8 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
The mother did all she could to help the baby 
to rise, but without success, and this made her 
angry and irritated. We feared, that in her ex- 
citement she might perhaps trample upon the baby, 
and therefore decided to have h'im taken away 
from her. The mother was not willing to part 
with her young one, so that after he had, been 
taken out between the bars she was very angry 
and tried to jump the high railings. 
The small Elephant was then fed from a 
bottle with cow's milk and cream — an analysis of 
the milk of " Ellen" had showed this to be much 
more fat than cow's milk. The baby took as 
much as 10 litres of milk and 2 ! litres of cream per 
diem, but nevertheless became gradually weaker 
and thinner. At the birth he weighed 138 kilos, 
but after a fortnight he had lost 10' kilos, and his 
legs became so sore through his constant crawl- 
ing. As it was quite clear that the poor animal 
would never be able to stand on his hind-legs, it 
was considered better to chloroform him to death 
on the 25 th April. 
One may ask for the reason why this last 
elephant-baby was so small and feeble. Perhaps 
the answer is that the father, though only 44 or 
45 years old is already showing signs of weakness 
and infirmity of old age. His legs are getting 
thinner every year, and the extensor muscles of his 
trunk are lame, so that it cannot be stretched out 
without swinging it to and fro, and the trunk 
grows more and more slender because of atrophy 
of the extensor muscles. 
"Ellen" has, however, delivered three babies 
in the course of twelve years. By her first preg- 
nancy she was only twelve years old, and by the 
birth of her first born only fourteen years. Since 
then she has had a child every fourth year. 
It is rather difficult to state when pregnancy 
begins, as the Elephants continue pairing for a 
long time — a year or more — after the female has 
become pregnant. But we know for certain 
that the first and the third period of gestation 
lasted 2'2 months. 
" Ellen" is only 23' years old and has already 
given birth to three young ones ! There is reason 
to believe that the same would have happened 1 
if she had been living in freedom; and if she con- 
tinues to bear children only to an age of 40 years, 
she — and every other strong female elephant — 
should be able to get 7 or 8 young ones — a larger 
number than hitherto is reckoned with. 
It is often believed that the Elephants reach 
a very high age, 100 years or more. To my know- 
ledge no Elephant in confinement has lived more 
than SO 1 years, and "Chang" here in Copenhagen 
shows unmistakeable signs of infirmity at an age 
of 44 or 45 years. This shows, perhaps, that the 
longevity of the Elephants has been over-rated. 
W. DREYER. 
Copenhagen Zoological Gardens, - 
3/5/1916. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
That amongst some of my numerous arrivals was 
a Dwarf Lemur. Mr. Pocock, of the Zoologi- 
cal Gardens, gives a most interesting account 
of the little animal in " The Field," as follows : — 
"The Dwarf Lemurs, the daintiest of all 
Primates, are restricted to Madagascar, 
where they may be said to represent the gala- 
gos or "bush babies" of tropical and southern 
Africa. An example of the pretty little 
species commonly called Smith's dwarf lemur 
(Microcebus murinus), has recently been ac- 
quired by Mr. J. D. Hamlyn, and is now ex- 
hibited in the rodent house in the Zoological 
Gardens. The soft woolly coat is delicate 
grey in tint, the hands and feet are white, 
and there is a white stripe, set off bv dusky 
rings round the eyes, extending down the 
centre of the muzzle. It is not much larger 
than the common garden dormouse (Eliomys) 
of Central and Southern Europe, and pre- 
sents considerable superficial resemblance to 
that animal. The ears are long and upstand- 
ing, and the eyes, as is usual in nocturnal 
species, are large, protruding, and circular. 
A noticeable peculiarity is the length of the 
hind foot. As might be expected from this 
modification, the leaping powers of this ani- 
mal are so great that it appears almost to fly 
from branch to branch of the high trees in 
which it lives. Like a squirrel, it builds a nest 
of leaves in the fork of a tree, and there the 
female brings forth her young, which are 
usually two, but sometimes three, in num- 
ber. The nest is also used for the prolonged 
sleep, equivalent to hibernation, in which "the 
animal indulges during the period in Mada- 
gascar, corresponding to the winter of colder 
climes, when the insects and fruits on which 
it feeds are scarce, and difficult to procure 
in sufficient qu«ntities. Before this time of 
repose, and as a nutritive provision against 
it, the dwarf lemur accumulates a quantity of 
fat in the basal half of the tail; and the rem- 
nant of this accumulation is still apparent 
upon the specimen in the Gardens." 
That a large consignment of Brazilian Parrots, 
small birds, amongst which were two Blue 
Macaws, some Marmosets, arrived in Liverpool 
last week. The arrivals from the African coast 
have been a few Monkeys and Grey Parrots, 
with three Crown Cranes. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted ft Son, (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road, London, E. 
