422 MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. [May G, 



who have dissected the Indian species ' make it advisable to put on 

 record any observations, however fragmentary, for the benefit of 

 future dissectors of either of these huge animals. 



The subject of these notes was a young female, which had been 

 in the possession of the Alexandra Company only about eighteen 

 months, but was probably four or five years old at the time of its 

 death. I took the following measurements of the carcass : — 



inches. 



From forehead to root of tail (along back) 78 



Length of tail, from root 26| 



Height at shoulder (measured to spines of vertebras over body) 58 



Circumference of right foot, fore 25 



Circumference of rigbt foot, hind 25 



Length of ear, from front of meatus 19 



Greatest depth 2/ 



These measurements show that the ordinarily accepted rule that the 

 height of an Elephant = twice the circumference of its feet very 

 nearly expresses the truth. 



As usual in this species, the fore limbs were provided with four, 

 the hind with three nails. 



There were eight molars in all in place. In all those of the upper 

 jaw I counted five plates ; in those of the lower, there were six in the 

 first, and seven in the second, tooth, of each side. 



The most remarkable point observed, when the ribs and other 

 walls of the right side of the body had been removed, was the enor- 

 mous extent of the thoracic cavity, which extended backwards above 

 till near the sacrum, and the comparatively small part occupied by 

 the abdominal viscera ; this was, as far as I could judge, not more 

 than about one third of the whole trunk. As is usually the case with 

 Elephants, there was no fat visible, either in the subcutaneous tissue 

 or in any part of the abdominal cavity. 



Mouth and Tongue. — The palate, gums, and cheeks were through- 

 out smooth, with no ridges or papillae, except a few small caruncular 

 projections near the anterior ends of the lower gums. 



The tongue (fig. 1, p. 423), as in the Indian species, is small for the 

 size of the animal, much compressed, and rather deep 2 . Its anterior 

 end alone is free for about 2| inches, and is bent clown at an angle 

 ■with the rest of the organ, and somewhat pointed. The length of the 

 tongue in a straight line was 13| inches, along the curve 15 inches. 

 The filiform papillae are extremely fine and small, so that the tongue 

 has an almost velvety touch. At the sides of the anterior part, ex- 



1 The amount of literature on the anatomy of the Indian Elephant is very 

 considerable. A resume of the principal papers on the subject will be found in 

 Messrs. Miall and Greenwood's ' Anatomy of the Indian Elephant ' (pp. G, 7), 

 recently published, a book which is itself a useful compendium of our present 

 knowledge of Proboscidean anatomy. The myology, however, is described at 

 greater length than any other parts. 



2 Dr. Mojsisovics's figure ('. c. Taf. v. fig. 1) is evidently taken from a pre- 

 served and distorted specimen, and fails to show accurately flic real shape of 

 the tongue when fresh. 



