Human Physiology. 



him and his burthen over the shifting sands ; he can live on the 

 coarsest herbage; and his stomach is provided with a collection 

 of cells in which he carries a store of water, as a ship carries it 

 in her tanks or casks. 



The elephant is one of the animals best worth studying, not 

 only in his physical organisation, but his mental and emotional 

 character. With his great bulk he has an almost monkey-like 

 activity, climbing mountains, rushing down steeps; and he has 

 been taught to stand on his head, walk on a rope like Blondin, 

 and sit at a table and dine like a gentleman. The elephant's 

 trunk is less complex than the trunks of some insects, but it is 

 a marvel of construction and adaptation wonderfully flexible, 

 extensile, able to tear up a tree or pick up a needle. Its move- 

 ments are made by 40,000 muscles, each having its arteries 

 and veins, and each excited to contract, and controlled to a 

 nicety in its movements by will, brain, and nerves. 



In a state of nature elephants live in herds, each herd with 

 a leader who directs its movements, and whose safety is guarded 

 by the rest with great devotion. Some elephants, for unknown 

 reasons, are banished from the herds, and do not seem able to 

 get admission into others. Under these afflicting circumstances 

 they grow morose and savage. A fine sense of justice, or 

 regard for the rights of property, prevents a herd of elephants 

 from breaking through the slightest fence when the rice fields 

 are very tempting. 



All domestic animals are so easily tamed so readily and 

 naturally attach themselves to men, and submit to be governed 

 by them as to leave no doubt of the special design of their 

 creation. A wild horse may be conquered in an hour, and be 

 ever after submissive to his master's wishes. The elephant is 

 perhaps still more ti actable. He is captured with the aid of 

 tame elephants, who engage in the work with zeal and intelli- 

 gence. When driven into a corral, and fastened to a tree, two 

 tame females caress, and, if necessary, discipline him with 



