90 Gleanings from the 



Dordogne, by M. Lartet, reprefents the mammoth 

 on a piece of its own ivory. 1 



The royal pupil of Ariftotle put him in pofTef- 



fion of a good deal of knowledge on the elephant. 



The philofopher fpeaks of it, from fifteen which 



were captured at Arbela, as the tameft and mildeft- 



tempered of creatures, full of intelligence, and living 



to the age of 120 or 200 years; but at its beft 



when 60 years old. He knew its abhorrence of 



cold, too. Preconceived notions, however, come 



in when he ftates that it pafles through rivers, 



wading in them as far as the end of its trunk 



allowed, for it breathes through this, and cannot 



fwim on account of the bulk of its body. On the 



contrary, the elephant is a capital fwimmer, and 



delights in nothing fo much as deep water. The 



Mahouts frequently caufe their charges at the 



prefent day to fwim over wide rivers, and even 



the Ganges. He fpeaks alfo of the time of mufl 



in male elephants ; how, at thofe periods, they are 



in a ftate of madnefs, and knock over houfes as if 



they were badly constructed, and commit all 



manner of excefTes. " They tell that fcantinefs of 



food renders them tamer, and by bringing up to 



them other elephants they reftrain them by 



ordering thefe to beat them." He fpeaks, too, 



of olive oil being given elephants to expel any 



piece of iron they may have accidentally eaten ; 



and has a chapter on their ailments. The food of 



an elephant is meafured by him almoft with the 



exactnefs with which the keep of Jumbo was cal- 



1 Wilfon, "Prehiftoric Man," i. p. 107. 



