110 HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT. 



continents according to the average of their present tem- 

 perature, will answer to about the same limit in point of 

 heat as that which marks the southern boundary of those 

 animals in the eastern continent. We mention these few 

 particulars in the meantime to show that the elephant has 

 a longer and more interesting tale to tell, than is to be 

 found in all the anecdotes which are repeated of it as a 

 living animal, and which even though we discount the 

 exaggerations and the misrepresentations respecting quali- 

 ties which the animal does not and cannot possess, but still 

 is not entirely divested of interest, 'passing over these in a 

 great measure, we shall first give some account of the 

 appearance and characters of the living elephant, without 

 any distinction as to species, and then very briefly point 

 out how the Asiatic and the African differ from each other, 

 and how the northern or fossil elephant differs from both. 

 Generally speaking, the skin of the elephant is of a 

 dusky black, with only a few hairs scattered over the 

 general surface ; but on the top of the head the hairs are 

 much closer, and about the same length as hogs' bristles, to 

 which indeed they bear no inconsiderable resemblance. 

 A very imperfect notion of the appearance and texture of 

 the skin of the elephant is obtained from examining the 

 specimens which are shut up in menageries in this country, 

 even in those places where they are treated with the 

 greatest kindness and care. Their skin is invariably cal- 

 lous, and often apparently chapped or cracked into pieces, 

 which have little or no sensibility. But when the animal 

 is in good health and in its proper climate, and at its free- 

 dom, the skin is smooth and soft, and is probably almost 

 as sensitive to the bite, even of a small insect, as the 

 thinnest skin that can be imagined. When the ani- 

 mal is in this condition, there is indeed a wonderful power 

 in the muscles of the skin, so that by the agitation of 

 that alone, an elephant is often capable of shaking off a 

 wild beast. There is another difference of appearance 



