THE ELEPHANTS LEGS 



129 



The Indian elephant likes good, solid ground to walk 

 on, and when he finds himself in a boggy place will seize 

 any large objects (preferably big branches of trees) and 

 throw them under his feet to prevent himself sinking in. 

 Occasionally he will remove the stranger who is riding on 

 his back and make use of him in this way. The circum- 

 ference of the African elephant's fore-foot is found by 

 hunters to be half the animal's height at the shoulder, and 

 is regarded as furnishing a trustworthy indication of his 

 stature. 



The legs of the elephant differ from those of more 

 familiar large animals in the fact that the ankle and the 

 wrist (the so-called knee of the horse's fore-leg) are not far 

 above the sole of the foot (resembling man's joints in 

 that respect), whilst the true knee-joint (called " the 

 stifle " in horses) instead of being, as in horses, high up, 

 close against the body, strongly flexed even when at rest, 

 and obscured by the skin is far below the body, free and 

 obvious enough. In fact, the elephant keeps the thigh 

 and the upper arm perpendicular and in line with the 

 lower segment of the limb when he is standing, so that 

 the legs are pillar-like. But he bends the joints amply 

 when in quick movement. The hind legs seen in action 

 resemble, in the proportions of thigh, fore-leg, and foot, 

 and the bending at the knee and ankle, very closely those 

 of a man walking on " all fours." The elephant as 

 known in Europe more than 300 years ago was rarely 

 seen in free movement. He was kept chained up in 

 his stall, resting on his straight, pillar-like legs and their 

 pad-like feet. And with that curious avidity for the 

 marvellous which characterised serious writers in those 

 days to the exclusion of any desire or attempt to ascertain 

 the truth, it was coolly asserted, and then commonly 

 believed, that the elephant could not bend his legs. 

 Shakespeare who, of course, is merely using a common 



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