THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 



{Elephas indicus.) 



The Indian Elephant (Elephas indi- 

 cus) inhabits the wooded parts of South- 

 ern Asia from the Himalayas to the In- 

 dian Ocean, and is found throughout 

 Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula. 

 It differs from the African Elephant in 

 having much smaller ears, a concave in- 

 stead of convex forehead, smaller tusks, 

 and in the possession of a finger on the 

 end of the proboscis which, working 

 against a tubercle on the lower part of the 

 trunk, serves many of the purposes of 

 the human hand. 



The proboscis, which is an extension 

 and enlargement of the ncse and upper 

 lip, is composed of as many as forty 

 thousand interlacing muscles, and is 

 capable of the most delicate and varied 

 manipulation. At times it is used to strip 

 twigs and leaves from overhanging trees, 

 or again to uproot bamboo shoots or to 

 pluck grass and plants from the ground, 

 carrying all to the ever-grinding jaws be- 

 hind. By sucking it full of water the 

 Elephant may give himself a shower bath 

 or squirt water into his mouth or even 

 over people who offend him. 



The presence of the trunk and tusks 

 has greatly modified the cranium of the 

 Elephant. Although a very intelligent 

 animal, his brain is relatively small in 

 proportion to his immense size. The 

 great, rounded humps which crown an 

 Elephant's head are composed of bony 

 air cells, and their function is to provide 

 surface for the supporting muscles of the 

 trunk. So thick are these bony processes 

 that they will stop a rifle ball ; and on the 

 other hand Elephants have been shot 

 through the skull without the least in- 

 jury to the brain. 



The tusks, which are often lacking in 

 Asiatic Elephants, especially in the fe- 

 males, are the incisors of the upper jaw, 

 grown straight out. and serve primarily 

 as weapons, although in domesticated 

 animals they are used to dig and lift and 

 to carry heavy burdens. Besides these 

 teeth the Elephant has four large molars, 



two in each jaw, and he is able to chew 

 from four to eight hundred pounds of 

 green fodder a day with them. In a 

 wild state the Elephants wander about in 

 bands through the forests, following their 

 leader from feeding grounds to water, 

 and concern themselves largely with eat- 

 ing and drinking and escaping from their 

 enemies. The young weigh about two 

 hundred pounds at birth, and attain to 

 over eight thousand pounds at thirty 

 years, when they have reached maturity. 

 At sixty an Elephant is counted in his 

 prime, and many live to be a hundred or 

 even a hundred and fifty years old. Elev- 

 en feet is the extreme height of the 

 Asiatic Elephant. His specific gravity is 

 so great that in swimming rivers his 

 whole body disappears below the surface ; 

 but this gives him no trouble, as he 

 breathes by thrusting the tip of his trunk 

 above the water and can surge up enough 

 to get one eye out when he wishes to see 

 where he is going. 



The eyes are small and, probably on 

 account of living in the forest so much, 

 they are not very sharp-sighted. This 

 defect is counterbalanced by very acute 

 hearing and sense of smell. In browsing 

 the Elephant is probably guided alto- 

 gether by touch and his sense of smell; 

 and in a dark forest even very sharp eyes 

 are of little value either in selecting food 

 or detecting enemies, especially in an an- 

 imal with so short and heavy a neck. 



The feet of an Elephant are great elas- 

 tic cushions with which he passes noise- 

 lessly through the jungles. When he 

 chooses to stand still it is almost im- 

 possible to distinguish his brown skin 

 from the foliage with which he is sur- 

 rounded. But an animal as large and 

 strong as the Elephant does not need to 

 conceal himself, except from man. his 

 great enemy, and when a troop of Ele- 

 phants wish to pass from one place to an- 

 other they often charge through the jun- 

 gles and forest, smashing down trees and 

 vines and leaving a broad trail behind 



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