UNGULATES, OR HOOFED QUADRUPEDS 347 



There are no lower incisors, and only two of the molar teeth are to 

 be seen at each side of the jaw at one time. There are six of these 

 on each side, or twenty-four in all, in the lifetime of the Elephant, 

 and these present a gradual increase in size as they successively 

 appear ; they move forward into their working-place in the jaw 

 in regular succession, from behind forwards, each being pushed 

 out by its successor as it gradually becomes worn. The teeth 

 are worn away, not merely by the food on which the Elephant 

 lives, but also by the particles of grit and sand entangled in the 

 roots of the plants torn up for food. The trunk, or proboscis, 

 is really a most wonderful organ. It is formed by the prolongation 

 of the nose and upper lip, and is of a sub-conical shape, consisting of 

 two tubes separated by a septum. At the extremity of the trunk, 

 on the upper side, above the opening of the nostrils, is a lengthened 

 process which functions like a delicate finger ; while beneath and 

 opposite to it, and acting, so to speak, as a thumb, is a tubercle. 

 By its aid food and water are carried to the mouth, and when 

 necessary it is used as a syringe for spraying water over the body. 

 The length of the trunk nearly eight feet in a full-grown animal 

 does away with the necessity of a long neck, a short and muscular 

 neck being absolutely necessary for the support of the great head 

 and tusks. 



The Indian Elephant is found in India, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, 

 Cochin-China, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra. It appears 

 to be more docile, easily tamable, and sagacious than the African 

 species. In captivity it proves an invaluable labourer, its assist- 

 ance in road-making, bridge-building, ploughing, piling logs, 

 lifting weights, and similar operations being of the utmost 

 service. 



The African Elephant, formerly trained for war and pageantry 

 by the Carthaginians, and later by the Romans, is no longer tamed. 

 It may be distinguished from its Indian relative by a number of 

 external features. The ears are very much larger in size, and the 

 head slopes back much more, so that the face does not wear such 

 an intelligent expression as that of the Indian Elephant ; the tip 

 of the trunk has a slight triangular projection on both the upper 

 and lower part of the circumference of the aperture ; and there 

 are four nails on the front feet and three on the hind. The great 

 molar teeth have considerably fewer ridges, the greatest number for 



