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hausman] geography AT THE MENAGERIE 41 



and yet they still exist in large numbers in spite of such terrible 

 slaughter. The body of the elephant is somewhat stout and 

 climisy-looking, and is supported on strong, pillar-like legs. The 

 usual height of the shoulder from the groimd is from seven to twelve 

 feet. The African elephant is the taller, and in each species the 

 male is the larger animal. A full grown male often weighs as much 

 as five tons ! The tough brownish gray skin is like leather, very 

 thick, and almost hairless. The usual color of the creature is a 

 rather dirty brown. There is no such thing as a "white elephant" 

 in nature. Sometimes an elephant will be covered with a coat 

 of whitewash by some unscrupulous owner, and exhibited merely 

 for the purpose of drawing money from the pockets of the unread, 

 who eagerly crowd to see such a wonder. Sometimes an elephant 

 will be found, of a light grayish color, with pink blotches about 

 the head. Such an elephant is called a white elephant in Siam, 

 and is looked upon with reverance. Its house is decorated with 

 silken hangings; it is fed rare fruits from vessels of gold and silver; 

 and when it goes out it is arrayed in silken trappings decorated with 

 gold, silver, and precious stones, while a group of nobles shade its 

 head with a canopy richly woven and supported by rods of gold. 

 These white elephants are very rare, and are the result of the same 

 cause that makes white mice and white rats, the cause being some 

 bodily peculiarity which prevents the pigment, or coloring matter, 

 from being deposited in the skin in its proper amounts. The skin 

 of the elephant, in spite of its leatheriness, is very sensitive, and 

 can detect the presence of small insects, it is said. Like the horse 

 the elephant is provided with certain skin muscles, which enables 

 it to quiver the skin, and shake off annoying flies, or dust. 



Nearly all of us have been to circuses and have fed peanuts to 

 the elephant. Have you ever stopped to think what a wonderful 

 organ the trunk is, and how well fitted to serve the animal in the 

 kind of surroundings in which it lives. It is so strong that it 

 can lift many hundreds of poimds' weight from the ground, or 

 uproot a small tree, or tear down heavy branches, and yet so 

 delicate withal that it can pick a single blade of grass, or take up a 

 pin from a smooth floor. By means of the trunk the elephant 

 reaches high into the trees and conveys food to the mouth, or water 

 from a stream, or squirts it over its head and body when hot and 

 dusty. The trunk is formed partly from the nose and partly 

 from the upper lip, and contains no fewer than 50,000 muscles, 



