THE ELEPHANT. 59 



three feet diftant from the anus*. On the other 

 hand, the male organ is by no means propor- 

 tioned to the magnitude of his body, nor to fo 

 long an interval, which, in the fituation fuppo- 

 fed, would preclude the practicability of his ap- 

 proach. Naturalifts as well as travellers agree 

 in affirming, that the male organ of the elephant 

 exceeds not, either in length or diameter f, that 

 of a horfe. It is, therefore, impoffible that he 

 fhould attain his end in the ordinary pofition of 

 quadrupeds. The female mult neceflarily lie on 

 her back. De Feynes % and Travernier || pofi- 

 tively allert, and the fituation of the parts con- 

 firms their evidence, that thefe animals cannot 

 intermix in any other manner §. They require, 



therefore, 



* Mem. pour fervir a l'hift. des animaux, part. 3. p. 132. 



f Elephantus genitale equo fimile habet, fed parvum nee pro 

 corporis magnitudine. Teft.es idem non foris confpicuos kd 

 intus circa renes conditos habet ; Arift- hijh anim. lib. 2. cap. 1. 

 . — UAfrique cT Ogilby, p. 13. ct 14. 



\ When thefe animals couple, the female lies on her back ; 

 and, after the operation, the male raifes the female with lii- 

 trunk ; Voyage par terre a la Chine du S. de Feynes, p. 90. 



|| Though the elephants have no intercourfe in a domeftic 

 ftate ; yet they frequently come in feafon. It is remarkable 

 that the female, on thefe occafions, collects all kinds of herbs 

 and leaves, of which lhe makes a bed elevated fcur or five feet 

 above the ground, and, contrary to the nature of all other 

 quadrupeds, lies down on her back, and folicits the male by 

 her cries; Voyage de Tavernier, torn. 3. p. 240. 



§ This article was written before I faw M. de Bu fly's Notes 

 concerning the elephant; and his evidence fully confirms the 

 fact, which the fituation of the parts had fuggefted. « The ele- 

 « phant,' fays M. de Bufly, * copulate in a Angular manner. 



* The 



