OF LIVING ELEPHANTS. 



213 



Authors who have 

 cited the facts. 



Their Vouchers and the details 

 on the origin of the tusks. 



Length fol- 

 lowing the 

 curve. 



Diameter 

 at the 

 thick 

 end. 



Weight. 



Faujas. 



Geolog. p. 



243. 



FORTIS. 



Mem. pour 

 l'Hist.^Nat. 

 de l'ltal. II. 



Pennant. 



BuFFON. 



Nat. Hist. <( 

 t.ix.in 4to. 



The largest tusk of the 

 Museum of Natural His- 

 tory of Paris. 



Tusk from the Cabinet of 

 Florence. 



Great tusks from Mozam- 

 bique. 



Several tusks measured by 

 Eden. 



Lopes 



Drack 



Tusks of Lowango, accord- 

 ing to the voyage of the 

 Indian Company. 



Tusks from the Cape, ac- 

 cording to Kolbe. 



6' 6" 



10' Engl, or 

 9' 2"Fr. 



9 ' En£. 



5"4'" 



7" 6'" 



72 8» 



90 to 125 

 200 

 200 



126 



60 to 1 20 



As the tusks grow during the entire of life, and the same does not 

 take place with respect to the remainder of the body, the size of an ele- 

 phant cannot be inferred from that of its tusks, even on establishing the 

 proportion between individuals of the same variety and the same sex : 

 as on the one side the tusks are blunted or broken at their point, accord- 

 ing as the animal makes more or less use of them, and as they sharpen 

 in a point more or less rapidly, one cannot with certainty infer their 

 length from their diameter at the base. 



Finally, their weight cannot be inferred from their dimensions, be- 

 cause the cavity of their base may be more or less filled. 



The degree of curve in the tusks of elephants varies nearly as much 

 as their size. We have seen above the most common differences in 

 this respect amongst the elephants of India. There is in different 

 cabinets a great number of tusks with curves more or less curious, and 

 particularly with a spiral from. Camper saw several of them in the 

 British Museum*, and Grew has given a drawing of onef, which makes 

 several turns. I know, by a letter of M. Fabbroni, that there is also one 

 in the cabinet of Florence. They are seen very commonly in the form 

 of the Italian S, &c. 



3. Differences relative to the form of the Cranium. 



I had the advantage of being the first to remark, in 1795, the distinc- 

 tive characters presented by the skulls of two elephants, which are 



* Anat. Descript. of an Elephant, plate xv. fig. 4 & 5. 

 f Mus. Soc. Reg., pi. iv. 



UBHAt _>* 



