1 66 Mr. Combe's Account of an Elephant* s Tusk , 
whereas, in the instance before us, it is hardly possible that the 
accident could have taken place in that way. The texture of 
the surrounding ivory bears no marks of external injury ; and 
the spear-head pursues the natural course of the cavity, pointing 
downwards towards the apex of the tusk. 
The most probable conjecture is, that the spear entered at 
the basis of the trunk. If we examine the skull of an elephant, 
it will be found, that the tusks are strongly articulated in the 
upper maxillary bones. In the males, they reach as high as the 
thin plate, which separates them from the nasal cavity, whence 
the trunk arises. We have only then to suppose, that the spear 
struck somewhat perpendicularly, between the interior angle of 
the eye and the proboscis : the interposing plate of bone would 
yield without much difficulty; and the cavity of the tusk is placed 
immediately beneath. 
Whether the wooden part of the spear was separated directly, 
in consequence of the jar, or afterwards, by the exertions of the 
animal itself, is of little moment: no vestige of it now remains; 
and the head of the spear affords a presumption, that the shaft 
was never very firmly attached to it. 
The presence of an extraneous body in the substance which 
fills the conical cavity of the tusk, would be the cause of inflam- 
mation, and subsequent suppuration. In the mean time, the 
spear-head, acting by its gravity, would descend, till prevented 
by the resistance of the converging parietes of the cavity. Af- 
ter a process of time, when the tusk had been protruded further 
from the skull, in consequence of growth, fresh bony matter 
would necessarily be deposited, to preserve a corresponding re- 
lation between the size of the cavity and the tusk ; and thus the 
spear-head would gradually become imbedded within the ivory. 
