go 



TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



compressed. (Could a lion, with its pliant backbone, or a bull, with its 

 stout, round body, even if. these animals were of the size of an elephant, 

 perform this task?) Twining plants thick as a man's arm, and even 

 fairly strong trees, are broken by the force of its onrush. Some concep : 



tion of the strength 

 of this animal may 

 be formed from the 

 fact that a strong 

 tame male can 

 carry a load of 

 nearly a ton. 



2. The pillar - 

 shaped legs, which 

 support a body 

 sometimes weigh- 

 ing nearly 3 tons, 

 trample down 

 bushes and brush- 

 wood, while the 

 feet, like sledge- 

 hammers, stamp 

 down the under- 

 wood to a level with 

 the soil. In these 

 huge, pad-like feet the toes cannot be recognised exter 

 nally, but their position is indicated by hoof- like nails 

 (see horse). 



3. If an animal, like a bull, for instance, provided 

 with a hide by no means thin, endeavoured to break through the jungle 

 of the Indian forest, it would sustain so many wounds and injuries 

 from thorns or broken and projecting branches that it would finally 

 succumb. The elephant, however, is equipped with a shin as strong and 

 stiff as a board, forming an armour which neither thorns nor branches 

 can penetrate. 



4. The skin is almost naked; only here and there a few hairs are 

 found. The reason of this absence of hairs is simple, since, if present, 

 they would soon be lost in the animal's rushes through the jungle of the 

 aboriginal forest. . Moreover, living as it does in hot countries, the 

 elephant needs no special means for the preservation of its body-heat 

 (compare with mammoth, Section D.). 



Head of Indian Elephant, with 



Skeletal Paets makked in. 



(About one-fortieth natural size.) 



Au., Eye-socket ; H., air-sinuses in cranial 

 bones ; G. , brain-case. 



