THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT. 167 
the head, and truncated at the extremity, where it is 
surrounded by a slightly elevated margin, which is pro- 
longed anteriorly and superiorly into a finger-like appen- 
dage of various and invaluable use. This trunk or 
proboscis, as it is called, is divided throughout its whole 
extent into two equal cavities, which are continuous with 
the nostrils, but appear to have no other connexion with 
the organ of smell than as being the medium of the 
passage of odours to the olfactory apparatus, which is 
confined within the bones of the head, and is indeed 
seated much higher than usual in consequence of the 
large space occupied by the roots of the tusks and by 
the cavities of the maxillary bones. The real uses of 
the trunk are far higher and more important; and it 
is to this unique and unexampled structure that the 
Klephant owes whatever superiority he possesses over 
other beasts. In general capacity he is inferior to most, 
and the intellectual qualities of a dog or a horse are 
unquestionably of a far more elevated order; but with 
the assistance of this curious organ, with some little 
sagacity, a tolerable memory, and a certain degree of 
docility, the Elephant is enabled to execute such a 
variety of actions, either of his own accord or at the 
command of his keeper, as have gained him the credit 
not only of being the cleverest of brutes, but of possess- 
ing qualities of a superior cast and even the divine gift 
of reason itself. 
The structure of the trunk is entirely muscular, and 
the fibres of which it is composed are arranged in such 
a manner that it is capable of being inflected in almost 
any direction ; but to twist itself spirally inwards appears 
to be its most natural action. In this manner it will 
