616 NATURAL HISTORY. 



along, and at last forcing it out of the mouth, and, in turn, it is itself 

 forced out as soon as it becomes worn out. In this way there are three 

 gradual changes of the teeth. 



The trunk is a wonder. One can stand and watch these animals for 

 hours, and continually find new points to excite his amazement in the 

 marvellous capacities of this Brobdignagian nose ; for it is in reality but 

 the nose of the elephant, highly specialized and greatly prolonged. How 

 wonderfully it plays the part of a hand ! The little linger at the end is 

 far more flexible than any thumb, and it is endowed with a very delicate 

 sense of touch. With the trunk the animal feeds itself, pulling up the 

 grass, or tearing down the branches of the trees, or again, perhaps, taking 

 the peanuts and cakes of the circus. As it sticks out in the most beseech- 

 ing way it seems to have a life of its own, and to be something entirely 

 distinct from the huge creature behind. It seems to find its way to the 

 food by instinct ; for no one can realize that the small eye, way back in the 

 distance, has any part in ascertaining what is within reach. 



Its use in drinking is also wonderful ; the way in which it becomes 

 filled with water, which is then poured down the throat, is always a strange 

 sight, no matter how often it has been witnessed. And then when the 

 elephants take their bath, what a wonderful shower-bath the trunk makes ! 

 The water, which at other times is poured into the mouth, now falls upon 

 the back, or perhaps is directed against some on-looker who has aroused 

 the ire of the monstrous beast. 



The size of the elephant has always been a subject of dispute. How 

 large they may grow no one knows ; but the adult Indian elephant has an 

 average of about ten feet, the African being a little taller. Tales are told 

 of elephants much taller than this, but the following quotation from Sir 

 Emerson Tennent's ' Ceylon ' explains some of the accounts : " Elephants 

 were measured formerly, and even now, by natives, as to their height, by 

 throwing a rope over them, the ends brought to the ground on each side, 

 and half the length taken as the true height. Hence the origin of ele- 

 phants fifteen and sixteen feet high. A rod held at right angles to the 

 measuring-rod, and parallel to the ground, will rarely give more than ten 

 feet, the majority being under nine." 



The most interesting aspect of the elephants is that exhibited by their 

 intellectual side. According to the cut-and-dried systems of anatomists 

 the intelligence of the elephant should fall below that of many other 

 animals, while in reality it stands far above all but a very few. The pages 

 of natural histories and the records of travel are filled with illustrations 

 and anecdotes, showing their wonderful intelligence and sagacity, some of 

 which, fully authenticated, would seem to indicate a degree of intelligence 



