PROBOSCIDEA. ' 57 1 



cnoraious development of the two upper incisors. The milk- 

 tusks are shed early, and never attain any very great size. The 

 permanent tusks grow throughout the life of the animal, and 

 often reach six or seven feet in length, and from fifty to seventy 

 pounds in weight. In the Indian Elephant, and its variety 

 the Ceylon Elephant, the males alone have well -developed 

 tusks, but both sexes have tusks in the African species, those 

 of the males being the largest. The lower incisors are absent, 

 and there are no other teeth in the jaws except the large molars, 

 which are one or two in number on each side of each jaw. The 

 molar teeth are of very large size, and are composed of a 

 number of transverse plates of enamel united together by 

 dentine. In the Indian Elephant the transverse ridges of 

 enamel are narrow and undulating, whilst in the African 

 Elephant they enclose lozenge-shaped intervals. The Indian 

 Elephant is the only species which is now caught and domes- 

 ticated, and as it will not breed in captivity, the demand for 

 it is supplied entirely by the capture of adult wild individuals, 

 which are taken chiefly by the assistance of those which have 

 been already tamed. The Indian Elephant is distinguished 

 by its concave forehead, its small ears, and the characters of 

 the molars. Its skull is pyramidal, and it has five hoofs on the 

 fore-feet, and only four on the hind-feet. Its colour is gener- 

 ally pale brown. (The so-called " White Elephants " are 

 merely albinos.) The African Elephant, on the other hand, 

 has a strongly convex forehead and great flapping ears. Its 

 colour is darker, its skull is rounded, and it has four hoofs on 

 the fore-feet, and only three on the hind-feet. The African 

 Elephant is chiefly hunted for the sake of its ivory, and there 

 is too much reason to believe that the pursuit will ultimately 

 end in the destruction of these fine animals. A great deal, 

 however, of the ivory of commerce comes from Siberia, and is 

 really derived from the tusks of the now extinct Mammoth, 

 which formerly inhabited the north of Asia in great numbers. 



The Elephants are all phytophagous, living almost entirely 

 on the foliage of shrubs and trees, which they strip off" by 

 means of the prehensile trunk. As the tusks prevent the 

 animal from drinking in the ordinary manner, the water is 

 sucked up by the trunk, which is then inserted into the mouth, 

 into which it empties its contents. 



Many species of fossil Elephants are known, but the most 

 familiar of them is the Mammoth {Elephas primigeniiis). This 

 enormous animal is now wholly extinct, but it formerly 

 abounded in the northern parts of Asia and over the whole 

 of Europe. It occuiTed also in Britain, and unquestionably 



