276 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



ELEPHANT. 

 A, Upper ; B, Lower. 



exceeding that of man. Although the bones of the skull are so large, they are not solid, theii 

 interior being occupied by hollows divided from each other by thin partitions, by which means the 

 skull is rendered lighter than might be supposed ; and altogether it forms a beautiful instance of 



a provision for increasing the surface for attachment of muscles, 

 without being too great a burden to its possessor. The skull of 

 the Indian Elephant is of a much more pyramidal and less shapely 

 form than that of the African. 



The dentition in the Elephants presents several points of con- 

 siderable interest. In the Indian species, the males alone have 

 well-developed incisors ; while both sexes of the African species are 

 provided with them. These more commonly known as tusks 

 grow to an enormous size, sometimes reaching the weight of 

 from a hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. There are no 

 lower incisors, and only two of the molar teeth are to be seen at 

 each side of the jaw at one time. There are six of these in each side, 

 or four-and-twenty in all, in the lifetime of the Elephant, and these 

 present a gradual increase in size as they successively appear. 

 These teeth move forward into their working place in the jaw in 

 regular succession, from behind forwards, each being pushed out by 

 its successor as it gradually becomes worn away. The teeth are 

 worn away, not merely by the food on which the animal lives, but 

 also by the particles of sand and grit entangled in the roots of the 

 SIDE VIEW OF MOLAK TOOTH OF INDIAN herbs torn up for food, and their wear is compensated by the growth 



and development of the succeeding teeth. In a state of captivity, 

 however, where the food is much more free from extraneous sub- 

 stances than in a state of nature, the teeth are not worn away fast enough to make room for the 

 development of the successors, and it therefore frequently happens that the tooth is deformed by a 

 piling over of the plates of which it is composed. 



The molar or grinding-teeth of the Elephant are for the most part buried in the socket, and present 

 little more than a surface for mastication above the gum. Each is 

 composed of a number of transverse perpendicular plates, built 

 up of a body of dentine, covered by a layer of enamel, and this 

 again by a layer of cement, which fills the interspaces of the plates, 

 and binds together the divisions into one solid mass. Each of 

 these enamel plates, however, in the perfect tooth is united at 

 the base. When these plates of enamel which stand out in the 

 transverse plates on account of their superior hardness, and cause 

 the grinding surface to be uneven are worn out, the animal either dies of indigestion, or more often 

 becomes weak, and falls a prey to wild beasts. 



The difference between the grinders of the Indian and African Elephants is well defined. In the 

 former, the transverse ridges of enamel are narrower, more undulating, and more numerous than 



in the African, in which latter species the ridges are 

 less parallel, and enclose lozenge-shaped spaces. The 

 cervical vertebrae form a short and stiff series, allowing 

 but a limited motion of the head from side to side, a more 

 extended action being rendered unnecessary by the flexi- 

 bility of the trunk. With regard to the dorsal vertebrae, 

 they appear to vary in number in both species. In the 

 African species the number varies from twenty to twenty- 

 one, and in the Indian species from nineteen to twenty. As might be expected, the limbs of the 

 Elephant are massive and powerful. In ancient times it was a popular delusion that the legs of an 

 Elephant possessed no joints ; and even now people are to be found who believe that the Elephant's 

 joints move in a contrary direction to that of other quadrupeds. Shakspere evidently enjoyed the 



LAST LOWER TOOTH OF AFRICAN 

 ELEPHANT. 



LAST LOWER TOOTH OF INDIAN ELEPHANT. 



