ELEPHANTS. 



measure of intellectual power, and the elephants do not seem to 

 belie the statement, as applied to lower life, when their sagacity is 

 taken into consideration. The proportion borne by the weight of 

 the brain to that of the body has always formed an interesting topic 

 of physiological nature. As a matter of fact, great variations exist 

 when the ratio of brain to body is examined in different animals. 

 Thus in man, as is the case with lower animals, the ratio diminishes 

 with increasing weight and height. In lean persons the ratio is often 

 as i : 22 to 27, and in stout persons as i : 50 to 100. In the Green- 

 land whale the ratio is given as i to 3,000 ; in the ox as i to 160 ; 

 in the horse as i to 400 ; in the dog as i to 305 ; in the elephant 

 as i to 500 ; in the chimpanzee as i to 50, and in man as i to 36. 



The absolute weight of brain in an elephant which was seven and 

 a half feet high, and eight and a half feet in length from forehead to 

 tail, was 9 Ibs. The brain of an Indian elephant was found to weigh 

 10 Ibs. ; and Sir Astley Cooper gives the weight of the brain of 

 another specimen as 8 Ibs. T oz. 2 grs., whilst that of an African 

 elephant seventeen years old was found by Perrault to weigh 9 Ibs. 



The muscular system of the elephant necessarily partakes of the 

 massive character adapted for the work of moving and transporting 

 the huge frame. But the 

 anatomy of the "proboscis" 

 or "trunk" constitutes in 

 itself a special topic of in- 

 terest, and one, moreover, 

 which gives to the probos- 

 cidian race one of its most 

 notable characteristics. The 

 " trunk " is, of course, the 

 elongated nose of the ele- 

 phant. It is perforated by 

 the nostrils which open at 

 its tip, and above the aper- 

 tures is a curious finger- 

 like process, which, when 

 opposed to a small pro- 

 jection somewhat resem- 

 bling a thumb in function, constitutes a veritable hand, and is utilised 

 by the animal in almost every detail of its life. With the exception 

 of the snout of the tapirs, the trunk of the elephant has not even a 

 distant parallel in the animal series. Its muscles form two sets 

 of fibres, one set of which compressing its substance also extends 

 its length, whilst the second set shortens the organ and enables it 

 to bend freely in any direction. When we add to the possession 

 of this extreme muscularity, a high degree of sensitiveness, the 



r 2 



FIG. 2. VARIOUS USES OF THE PROBOSCIS. 



