41 



tas lost a part of this most important organ a large amount of 

 extra care \vill be required to keep him in working order. We have 

 already mentioned the liability of elephants to bleed to death 

 from wounds severing a portion of the trunk. This accident, but 

 to the less serious extent of partial division, is liable to occur 

 from split bamboos drawn across their trunks in feeding; repair 

 however takes place, and the mahouts object to removal of any 

 portion however much it may have been isolated by the injury. 

 The snake-like action of the trunk ia beautifully exemplified 

 when the animal is drinking water from a deep vessel ; the end 

 of the organ being introduced into water a quantity of the fluid ia 

 drawn into the trunk passages by an inspiratory effort. The water 

 is probably prevented from passing into the actual nasal chambera 

 by the valve-like action of the cartilages — but the tubes are dilated 

 just outside these cartilages and so a considerable amount of 

 water can be stored in these nasal sacs, the radiating muscles 

 from which are so arranged as to make them very dilatable- 

 The end of the trunk being passed into the mouth, the water 

 is then expelled into the pharynx and swallowed with a peculiar 

 gurgling sound. We have already seen that the reverse action 

 may take place when the animal requires some fluid to squirt 

 over the surface of his body. The idea, long prevalent, that the 

 young animal sucks with his trunk is an error, as we shall show 

 hereafter. As an organ of touch the trunk is very sensitive, 

 especially its finger-like appendix — but it is probable that the 

 mucous membrane lining the canals of the proboscis baa little if 

 any use as an organ of smell. We must remember that the trunk 

 is to an extent concerned in the modulations and character of the 

 animal's voice. From the large amount of muscular tissue in it the 

 trunk affords us a valuable indication of the state of the body in 

 genei'al. A want of firmness to the feel and vigour of motion 

 indicates a want of tone of the system in general j a contracted 

 shrivelled trunk is a sign of fever and perverted nutrition of the 

 body in general. A Paealysed trunk is seen in advanced, 

 debility preceding death, also in apoplexy and other forms of 

 sunstroke. It is evident that loss of power in this organ from 

 an/ cause acting through a length of time will render the animal, 

 as requiring such an amount of care and attention as can seldom 

 be given, prax;tically useless to man j in the wild animal, such a 



