66 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
first set of grinders or milk-teeth are not shed, but are gradually 
worn away during the time the second set are coming forward ; and 
as soon as the body of the grinder is nearly w^orn away, the fangs 
begin to be absorbed. From the end of the second to the begin- 
ning of the sixth year the third set come gradually forward as the 
jaw lengthens, not only to fill" up this additional space, but also to 
supply the place of the second set, which are during the same 
period gradually worn away and have their fangs absorbed. From 
the beginning of the sixth to the end of the ninth year the fourth set 
of grinders come forward to supply the gradual waste of the third set. 
In this manner to the end of life the elephant obtains a set of new 
teeth as the old ones become unfit for the mastication of his food. 
The milk-grinders consist each of 4 teeth or laminae ; the second set 
of grinders of 8 or 9 laminae ; the third set of 12 or 13; the fourth 
set of 15, and so on, to the seventh or eighth set, when each grinder 
consists of 22 or 23 ; and it may be added that each succeeding 
grinder takes at least a year more than its predecessor to be 
completed." 
Not more than one or portions of tw^o on each side of each jaw 
come into wear at once ; they come into use successively from behind, 
and as they wear out are shed in front. 
The term "tush" is applied to the small tusks of females and 
some males, though the latter ordinarily carry the large teeth known 
familiarly as " tusks." Tusks and tushes are simple teeth found 
in the upper jaw embedded in deep bony sockets, the pulp cavity (in 
young elephants) extending into them for a considerable distance ; 
but in aged animals the cavities are much diminished in size.. On 
removing a tusk the pulp which resembles a large conical-shaped 
sausage maybe taken from the cavity without trouble. The Burmans 
prize the pulp, as it is considered a specific for some disease. 
With regard to the tushes^ Steel states : The tushes afford 
indications of age appreciable to natives. Sanderson erroneously 
affirms they are never renewed or shed. They vary much in 
different varieties, and no doubt his remark applies to some ; how- 
ever, in others the milk tusks are shed between one and two years 
of age and replaced by the permanent ones which often attain 
70 lbs. weight in the male." Sanderson, page 67, says: "The 
tusks of the male elephant-calf show almost from birth. I believe 
that they are never renewed, and that the first tusks are permanent. 
In many works on the elephant it is stated that the first tusks are 
shed before the second year, but I believe this to be an error — one 
that has gained ground through so many writers deriving their 
information from a common source. I have made this a point of 
particular enquiry amongst experienced elephant-attendants, and 
