foAMMIFEROUS ANIMALS, 343 



The female Elephant is supposed to carry 

 her young about twenty months, rarely producing 

 more than one at a time. These use their 

 mouths for sucking, throwing their proboscis 

 over their heads while under that operation, so 

 that it is not until after lactation has ceased, 

 that this instrument is called into comprehensive 

 action. At the time of birth, the Elephant is 

 about the size of a full grown calf, and as he is 

 supposed to continue growing for upwards of 

 twenty years, we may easily comprehend the 

 great magnitude to which he can reach. He is 

 known to be a long lived animal and frequently 

 to have exceeded the hundredth year of his age ; 

 but it is conjectured, in his natural state, he lives 

 to a much greater period. 



In former times he was used by the Natives for 

 the purposes of war and was armed accordingly ; 

 and the Carthaginians availed themselves of this 

 animal to assist in their various operations against 

 their Roman enemies. 



In the military operations of the present day, 

 he is only employed as a beast of burden to con- 

 vey the artillery, ammunition, and Camp Equip- 

 age, with the usual appendages of an army, and in 

 this particular he proves of the most important 

 utility. But it is in a commercial point of view, 

 that the labors of the Elephant are the most 

 comprehensively employed ; since it is upon his 

 back, that the tuns, sacks, and bales, in short 



