12 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



to periodical fits of blind fury, when he is said to be " must " ; fortu- 

 nately a discharge from an orifice in the temple precedes and gives 

 warning of this dangerous period. 



THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT 



{Elephas africanus) 



WITH close general correspondence in appearance and habits with the 

 Indian Elephant, the African differs in several details. Its forehead 

 is low and receding, and its ears twice the size of those of the other 

 species, almost touching over the neck. Its trunk terminates in two 

 equal lips, instead of the upper finger-like process and short lower 

 margin found in the end of the Indian Elephant's trunk; and there 

 are only three nails on the hind-foot. Moreover, in this species, 

 most of the females develop tusks as well as the males. 



The African Elephant is taller and more leggy in build than the 

 Indian species, and the male at any rate attains a greater size. It 

 is more of an open-country animal than the Indian species, and is 

 faster in its movements. As every one knows, it is the animal from 

 which most of the ivory of commerce is derived, and for that insig- 

 nificant product a noble creature like this is being exterminated, 

 although it is known to be capable of domestication and training- 

 though said to be less amenable to this than the other species. The 

 late celebrated " Jumbo," of the London Zoological Gardens, was an 

 African Elephant, and a few specimens are always to be seen in 

 captivity somewhere or other. In classical times the Elephant in- 

 habited North Africa, but became extinct there during the Roman 

 Empire. It seems to have been used in warfare by the ancients, but, 

 judging from the fact that the old writers speak of Elephant- 

 drivers as " Indians," it is evident that the practice of taming 

 Elephants, and the supply of animals to some extent, came from the 

 East. Before leaving the subject of Elephants, it may be mentioned 

 that the celebrated Mammoth (Elephas primigenius), the extinct 

 Elephant of the northern parts of the world, was nearly related to 

 the Indian species, differing chiefly in its heavy coat of hair and its 

 huge upcurled tusks. 



