2 —————E—eee eS 
by E. C. Chubb. 127 
and in the interests of science be received by not only very high and 
influential circles in South Africa but by the general feeling of the 
civilised world with condemnation as a step reflecting no credit upon 
South Africa.” The recommendations of the Committee are summed 
up in the following words in paragraph 11 :-—“If, as your Committee 
believes, the preservation of the animals is a national matter, the 
Union Government should be invited to undertake the task. If it 
should not see its way to do so, your Committee can only express its 
conviction, which it does with the most extreme regret, that there is 
no alternative but extermination.” As far as the writer is aware, no 
decision has been arrived at yet. 
In a paper published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society 
of London” for 1907, p. 380, Mr. R. Lydekker endeavours to show 
that the African elephant, Elephas africanus, Blum, may be divided 
into a number of local races, relying mainly upon the form and size of 
the ear as a character for their differentiation. He recognises no less 
than twelve sub-species, three of which are allocated to South Africa 
viz.: Hlephas a. capensis, Cuv. of Eastern Cape Colony, /. a. toxotis, 
Lyd. of Western Cape Colony, including the Knysna Forest, and 
E. a. selousi, Lyd. of Mashonaland. One or two further sub-species 
have been described since. 
In the course of the paper referred to, Mr. Lydekker remarks upon 
the scarcity in museums of complete stuffed specimens or even mounted 
heads. No excuse, therefore, is needed for the publication of illustra- 
tions and particulars regarding the recently acquired Durban Museum 
elephant, and I shall take the opportunity of showing to what extent 
it agrees with Mr. Lydekker’s contentions. 
The Addo Bush elephants are referred by Mr. Lydekker to the 
Eastern Cape race, 2. a capensis, Cuv. (the type locality of which was 
the Upper Orange River district), on the evidence of photographs of 
the heads of specimens in the Grahamstown Museum. This race is 
said to be characterised by the large size of the ears, their somewhat 
square shape, with rounded corners and a small, distinct, sharply 
pointed angular lappet in front; also the fact that the forehead falls 
away towards the temples, so as to appear highly arched. Proportion- 
ately short fore-legs, the horizontal position of the ventral line of the 
body, and the presence of a dense coat of hair on many parts of the 
body, are also said to be characteristic of elephants from the Addo Bush. 
No dimensions were furnished of the ears of the two elephants from 
the Addo Bush referred to by Mr. Lydekker, but a photograph of one of 
them appears on page 383, and he quotes the measurements given by 
