216 



Crra&trg at Datura! 



part of which time it is supported by de- 

 vouring the roots of wheat, rye, oats, and 

 grass, annually causing a large diminution 

 of the produce, and sometimes destroying 

 whole erops. It is said to be particularly 

 injurious in gardens recently converted from 

 pasture lands ; and the method adopted for 

 alluring and capturing these grubs consists 

 in strewing sliced potatoes or turnips in 

 rows through the garden or field ; women 

 and boys are employed to examine the slices 

 every morning, and collect the insects which 

 readily come to feed upon the bait. Some 

 of these destructive insects are long, slender, 

 worm-like grubs, closely resembling the 

 common meal-worm ; nearly cylindrical, 

 with a hard and smooth skin, of a buff or 

 brownish yellow colour, the head and tail 

 only being a little darker ; each of the first 

 three rings provided with a pair of short 

 legs, arid a short retractile wart or prop-leg, 

 serving to support the extremity of the body, 

 and prevent it from trailing on the ground. 

 Other grubs of Elaters differ from the fore- 

 going in being proportionally broader, not 

 cylindrical, but somewhat flattened. Such 

 are mostly wood-eaters. 

 . After their last transformation, Elaters or 

 Spring-beetles make their appearance upon 

 trees and fences, and some are found on 

 flowers. They creep slowly, and generally 

 fall to the ground on being touched. They 

 fly both by day and night. Their food, in 

 the beetle state, appears to be chiefly derived 

 from flowers ; but some devour the tender 

 leaves of plants. 



ELEPHANT. (Elephas.) Largest of all 

 living animals, and prodigiously strong, the 

 Elephant is not less remarkable for docility 

 and sagacity. Of this we have concurrent 

 testimony from the earliest ages to the pre- 

 sent time ; yet, were we to form our ideas of 

 its capacities only from the external appear- 

 ance of this formidable animal, a sagacious 

 character is the last we should be likely 

 to give it credit for. The whole form is 

 awkward j the head is large, the eyes ex- 

 tremely small, and the ears very large and 

 pendulous : the body is huge and thick, and 

 the back much arched ; the legs are very 

 clumsy and shapeless, and the feet slightly 



AFRICAN ELEPHANT (ELKPHAS ai-RTTANT 



divided into five rounded hoofs : but under 

 this uncouth exterior are qualities which 

 entitle its possessor to the admiration of 

 mankind a mild and gent'e disposition, 



superior intelligence, great attachment to 

 its master, and invincible perseverance. In 

 point of bulk, the Rhinoceros and the Hip- 

 >opotamus are the only existing terrestrial 

 animals that can approach the Elephant ; 

 though some other species of Pachydermata 

 T extinct must have considerably sur- 

 passed him. The enormous weight of the 

 body could only be sustained by legs of the 

 nost solid construction ; and accordingly 

 we find that these have the aspect of straight 

 columns, the joints being so formed that 

 each bone rests vertically upon the one be- 

 neath it. 



Elephants, of which only two species at 

 present exist, viz. the Asiatic and the Afri- 

 can, are distinguished by their extraordinary 

 proboscis or trunk, by the possession of two 

 enormous tusks, which project downwards 

 from the upper jaw, and by the absence of 

 front teeth in the lower. The African and 

 Asiatic species differ from each other in the 

 : of the tusks, which are much longer in 

 the former than in the latter. In the young 

 animals the tusks are not visible ; in the 

 more advanced state of growth they are ex- 

 tremely conspicuous ; and in a state of ma- 

 turity they project in some instances six or 

 seven feet ; nay, several tusks measured by 

 Eden were nine feet in length ; and Harten- 

 fels measured one which exceeded fourteen 

 feet ! The largest tusk on record was sold 

 at Amsterdam, and weighed 350 Ibs. It is 

 but rarely that the tusks are seen in the 

 females ; and when they appear, they are 

 but small, and their direction is rather down- 

 wards than upwards. The African Elephant 

 is said to be smaller than the Asiatic ; yet 

 the ivory dealers in London affirm that the 

 largest tusks come from Africa, and are of a 

 better texture, and less liable to turn yellow 

 than the Indian ones. The increase of the 

 tusks arises from circular layers of ivory, 

 applied internally, from the core on which 

 they are formed ; similar to what happens 

 in the horns of some animals. 



But it is the trunk of the Elephant which 

 may justly be considered as one of the mi- 

 racles of Nature ; being, at once, the organ 

 of respiration, as well as the instrument by 

 which the animal supplies itself with food, 

 and sucks up the water it requires to allay 

 its thirst. This wonderful organ is carti- 

 laginous, and composed of numerous rings, 

 divided through its whole length by a septum, 

 and forming a sort of double tube, termi- 

 nating in a kind of finger-like appendage or 

 movable hook. "Endowed with exquisite 

 sensibility, nearly eight feet in length, and 

 stout in proportion to the massive size of the 

 whole animal, this organ," as is well ex- 

 pressed by Mr. Broderip, " at the volition of 

 the Elephant, will uproot trees or gather 

 grass raise a piece of artillery or pick 

 up a comfit kill a man or brush off a fly. 

 It conveys the food to the mouth, and 

 pumps up the enormous draughts of water, 

 which by its recurvature are turned into 

 and driven down the capacious throat, or 

 showered over the body. Its length sup- 

 plies the place of a long neck, which would 

 have been incompatible with the support of 

 the large head and weighty tusks. A glance 



