i'24 NATl'R A LIST'S CABINET. 



Tlie proboscis or trunk. 



piercing eyes, and large pendulous ears. Its leg* 

 arc round and thick, supporting its vast weight 

 like so many columns; and its feet are short, 

 those before being broader and rounder than 

 those behind, each of them defended by four 

 hoofs. Its skin is very hard, especially on the 

 breast: its colour is generally a deep ash-coloured 

 brown, approaching to black. 



The proboscis or trunk of the elephant is of 

 such a structure, that he can extend or contract, 

 dilate, raise or depress, and bend or twist it about 

 at pleasure. Sometimes he makes it of a con- 

 cave, sometimes of a convex form ; now doubles 

 it, again expands it, and in short turns it round 

 every way with surprising agility. By this mem- 

 ber he takes in his meat and drink, and conveys 

 them to his mouth ; by this he takes up a vast 

 weight, levels- trees, unfastens the locks and bolts 

 of doors, and makes use of it as a hand upon all 

 occasions: it likewise serves for the purposes of 

 smelling and respiration. 



It is really wonderful to observe how nimbly 

 the elephant moves this trunk, which is six or 

 seven feet long, and of considerable bulk at its 

 origin, though it gradually tapers towards the ex- 

 tremity. The shortness of the elephant's neck 

 is compensated by the length of this member, 

 which Dr. Derham says is so admirably contrived, 

 so curiously wrought, and applied with so much 

 agility and readiness by that unwieldy creature 

 to its several occasions, that he thinks it a mani- 

 fest instance of the Creator's wisdom. 



