2 THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



spoken of as the sagacious elephant ; but in proportion to 

 his size he is rather a poor creature in the way of intelligence, 

 and the brain of the ant, tiny as it is, contains more real 

 thinking power than the skull of the elephant. 



It can hardly be doubted that he owes much of the respect 

 in which he is held by man to the peculiar formation of his 

 proboscis. A large nose is generally considered as a sign of 

 ability in man, but even the largest human nose is, since the 

 change of fashion abolished its usefulness as a snuff-box, 

 incapable of any other function than that of an organ of 

 smell, and as a convenient support for a pair of spectacles. 

 It is practically fixed and immovable, at least for all 

 purposes save that of expressing the emotions of scorn 

 and disdain. Man has, then, never recovered from the 

 astonishment and admiration experienced by the first dis- 

 coverer of the elephant at finding a beast capable of using 

 his nose as a hand of conveying his food to his mouth 

 with it, and of utilising it in all the various work of life. 

 This peculiarity has been more than sufficient to counter- 

 balance the many obvious defects in the appearance of 

 the elephant his little pig-like eyes, his great flat ears, his 

 short and stumpy tail, and the general hairless condition 

 of his leathern skin. Then, too, mankind, even in the 

 present day of advanced education, are worshippers of 

 brute strength, as is evidenced by the attraction of the 

 feats performed by strong men ; and the elephant possesses 

 enormous strength. This, however, is positive rather than 

 relative, for he is a poor creature indeed in comparison 

 with the flea, or even with the beetle, both of which can 

 move weights enormously exceeding their own. Even the 

 donkey could, bulk for bulk, give the elephant points. 



