ELEPHANTS. 



529 



The general colour of the skin is blackish grey, but there are 

 Colour. a j > 



frequently flesh-coloured mottlings on the forehead, the root of the 



trunk, and the ears. Occasionally so-called white elephants are met with, which 



are really albinos ; the dark pigment being absent from a larger or smaller area of 



the skin ; in Burma and Siam such albinos being highly valued, and considered as 



sacred or royal animals. Although, as already mentioned, the skin is nearly 



naked, it has a few sparsely - scattered hairs; and it has been quite recently 



discovered that there are faint remnants of a woolly fur, similar to that so fully 



developed in the extinct mammoth. This discovery is very important, since, taken 



in connection with the Indian elephant's well-known intolerance of heat, it 



indicates that the animal is descended from one inhabiting temperate or cold 



climates. 



As in the case of most large animals, the height of the Indian 

 Dimensions. ° 



elephant has been greatly exaggerated ; but the tendency of recent 



observers has been rather to depreciate the maximum size which it may occasionally 



attain. On the average, the height of the adult male does not exceed 9 feet, 



and that of the female 8 feet ; but these dimensions are occasionally considerably 



exceeded. Sanderson measured a male standing 9 feet 7 inches at the shoulder, 



and measuring 26 feet 2J inches from the tip of the trunk to the extremity of the 



tail ; and he records others respectively reaching 9 feet 8 inches and 9 feet 10 



inches at the shoulder. An elephant shot by General Kinloch stood upwards of 



10 feet 1 inch; and another measured by Sanderson 10 feet 7| inches. These 

 dimensions are, however, exceeded by a specimen killed by the late Sir Victor 

 Brooke, which is reported to have reached a height of 11 feet; and there is a 

 rumour of a Ceylon elephant of 12 feet. That such giants may occasionally exist 

 is indicated by a skeleton in the Museum at Calcutta, which is believed to have 

 belonged to an individual living between 1856 and 1860 in the neighbourhood of 

 the Rajmehal Hills, in Bengal. As now mounted, this enormous skeleton stands 



11 feet 3 inches at the shoulders, but Mr. O. S. Fraser, in a letter to the Asian 

 newspaper, states that it is made to stand too low, and that its true height was 

 several inches more. If this be so, there can be no doubt that, when alive, 

 this elephant must have stood fully 12 feet. It may be added that the height 

 of an Indian elephant is almost precisely twice the circumference of its fore- 

 foot. 



With regard to the maximum weight of this species, we have no information. 

 An immature male of 8 feet in height weighed, however, 2 tons 17 cwt. 1 qr. 

 and 25 lbs. ; while a second, of 7i feet in height, turned the scale at 2 tons 

 11 cwt. and 23 lbs. 



The tusks of the male vary greatly in length and weight. A pair obtained 

 by Mr. Sanderson measured 5 feet along the curve, with a girth of 16 inches at 

 the point of emergence from the jaw, their weight being 74i lbs. The single 

 perfect tusk of the elephant referred to above as having been killed by Sir V. 

 Brooke measured 8 feet in length, and nearly 17 inches in circumference, and 

 weighed 90 lbs. This weight is, however, exceeded by a shorter tusk of about 

 6 feet in length, which reached 100 lbs. ; and specimens obtained from the Garo 

 Hills are reported to have respectively weighed 155 and 157 lbs. 



vol. 11. — 34 



