164 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
theme of exaggerated encomium to the careless observer, 
while even in some philosophic minds they have fur- 
nished the groundwork on which perverted ingenuity 
has built up theory after theory as baseless and ima- 
ginary as the foundation on which they have been made 
to rest, the reason and reflection of a brute. 
It is on this account that we feel it incumbent upon 
us, notwithstanding all that has been written on the 
subject, to dwell with some little detail on the natural 
history of this singular animal ; but we shall nevertheless 
endeavour to compress our observations within the small- 
est possible compass. We shall commence as usual with 
his zoological characters, and shall then take a glance at 
his habits, such as they appear in a pure state of nature, 
unfettered by any laws but those of necessity, and 
uncontrolled except by the inevitable influence of, the 
circumstances in which he is placed. And lastly we 
shall view him when under the control of man, and 
reduced to that half-domesticated condition to which 
even his stubborn nature is bowed by the application of 
those means which man alone can employ, and by which 
he maintains his ascendancy as undisputed lord of the 
creation over the mightiest even more effectually than 
over the meanest of its works. 
The Elephants belong to the Pachydermatous order, 
in which they constitute a family readily distinguishable 
from the other enormous beasts which form part of it, 
the Hippopotamus and the Rhinoceros, by a combination 
of characters of the most remarkable description. To the 
immense size and clumsy figure of the two last named 
animals, which indeed they commonly surpass in both 
those particulars, they add the following distinctive 
