ELEPHAS. 465 



All members of a herd generally belong to the same family, and 

 are nearly related : difPereut herds do not mix, but stray females 

 or young males appear to obtain admission to a herd without 

 difficulty. The leader of a herd is invariably a female. Accox'ding 

 to .Sanderson a really solitary elephant is rare, many " rogue " 

 elephants that have become notorious belonging to a herd. 



The food of elejihants consists principally of various kinds of 

 grass, leaves and shoots of bamboos, wild plantains (Musa), of 

 which both stems and leaves are eaten, and leaves, small branches, 

 and bark of particular trees, especially of species of Ficus. San- 

 derson found by experiment that a full-grown elephant consumes 

 between 600 and 700 lb. of green fodder per diem. Elephants 

 drink twice a day in general, before sunset and after sunrise. Both 

 food and drink are conveyed to the mouth by the trunk ; tufts of 

 grass or branches of trees are plucked by coiling the end of the 

 trunk round them ; leaves are stripped from boughs, and even bark 

 from trees or branches, in a similar manner; only very small objects, 

 such as small fruits, are picked up between the lobes above and 

 below the nostrils at the tip of the trunk. In drinking, the end 

 of the trunk is immersed and the lower part (in Sanderson's 

 opinion not more than 15 or 18 inches) filled by suction with 

 water, which is then discharged into the mouth. Grain such as 

 rice is eaten in a similar way, being drawn into the end of the 

 trunk and then blown into the mouth. 



In the wild state elephants roam about and feed for the greater 

 part of the day and night, i-esting from about 9 or 10 a.m. till 

 about 3 P.M. and again from about 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. They lie 

 down to sleep like other mammals. Whilst feeding the herds 

 scatter somewhat, but they quickly collect when alarmed. In many 

 places elephants migrate considerable distances at particular seasons, 

 chiefly in search of fodder, but partly it is believed to avoid insects, 

 and generally from higher to lower ground or vice versd, or from 

 one kind of forest to another. In marching, they keep in strict 

 Indian file. They are fond of bathing and of rolling in mud in 

 warm weather. They squirt water on their bodies with their 

 trunks when heated, and \\hen water is not at hand they draw 

 some, by means not clearly understood, from the mouth or throat. 

 The fl\iid thus obtained is probably a secretion, perhaps salivary. 

 They sometimes, especially when exposed to the sun, throw dust 

 or leaves over their backs. 



The sense of smell is highly developed, but neither sight nor 

 hearing is particularly acute. 



The only pace of elephants is a walk, slow or quick, at times 

 increased to a shuffling run. They are incapable of any motion 

 resembhng a gallop, or of the least jump, vertical or horizontal. 

 A 7-foot trench is impassable by them, though a large elephant 

 can clear Q\ feet in its stride. They climb very steep places, 

 bending the fore legs when ascending and the hind legs when de- 

 scending, and kicking or pressing holes for the feet if necessary 

 (J. A. S. B. xiii, p. 917, pi. ii). In kneeling down an elephant 



