HISTORY OF QJJ AD RUPEDS. 169 



finger, and poffeffes in a great degree the nicenefs and 

 dexterity of that ufeful member. It is equally flexible, 

 and as capable of laying hold of obje&s as the fingers of 

 a man. He lifts from the ground the fmalieft piece of 

 money ; he feleSs herbs and flowers, and picks them up 

 one by one ; he unties the knots of ropes, opens and 

 fhuts gates, &c. With his trunk he grafps any body 

 which it is applied to, fo firmly, that no force can tear 

 it from his gripe. 



Of all the inftruments which nature has fo liberally 

 bellowed on her moft favourite productions, the trunk of 

 the Elephant is perhaps the moft complete and admira- 

 ble. Ray fays, it is divided into three partitions or 

 chambers: two of which run in fpiral directions, and 

 the other in a right line. It is eight feet long in an Ele- 

 phant of fourteen feet high, and five feet in circumfe- 

 rence at the thicket! part, The noftrils are fituated at 

 the extremity ; through which it draws in water by a 

 ftrong faction, either for the purpofe of quenching its 

 thirft, or of waftiing and cooling itfelf, which it fre- 

 quently does, by taking up a large quantity ; part of 

 which it carries to its mouth, and drinks ; and by ele- 

 vating the trunk, allows the remainder to run over every 

 part of its body. 



Roots, herbs, leaves, and tender wood, are the ordi- 

 nary food of the Elephant. He does not ruminate, and 

 has but one ftomach : This want, however, is amply fup- 

 plied by the magnitude and length of his inteftines, and 

 particularly of the colon, which is from fifteen to twenty 

 feet in length, and two or three in diameter. When 

 one of them difcovers a plentiful pafture, he calls to the 

 others, and invites them to partake. As they require a 

 great quantity of forage, they frequently change their 



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