92 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
some little time before parturition milk is secreted. The glands 
consist of lobes bound together by connective tissue and fat. The 
milk as secreted is carried by sets of channels which converge at 
a point where they form dilatations which act as reservoirs. The 
ducts again become contracted and open finally on the summit of 
the nipples or teats, of which there are two. 
''The milk of the elephant is said to be very rich, with an 
agreeable taste and odour, its butter and sugar being largely 
increased at the expense of the water as compared with other milks." 
— (Steel and Symonds.) 
Breeding. 
At one time it was much doubted whether elephants ever 
bred in captivity. That it does happen, and not infrequently in 
Burma and Siam is beyond question. It is true that under certain 
circumstances, e.g., when animals are constantly tied up, etc., it is 
very rare for them to breed ; but with elephants the property of 
large firms engaged in the timber industry, and those owned by 
contractors, the case is different ; after work the animals are permitted 
to roam about the jungles where they lead a more natural life and 
under these conditions calves are often dropped. There are many 
well-known cases of elephants now working whose mothers were 
working for years before their birth. In Burma where wild 
elephants are numerous, cases of wild males taking up with tame 
females are not infrequent and tame elephants appear to have little 
or no difficulty in gaining admission to wild herds. As long as a 
sufficient number can be procured by capture, it would be absurd 
to attempt to breed them. Owners, especially of working elephants, 
have been known to offer to give away calves owing to the expense 
attending their keep and the remoteness of the prospect of some 
return upon the outlay. The offer has for similar reasons frequently 
been refused. 
In the female the loose external generative opening hangs 
down in much the same situation as that occupied by the penis in 
the male. This peculiarity led to a good deal of speculation as to 
the manner in which union of the sexes took place ; so much so as 
to suggest a deviation from the analogy of other animals for this 
purpose. The question as to the manner in which the fecundation 
of the female is brought about was set at rest at Thayetmyo, where 
two elephants were observed in the act and in the position common 
to quadrupeds, but in order to place the matter beyond the possibility 
of contradiction, Mr. Porter, Schoolmaster of the Bedford Regiment, 
