L-28 MAMMALIA. 



THE SEVENTH ORDER OF MAMMALIANb. 



PACIIYDERMATA. 



The Ednitatn ti'i'minatc the series of unguiculatei.l HhiurnioJifi, and we have just seen tlia; 

 tlicre are some uf them A\ith claws so hirgc, and so envehiping tlie enils of tlje toes, as to 

 approximate to the nature of hoofs. NevertheU'ss, tlie)' have still the faculty of hcndinj; 

 these toes round various objects, and of .seizing with more or less force. The entire ahsence 

 of this faculty characterizes the hoofed annuals. Using their feet only as su])ports, tlu'y in no 

 instance possess clavicles. Their fore-arms remain constantly in the state of pronation, 

 whence thev are reduced to feed on vegetables. Their forms and mode of life p'resent there- 

 fore much less varietv than in the uurjuicuhitcd aiiiuiaK, and they can hardly be divided into 

 more than t\vo orders, — those A\hieli riiiuinate, andthrjse \\hich ilo not; Init the hitter, which 

 we bnnti' together under the general term Paclii/deniifffa, admits of si.une subduision luto 

 families. 



The lirst is that of the Pacli) derms, which have a jiroboscis and tusks, or the 



Proboscide.v,* — 

 Which are distinguished by having five toes to each foot, very comjjlete in tlie skeleton, but 

 so envelopril by the callous skin ivliich surrounds the foot, that their only external appearance 

 consists ill the nails attached to the extremity of this species of hoof. They have no canines, 

 nor incisors properly speaking; but in the incisive [or intermaxillary] bones are implanted 

 two defensive tusks, which project from the mouth, and frequently attain enormous dimen- 

 sions. The magnitude of the sockets necessary to hold these tusks renders tne upper jaw so 

 high, and so sh(n-tens the liones of the nose, that the nostrils iu the skeleton are placed near 

 the top of the face : but iu the living animal thev are ])roloiiged into a eyliudrieal trunk, 

 euuipo^ed of se\'eral thousands of small muscles \"ariousl\- lutei'laeed, tlexible in all dire^'tions, 

 eiidoned with exi)uisite sensibility, and terminated by an appendage like a linger. This trunk 

 iinpa.rts to the Elephant as miieli address as the perfection of the hand does to the AIiniKey. 

 It eualdes him to seize whate\er he wishes to convey to his mouth, auil sneks np> the water 

 he is to driid<, which, by the flexure of this admirable organ, is then jioured into the throat, 

 thus supplying the want of a long neck, which could not have siqiported so large a head ^vith 

 its heavy tusks. ^\ ithiii the parietes of the cranium, liowe\er, are several great cavities, 

 \vliicli render the head lighter : the loner jaw [excejit in a fossil genus ^Yhen immature,] has 

 no incisors whatever; tUe intestines are very vt)luininous ; the st(jmacli simple; ecccuiu 

 enormous ; the mamma', two in number, placed under the che^t. The young suck with the 

 mouth and not with the trunk. Only one living genus exists, that of 



The Elepii.\nts {Ek'jjlta.s, Lin.), — 

 Which comprehends the largest of terrestrial Mammalia. The astonishing services performed by their 

 trunk, an instrument at oiiec supple and vigorous, an organ both of touch and smell, contrast forcibly 

 Yvltli the rluuisy aspect and massive proportions of these animals ; and being conjoined to a very 



iinposin;,' i)hysi(ign y, have contributed to exaggerate their intellect. After studying them for a long 



time, we liave nut f..und it (o surpass that of the 1 log, or of several other Cornaria. Naturally of a 

 mild disposition, Elephants live in troops eonduetcd by (lie old males. They suljsist wholly on 

 vegetables. 



Their distintiivi' character consists in the grinders the bodies of which are composed of a ecrtaia 

 number of verlical laminK, each formed ai a bony substance, envehiiied with eiiamel, and cemented 



* Tl.c Proli.i.scidenns Iiruc varicms altiultiny witli certiiiii llo.leiits ; . ^nn^ers l„iiii.. ofieii fonncJ ol piiriiltl U.miii.c ; ^r.lly, ii' lUe fojui ** 

 iady, in the iiiuijuitucle of Ujcir iiiciaors [iumUm] ; 2mlly, in their ' aeveiul til tlieir boiicM, &c. 



