78 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
of distension and, in addition to serving as conductors of air to the 
lungs and air cells, are converted into temporary reservoirs in the 
act of drinking. The end of the trunk during this act is placed in 
the water, and by suction (an inspiratory effort) a quantity is drawn 
up into the canals. The trunk when a sufficiency has been taken 
up is withdrawn, and inserted far back into the mouth, where by an 
•expiratory effort the contents are expelled and swallowed or in the 
act of bathing ejected over its body. It is highly improbable that 
the mucous membrane lining these canals is in any way concerned 
with the sense of smell. 
Every one familiar with elephants must have observed the pecu- 
liar habit they have when heated of inserting the trunk into the 
mouth and by suction withdrawing fluid which they squirt over the 
body. Many theories have been advanced as to where this fluid is 
accumulated : some investigators say that the stomach is the reservoir 
and that the cell-like formation at one end (much exaggerated in the 
drawing) can hold as much as ten gallons of water, and Dr. Harrison 
found a muscle connecting the back of the wind-pipe with the forepart 
of the gullet, one of the functions of which he thought might be to 
raise the cardiac orifice of the stomach and so enable it to regurgitate 
its contents into the gullet. (The muscle alluded to must have 
been abnormal as I believe other anatomists have not found it.) 
Others are of opinion that a special pouch at the back of the throat 
(pharyngeal) is the reservoir. The point at present is not satisfac- 
torily settled ; but as Steel states, the " pouch is capable of holding 
a fair amount of fluid which mav be supplemented by gradual 
regurgitation from the stomach. The subject is a most interesting 
one, and those desirous of obtaining full information should refer to 
the excellent works of Steel, Sterndale, and Sanderson. 
Selous in his book, " A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa," page 
1 8 I, refers to this habit among African elephants. 
Sounds.- — A forcible blast of air blown through the trunk pro- 
duces the sound familiarly known as " trumpeting,'' and another 
peculiar sound is also emitted through the agency of this organ. 
This is referred to by Sanderson, and accurately likened by him, to 
the sounds produced by rapidly doubling a large sheet of tin. This 
authority says that ''it is produced by rapping the end of the trunk 
smartly on the ground, a current of air hitherto retained, being 
sharply emitted through the trunk, as from a valve, at the moment 
of impact." The sound is familiar to those who have indulged in 
elephant shooting, and appears to be a note of warning on the 
apprehension of danger. 
Elephants make a variety of other sounds : for instance, during 
the stillness of the night wild elephants may be heard making a 
