TI1K ELEPHANT. 189 



number of times this change takes place in the life of un individual i.s uiicertiiiii ; but the pron 

 slow, and six or eight of these revolutions may be the extent. 



The ivory tnska are changed only once, the permanent one* succeeding on the los.s of the milk 

 tusks, which fall out early, and are very small. 



A difference is obvious between the molars or grinders of the Asiatic and African elephants. 

 In the former, they are disposed like a waving ribbon, folded backwards and forwards on itself, so as 

 to cross the crown of the tooth. In the latter, the molars are irregularly lozenge-shaped. There are, 

 however, other distinguishing characteristics between the two species. If we look at' their skulls, wo 

 find the forehead of the Asiatic concave, that of the African convex, and altogether of a ronndi-r 

 outline. The tusks are also larger, and the alveoli or sockets in proportion circumstances which give 

 a very different expression to the physiognomies of the living animals. 



When Sir Thomas Brown, some two hundred years ago, wrote his " Inquiries into Vulgar and 

 Common Errors," he stated it to have been the prevalent opinion that the elephant had no joints, and 

 never lay down. Donne affirms that " Nature hath given him no knees to bend." In an old Natural 

 History, it is gravely asserted that "the olefaunte boweth not the knees." A woman is described in 

 an old play as " stubborn as an elephant's leg in bending her ;" and even Shakespeare says, " The 

 elephant hath joints, but none for courting ; his legs are legs for necessity, not for flexure." 



These notions have been exploded by numerous facts. As the limbs have a great weight to 

 sustain, the several bones which compose the pillars for its support are arranged nearly in vertical 

 lines. The joints of the elbow and knee are placed low from the body ; the ulna in the fore legs and 

 the fibula in the hinder are fully developed, and are distinct from the radius and the tibia. 



The intestines are voluminous, the stomach simple, and the coecum enormous. The mammae, two 

 in number, are situated on the breast, and the young suck with the mouth, and not with the trunk. 



The whole of the family have five toes on each foot, completely formed in the skeleton, but 

 so incrusted in the callous skin that surrounds the foot that there is no appearance of them externally, 

 except as they may be traced by the nails attached to the border of this species of shoe. On these 

 various points we might enlarge indefinitely, but enough has been said for our present purpose on the 

 astonishing structure of this animal. Thus admirably adapted to his circumstances, he appears, as 

 Southey has described him in his native forests : 



''Trampling his path through wood and brake, 

 And canes, which crackling fall before his way, 

 And tassel-grass, whose silvery feathers play 

 O'ertopping the young trees, 

 On comes the elephant, to slake 

 His thirs', at noon, in yon pt-llmid springs. 

 Lo ! from his trunk, upturned, aloft he flings 

 The grateful shower ; and now, 

 Plucking the broad-leaved bough 

 Of yonder plume, with waving motion slow, 

 Fanning the languid air, 

 He waves it to and fro." 



THE ELEPHANT OF INDIA* 



THIS animal serves the Indians as the symbol of the highest knowledge, Ganeosa, the god of Art and 

 Science, being represented with an elephant's head. More especially is this animal honoured by the 

 Hindoos, who make it the companion of the gods, the warder of the porch of the temple, the caryatide 

 and ornament of their architecture. They believe that the souls of princes and Brahmins do penance 

 in the bodies of elephants, and a Hindoo of low caste may, therefore, hold one of them to be higher 

 than himself. A bride, according to the law of Menu, should have the graceful gait of a flamingo or 

 a young elephant; and to this day the princes and princesses of the ancient Hindoo dynasties are 

 taught the step of the elephant. When the Rajah of Bickanecr went to visit Lord Elleuborough, he 



* Klcphas IniiiciiH. 



