460 APPENDIX. 



Occasional injuries and complaints will give an opportunity for 

 the display of ingenuity in the application of remedies. One of the 

 most singular operations of dentistry I ever heard of was the removal 

 of a large excrescence on the back tooth of an elephant, which had 

 grown into the poor brute's cheek, and almost prevented his feeding. 

 One of tlie best mahouts I ever knew volunteered to remove it. He 

 got a good thick log of wood, and made a hole through it large 

 enough for his arm to pass. Outside he covered it all over with nails, 

 leaving about a quarter of an inch of each sticking out of the wood. 

 The elephant was made to lie down and fastened Avith hobbles, while 

 the log thus prepared was placed in his mouth like a bit, and bound 

 with ropes across his neck. Twenly or thirty persons now sat upon 

 his head and trunk (if these be kept down an elephant cannot rise 

 from his side), and the operator introduced his arm through the hole 

 and began to saw off the protuberance. He took several hours to 

 effect it, the elephant after a while lying perfectly still, with the 

 expression of a martyr in his upturned eye. The piece sawn off was 

 as large as one's fist ; and the animal got perfectly well very soon 

 afterwards. 



