292 THE ELEPHANT. 



then laying hold of the trunk, pulls it to the 

 ground. Many of the larger Mimosa, however, 

 resist all his efforts, and it is, therefore, only after 

 heavy rains, when the ground is soft and loose, 

 that he can successfully attempt the operation. 

 The elephant consumes an immense quantity of 

 food, and passes the greater part of both day and 

 night in feeding. 



The elephant does not ruminate, and has but one 

 stomach. This want, however, is amply supplied 

 by the magnitude and width of his intestines, which 

 are formed on the same principle as those of the 

 horse. " The colon of animals that live upon the 

 same species of food," observes Sir Bverard Home, 

 "is of greater length in proportion to the scanti- 

 ness of the supply. Amongst quadrupeds, this may 

 be illustrated by the length of the colon in the 

 elephant, being only twenty feet six inches, while 

 in the dromedary it is forty-two. The first inhabits 

 the fertile woods of Asia, the latter, the arid 

 deserts of Arabia. Many other remarkable facts 

 and striking analogies make it clear that some 

 process goes on in the colon, from which a 

 secondary supply of nourishment is produced." 



Though water is indispensable to the elephant, 

 he would not seem to require so constant and 

 regular a supply as most other animals. In regions 

 where he is subject to persecution, he, it is said, 

 usually passes the day in lonely and secluded places, 

 far distant from the river or the fountain, which he 

 only visits during the hours of darkness. In dry 

 and warm weather this occurs nightly, but if the 



