64 



be very completely and easily upset, for this arrangement ill 

 adapts him for the recovery of equilibrium, when once it haa been 

 disturbed. The upright position of the support bones accounts 

 for the discomfort experienced in elephant riding, and it indi- 

 cates to us that the elephant is a beast of burden calculated to 

 sustain weight but not adapted to throwing his weight into a 

 collar. The bones are very strong, their articular surfaces not 

 supported on narrowed necks, and their processes small. Hence 

 FEACTUEEa are very rare in this animal. Gilchrist records a case 

 where an elephant fell into a quagmire from which it could not 

 extricate itself, so that in its struggles it broke its leg and 

 had to be shot. He attributes such accidents to overloading, 

 want of elasticity in the skeleton of the animal, and slippery soil 

 causing severe falls. There is an enormous amount of fibrous 

 tissue, especially of the yellow elastic kind, in the system of the 

 elephant, and his ligaments are very strong. The flesh of the 

 elephant is frequently considered good food, indeed the Burmese 

 prefer it to any other meat ; the heart, tongue, and trunk being 

 delicate eating and the foot very useful for making soup. The 

 majority of the muscles are tough and fibrous. It is curious to 

 observe how some part of the healthy animal is always in motion, 

 either ears flapping, legs swinging, tail lashing, or trunk prying 

 about over everything near. This continuous motion, which in 

 the horse would prevent " condition," is in the elephant one of 

 the most valuable indications of the absence of disease. The 

 red " flesh" of many of his muscles is very small in amount. 

 This accounts for several facts : — firstly, for the remarkable 

 endurance of the elephant : secondly, for his power of sleeping in 

 a standing posturo and even retaining that position after death ; 

 thirdly, for the infrequenoy of sprains ; fourthly, for the diiEculty 

 in getting abscesses to point; fifthly, for the liability of the 

 elephant to rheumatism ; and lastly, for the infrequency of 

 dislocations of his joints. 



Spkains {Lutchuh), although infrequent, are severe when they 

 occur, and apt to permanently incapacitate the animaL They are 

 generally the result of over haste, carelessness, and overloading. 

 They present nothing special as regards causes, symptoms> and 

 treatment. 



