentum nuchse of the elephant is the 

 thickest and strongest band of elastic tissue to be 

 found in the animal kingdom. Specimen discs of this 

 structure were saved, some of them measured from 

 eight to ten inches in circumference. The ligament 

 must be immensely strong to sustain the ponderous 

 head. The muscles which move the head and under 

 jaw are large, coarse and .terribly tough. The tendi- 

 nous intersections would turn the edge of the best 

 knives. 



The brain of the elephant is larger than that of 

 man, and the medulla is four inches in diameter. The 

 cerebrum has a large amount of gray neurine in the 



