276 WILD ANIMALS. 



horizontal breadtL., and four feet five inclies in depth, and he says 

 he has frequently seen a native creep under one and be quite 

 covered up by it. 



Another distinction can be seen when the animals open their 

 mouths, for their molar teeth are very different, the Indian 

 species having wavy, parallel, transverse ridges, while the African 

 one has fewer divisions in the crown of the tooth, and they are 

 broader and slightly curved, or lozenge-shaped. 



There is also a slight difference in the structure at the end or 

 aperture of the trunk. The African elephant has not the 

 " finger " arrangement previously described, but the end is cleft 

 horizontally into two equal divisions, an upper and lower part, 

 which are pressed one on to the other. This formation confers 

 greater strength and grasping power to the animal than is 

 possessed by the Asiatic species. There is also a distinction in 

 the appearance of the eye, which is easily detected when the 

 animals are seen together. 



Their heads are not alike in conformation, the forehead of 

 the African animal being completely convex from the trunk to 

 the back of the skull, while the Indian one has a more elongated 

 or perpendicular head, being flat or slightly concave at the root of 

 the trunk. The African variety has a concave back, the concavity 

 behind the shoulder being succeeded by a sudden rise of the spine 

 above the hips ; the back of the Indian elephant being exceedingly 

 convex. Other distinctions exist : the African animal has three 

 toes on his hind-feet, while the Indian has four ; but, to make up 

 for his loss this way, he is compensated by having twenty-one 

 pairs of ribs, while the Indian has only nineteen. The caudal 

 vertebrae of the African animal number twenty-six, while the 

 Indian one possesses thirty-three. 



No attempt has ever been made to tame the African elephant 

 at the Cape, but in ancient days the North African animal was 

 undoubtedly domesticated and used by the Romans, and also by 

 the Greeks, a fact clearly attested by the figures on their 

 medals. They were used by the Carthaginians in their wars with 

 Rome, and thirty-seven of these animals crossed the Alps with 

 Hannibal. At the dedication of the Temple of Venus Victrix, 



