260 



HOOFED ANIMALS 



possibilities of the usefulness of the Elephant to man. Its 

 ordinary pace is a walk ; it cannot trot, canter, or gallop, 

 but it can shuffle along, under necessity, at a rate of from 

 six to eight miles an hour. As its maximum stride is six 

 and a half feet, a seven foot ditch stops its career com- 

 pletely. 



The trunk is a marvellous organ of touch and smell, its 

 wonderful mechanism consisting of nearly forty thousand 

 muscles ; but it does not possess the strength that is often 



attributed to it. 

 It can, by means 

 of the finger-like 

 processes, pick 

 up an object 

 as small as a 

 needle, but the 

 animal is too 

 sensible of the 

 value of its 

 trunk to attempt 

 to raise heavy 

 weights with it. 

 In dragging, it 

 will hold a rope 

 with its teeth ; 

 and in moving 

 weighty objects 



^ Always pUSheS 

 again St them 



with the head 



or tusks. In harness, of course, it can exert enormous 

 power. 



The brain cavity of the Elephant's skull is very small, 

 out of all proportion to the size of the animal. It is claimed 

 that the immense creature naturally is less intelligent than 

 the dog ; but owing to its docility and capability of receiv- 

 ing instruction, it can be educated to render a variety of 

 services to man, but of its own initiative it would never 

 make itself useful. That the animal's memory is very 

 retentive there is no room for doubt ; it will remember acts 



SECTION OF THE SKULL OF THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 



s, Air sinuses ; , Nostrils ; b, Brain ; m, Molar ; /, Tusk. 



