} 
’ ee | f 
l 928 cae The Mammary Gland of the Elephant. {November, — 
the many diverse forms, we quickly note any departure on the 
part of an organ from its usual form or position, and are thus led 
directly to enquire into the cause or causes which brought about 
the change. In those mammals whose habit it is to suckle their 
young standing, namely, the Ungulata, any one who has given 
the least thought to the subject is aware that their mammary 
glands are situated at the posterior part of the ventral line, 2. ¢, 
in the inguinal region, or groin. A striking exception to this is 
seen in the elephant, where these glands are located anteriorly, in 
the pectoro-axillary spaces. 
The elephant holds a unique position in nature, representing 
the last of a long ancestral line which attained its maximum 
development in the Tertiary. Its immediate progenitor most 
likely occupied the southern range, thus escaping extinction in 
the drift and glacial epochs, and carrying down to present times 
this highly interesting and peculiar form. With no relatives 3 
extant, the elephant forms a separate and distinct order, the Pro- . d 
boscidia, but curiously enough possessing characters which ally e: 
it with the widely different Rodentia; it is herbivorous, and in , 
general habit and mode of life is an ungulate, in a portion of 
_ which otder it was usually assigned a place in the older nomen- 
_clature. 
© Tt is as an ungulate or “hoofed animal,” therefore, that the 
: elephant interests us, and from the fact that like all the species of 
that order the female is in the habit of suckling her young in the 
— standing posture we are led to ask ourselves the reason for the 
striking exception in the position of the mammary glands. It 
will be understood that I refer to animals which give birth as a 
rule to one, or at most two offspring at a time, and which conse: 
juently have the minimum number of glands, not to those which 
tter” like the hog family and present a series of glands run- 
ning along each side of the belly line. . 
In dealing with a subject of this nature we enter one of those 
‘oad fields of philosophic science whose farther boundary, if 
eed it have any, lies far below our mental horizon. The rock- 
yedded bone of the palæontologist, which elsewhere. bears 
useful fu _ testimony, is comparatively of little value, and ory 
the underlying principles of tissue meaner 
