OF NATURAL HISTORY. 69 



fides, he has his nofe in his hand, and is enabled to combine the 

 power of his lungs with the adion of his finger, and to attradl fluids 

 by a ftrong fu£i:ion, or to raife heavy bodies by applying to them 

 the edge of his trunk, and making a vacuum within by a vigorous 

 infpiration. Hence delicacy of feeling, acutenefs of fmelling, faci- 

 lity of movement, and the power of fudion, are united at the extre- 

 mity of the elephant's trunk. Of all the inftruments which Nature 

 has beftowed on her moft favourite produdtions, the trunk of the 

 elephant feems to be the moll complete, as well as the moft admi- 

 rable. It is not only an organic inftrument, but a triple fenfe, whofe 

 united fundions exhibit the effeds of that wonderful fagacity which 

 exalts the elephant above all other quadrupeds. He is not fo fub- 

 jed, as fome other animals, to errors of vifionj becaufe he quickly 

 redifies them by the fenfe of touch ; and, by ufing his trunk as 

 a long arm, for the purpofe of touching remote objeds, he acquires, 

 like man, clear ideas of diftances. But other animals, except fuch 

 as have a kind of arms and hands, can only acquire ideas of diftan- 

 ces by traverfing fpace with their bodies. Delicacy of feeling, the 

 flexibility of the trunk, the power of fudion, the fenfe of fmelling, 

 and the length of the arm, convey ideas of the fubftance of bodies, 

 of their external form, of their weight, of their falutary or noxious 

 qualities, and of their diftances. Thus, by the fame organs, and by 

 a fimultaneous ad, the elephant feels, perceives, and judges of feve- 

 ral things at one time. It is by virtue of this combination of fen- 

 fes and faculties in the trunk that the elephant is enabled to perform 

 fo many wonderful adions, notwithftanding the enormity of his 

 mafs and the difpropordons of his form. The thicknefs and rigi- 

 dity of his body; the {hor-tnefs and fliffnefs of his neck ; the fmall- 

 nefs of his head; the largencfs of his ears, nofe, and tufks ; the ml- 

 nutenefs of his eyes, mouth, genitals, and tail ; his ftraight, clumfy, 

 and almoft inflexible limbs; the fhortnefs and fmallnefs of his feet ; 

 ihe thicknefs and callofity of his Ikin; all thefe deformities are the. 



more. 



