THE ELEPHANT. 53 



Bur, though the elephant has more memo- 

 ry and intelligence than any other animal, his 

 brain is proportionally fmaller than that of moil 

 quadrupeds *. I mention this fact as a proof 

 that the brain is not the feat of fenfation, the 

 fenforium commune % which, on the contrary, re- 

 fides in the nerves of the fenfes, and in the mem- 

 branes of the head. Thus the nerves distri- 

 buted upon the trunk of the elephant, are fo 

 numerous as to be equivalent to all thole be- 

 llowed on the reft of the body. It is, there- 

 fore, by virtue of this lingular combination of 

 fenfes and faculties in the trunk, that the ele- 

 phant cxcells all ether animals in fagacity, not- 

 witfiftanding the enormity of his mafs, and the 

 difproportion of his form ; for the elephant is, 

 at the fame time, a miracle of intelligence and 

 a rnonfter of matter. The thickriefs and inflexi- 

 bility of his.body; the (hortnefs and ftiffnefs of 

 his neck j the fmallnefs and deformity of his 

 head ; the excellive largenefs of his ears and 

 nofe ; theminutenefsof his eyes, mouth, genitals, 

 and tail ; his ftraight, clumfy, and almoft in- 

 flexible limbs ; the ihortnefs and fmallnefs of 

 his feet "j\ which are hardly apparent ; .the thick- 



D 3 nefs 



* Mem. pour fervir a l'hift. des animaux, part. 3. p. 13-. 



\ The feet of every animal except the elephant are pro- 

 portionally larger than thofe of man. The feet were fo 



imall as to be hardly perceptible ; becaufe the toes are cover- 

 ed with the (kin of the legs, which hangs down on all fides as 

 far as the ground, and appears like the trunk of a tree cut a- 

 erefsj Mem.. bout 'fervir al'hiji. des animaux, p. 102. 



