ELEPHANTS. 75 



may be quoted. Remarking that the Indian species is known to 

 weep, Mr. Darwin quotes Sir Emerson Tennent, who says that some 

 " lay motionless on the ground, with no other indication of suffering 

 than the tears which suffused their eyes and flowed incessantly." 

 Another elephant, "when overpowered and made fast," exhibited 

 great grief; "his violence sank to utter prostration, and he lay on 

 the ground, uttering choking cries, with tears trickling down his 

 cheeks." " In the Zoological Gardens," says Darwin, "the keeper of 

 the Indian elephants positively asserts that he has several times seen 

 tears rolling down the face of the old female when distressed by the 

 removal of the young one." Mr. Darwin also makes the interesting 

 observation that when the Indian elephant " trumpets," the orbicular 

 muscles of the eyes contract : whilst in the " trumpeting " of the 

 African species these muscles do not act. Hence, as Mr. Darwin 

 believes that in man the violent contraction of the muscles round the 

 eyes is connected with the flow of tears, it would seem by analogy 

 to be a legitimate inference that the Indian elephant has attained 

 a higher stage in the expression of its emotions than its African 

 neighbour. 



The social history of the elephants includes several somewhat 

 melancholy incidents connected with the despatch of these animals, 

 rendered necessary from their dangerous condition. The best known 

 of these incidents is that connected with the death of Chunee, the 

 Exeter Change elephant, reported in the " Times " for March 2, 

 1826. The account of the death of Chunee is as follows : "The 

 elephant was a male, and had been an inmate of the Exeter 

 Change Menagerie for seventeen years. He was brought from 

 Bombay, where he was caught when quite young, and was supposed 

 to be about five years old when purchased by Mr. Cross ; conse- 

 quently his present age is twenty-two. The effect of his unavoidable 

 seclusion had displayed itself in strong symptoms of irritability 

 during a certain season from the first, and these symptoms had been 

 observed to become stronger during each succeeding year as it ad- 

 vanced toward maturity. The animal was altogether kept at this 

 season very low, and also plentifully physicked, for which latter 

 purpose no less than one hundredweight of salts was frequently given 

 to him at a time. Notwithstanding these precautions, the animal 

 within the last few days had shown strong proofs of irritability, 

 refusing the caress of his keepers and attempting to strike at them 

 with his trunk on their approaching him, also at times rolling himself 

 about his den and forcibly battering its sides. About i P.M. he 

 became more ungovernable than ever, and commenced battering the 

 bars of his den with his trunk. These bars are upwards of three 

 feet in girth, and are composed of oak, strongly bound on all sides 

 with iron, and are placed about a foot asunder. For some time they 



