The Skull of an Elephant with one Tusk 13 



THE SKULL OF AN ELEPHANT WITH BUT 

 ONE TUSK. 



Our illustration shows the skulls of two elephants, in one 

 of which there is but a single tusk. Living elephants with 

 but a single tusk have been mentioned, and even figured, 

 by travellers, and in several instances it has been expressly 

 stated that the animal so endowed was an especially large and 

 powerful one. The only skull which we have ever seen show- 

 ing this peculiarity, and not improbably the only one in exis- 

 tence, is the one here figured, and is amongst the treasures 

 of our Haslemere collection. It is that of a very large Ceylon 

 elephant, shot by Mr. W. H. Varian, at Chalampi Madua, 

 in the North Coast Province of Ceylon, in 1882. The tusk 

 which is present is the left one (as in the narwhal). No want 

 of symmetry is to be noticed in the form of the upper jaw, but 

 on the right side there is no trace of a tusk, nor of any tooth- 

 socket. The alveolus has been cut and shows no trace of 

 having ever been injured. 



The following measurements of this animal, taken imme- 

 diately after death, were recently kindly supplied by the 

 widow of the famous sportsman, who informs us that 

 it was the one hundred and first elephant that fell to 

 Mr. Varian's gun, and was the largest as well as his last. 

 Height at arch of back, 11 feet 9 inches; height at withers, 

 11 feet 1 inch ; length from the tip of the tail to the tip of the 

 trunk, 26 feet; girth of the body at thickest part, 22 feet 

 4 inches ; weight about 8 tons. The following skull measure- 

 ments may be of interest : height, from crown to base of 

 lower jaw, 3 feet 5% inches ; distance betwen the orbits, 1 foot 

 7 inches ; across the widest part of the alveolus, 1 foot 

 \\ inches ; girth of the alveolus, 3 feet 3 inches ; maximum 

 circumference (horizontal), 3 feet 2 inches ; distance between 

 the outer edge of the condyles, 2 feet. 



