68 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
the strength and dexterity in its use when fighting against a tusker 
is said to compensate fully for the absence of tusks. In Pegu, some 
years ago, a reliable Burman tracker casually informed me about a 
fight he witnessed in the jungle between a very large haing and 
an ordinary sized tusker ; though the haing received some nasty 
wounds, he put the tusker to flight. 
Tusks are occasionally snapped during fights. Mr. Danson, of 
Messrs. Darwood & Co., showed me a piece of a very fine tusk 
fractured about a foot or so from the point. This piece when found 
in one of the Shweli forests was covered with congealed blood. 
Mr. Petley, who knew the facts, informed me that the fight occurred 
between a good-sized wild tusker and an enormous solitary haing 
which was well known in the district (Shweli). Several Burmans 
witnessed the combat, during the course of which the haing snapped 
off the large portion of tusk referred to. 
Emerson Tennent states that Mr. Mercer, Civil Political Officer 
of Government at Badulla, sent him a jagged fragment of elephant 
tusk 2 ft. long, weighing between 20 and 30 lbs., which had been 
brought to him by natives who, being attracted by noise in the 
jungle, witnessed a fight between a tusker and one without, and saw 
the latter seize one of the tusks of his antagonist and wrengh from 
it the portion in question. — [Emerso7t Tennent, 1859, Vol. II, page 
280.) Ceylon elephants are generally tuskless — not one in a 
hundred is found with tusks. They have tushes 10 ins. to i 2 ins. 
long and i in. to 2 ins. in diameter. — [Emerson Tennent, page 274.) 
The spine. — The spine, or backbone, is composed of a number of 
bones termed vertebrae. In animals the head is suspended from it. 
It also forms a tube for the accommodation and protection of the 
spinal cord, a part as important as the brain itself, being the bond of 
union between all parts of the body. The backbone is possessed of 
great strength and flexibility. For convenience of description it has 
been divided into five regions : namely, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, 
sacral, and caudal. In the Indian elephant there are 7 cervical, 20 
dorsal, 3 lumbar, 3 or 4 sacral, and -31 caudal vertebrae. Owen gives 
the following: cervical 7, dorsal 20, lumbar 3, sacral 3, caudal 31 ; 
while Blanford states it to be: cervical 7, dorsal 19 to 21, 
lumbar 3 to 4, sacral 4, caudal 26 to 33. There are undoubtedly 
variations and peculiarities in individual skeletons. In some 
specimens there are only 1 9 dorsal vertebrae bearing movable 
articulated ribs. 
Cervical vertebrae. — Seven in number. The first, from its 
supporting the head, is known as the atlas : it is very similar in 
appearance to that bone in the human subject, and is in form some- 
thing after the shape of a signet ring. The second or axis may be 
