NATURAL DISrOSITIOX. 2G1 



The elephant's scent is also remarkably acute, 

 as is indicated, according to naturalists, by the 

 formation of the animal's head. To the acuteness 

 of this sense I myself can personally testify, and 

 my experiences are fully borne out by my friend, 

 Frederick Green, who, in a note to me, says : 



" Elephants will detect where a man may have 

 passed for many hours after, by the scent left with 

 the impression of his foot. I have also known 

 elephants to flee from man when at a distance of 

 three miles at least, having detected the presence 

 of the human species by their scent, the wind blowing 

 in this quarter at the time." 



The eye of the elephant is unusually small. Its 

 comparatively diminutive size contributes to its 

 protection from injury amidst the bushes where 

 lie seeks his food, and it is provided with a nictating 

 membrane, by which he is enabled to free it from 

 all small noxious substances, such as broken leaves 

 and insects. Small as the eye is, it is by no means 

 an imperfect organ, although he cannot direct its 

 range above the level of the head. 



The natural disposition of the elephant would 

 seem to be mild and docile, as may be partly in- 

 ferred from the great facility with which, after 

 capture, he may be domesticated. That he is so, 

 is a merciful as well as wise dispensation; for if 

 he had possessed a ferocity equal to his powers, he 

 must have exterminated a very large part of the 

 animal creation. 



" Calm amid scenes of havoc, in his own 

 Huge strength impregnable, the Elephant 



