OF WILD ANIMALS 117 



know of no instance on record wherein a normal elephant with a 

 healthy mind has been guilty of unprovoked homicide, or even of 

 attempting it. I have never heard of an elephant in India so 

 much as kicking, str ikin g or otherwise injuring either human 

 beings or other domestic animals. There have been several 

 instances, however, of persons killed by elephants which were 

 temporarily insane, or "must," and also by others permanently 

 insane. In America several persons have been kiUed in re- 

 venge for ill treatment. In Brookl3m a female elephant once 

 killed a civilian who burned her trunk with a lighted cigar. 

 It is the misfortune but not the fault of the elephant that in 

 advanced age or by want of necessary exercise, he is liable 

 to be attacked by must, or sexual insanity, during which period 

 he is clearly irresponsible for his acts. 



So many men have been kiUed by elephants in this country 

 that of late years the idea has been steadily gaining ground 

 that elephants are naturally iU-tempered, and vicious to a dan- 

 gerous extent. Under fair conditions, nothing could be farther 

 from the truth. We have seen that in the hands of the "gentle 

 Hindu" the elephant is safe and reliable, and never attacks 

 man except under the circumstances already stated. In this 

 country, however, many an elephant is at the mercy of quick- 

 tempered and sometimes revengeful showmen, who very often 

 do not understand the temperaments of the animals under 

 their control, and who during the traveling season are rendered 

 perpetually ill-tempered and vindictive by reason of overwork 

 and insufficient sleep. With such masters as these it is no 

 wonder that occasionally an animal rebels, and executes ven- 

 geance. In Minneapolis in December an elephant once went 

 on a rampage through the freezing of its ears. I am quite con- 

 vinced that an elephant could by illtreatment be driven to 

 insanity, and I have no doubt that this has been done many 

 times. Our bad elephant, Gunda, was bad by nature, but 

 finally he became afflicted with sexual insanity, for which there 

 was no cure. 



