320 FAMILY ELEPHANTIDJE; ELEPHANT. 



distinctive character of these animals, is nothing else than the 

 nose or snout, enormously prolonged, and principally composed of 

 forty thousand or more small muscles, interlaced in every 

 direction, which give it an extraordinary degree of flexibility, 

 and render it a most efficient organ of prehension. We shall 

 hereafter see that approaches to this structure are to be found in 

 other animals of the order. The large size of the muscular mass 

 by which the trunk is connected with the head, requires an 

 extensive bony surface for their attachment ; and this is provided 

 for by the peculiar conformation of the skull, the outer plate of 

 which is separated from the inner by a number of large bony 

 cells, so as to give to the exterior of the head a much greater 

 size, than is required for the mere enclosure of the brain. The 

 trunk, which is perforated along its whole length by the nostrils, 

 has at its termination a small finger-like appendage, which 

 serves to pick up small objects, and also as a feeler; and the 

 sense of touch appears to be here peculiarly delicate. This 

 wonderful organ serves a great variety of purposes. The short- 

 ness of the neck, rendered necessary by the enormous weight of 

 the tusks (of which a single one has been known to weigh 350 

 Ibs, the ordinary weight of the pair being probably 4 to 5 cwt.), 

 is fully compensated by this instrument ; for by means of it, the 

 Elephant collects the herbage on which it feeds, and carries it to 

 its mouth ; with this he strips the trees of their branches, or 

 grasps his enemy and dashes him to the ground ; and with this 

 too he takes up the fluid which he requires, sucking it into the 

 extended nostrils (from which it is prevented from passing back- 

 wards, by a sort of valve placed where they pass into the skull), 

 and then discharging it into his mouth or over the surface of the 

 body. The tusks are useful, not only as weapons of offence and 

 defence, but also to root up small trees, and to tear down the 

 branches of larger ones, either to obtain the leaves as food, or to 

 make a passage for the bulky body of the animal through the 

 tangled forest. 



287. The Elephant is the largest of the terrestrial Mam- 

 malia; for although the Giraffe carries his head at a greater 

 elevation, the height of his body is far exceeded by that of the 



