ELEPHANTS. 



523 



proboscis, into which the nose is produced ; this proboscis having the nostrils at its 

 extremity, and being used as an organ of prehension, and for the purpose of con- 

 veying water to the mouth. Their build is extremely massive and bulky, the head 

 being of great proportionate size, the ears large and flapping, the neck very short 

 and thick, and the limbs long and stout. A peculiarity of the limbs, as shown in 

 the figure of the skeleton, is that the humerus in the fore, and the femur in the 

 hind-leg, are very long in proportion to the lower segments ; the feet themselves 

 being very short indeed. It will also be noticed that the bones of the limbs are 

 set nearly vertically one above another ; and from this cause, together with the 



SKELETON OF THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 



great relative length of their upper segments, the knee and elbow-joints are not 

 partially enclosed within the skin covering the body, as is the case in most Ungulates. 

 Consequently, the knee of the elephant is more readily identified with that of man 

 than is the case with that of a horse. It is further owing to this peculiarity in 

 the structure of its limbs that an elephant kneels down, with its fore-feet stretched 

 out in front and the hinder ones behind. The short feet are extremely broad, and 

 have five toes each, of which the middle one (as shown in the figure on p. 517) is 

 the largest ; and from the extreme shortness of the feet the ankle-bone is placed 

 close to the ground, instead of being raised half-way up the leg as in the horse. 

 The whole of the toes are enclosed in a common skin, with a flat cushion-like sole ; 

 the position of the toes being indicated by the broad flat nails, of which there may 



