122 
MAMMALIA. 
the same Dr. Franklin, for the truth of which we must hold him 
responsible. The master of the old menagerie in Exeter ’Change, 
named Pidcock, had for some years been in the habit of offering 
to his Elephant every evening a glass of spirituous liquor. The 
animal seemed to attach great importance to this favour, for it 
drank its glass with much relish, as indeed nearly every Elephant 
does. Pidcock always handed the first glass to the Elephant, and 
then took one himself. One evening he changed his mind, and 
apostrophised the animal thus, “ You have been helped first long 
•enough, it is now my turn to drink before you.” His friend the 
Elephant took this in bad part ; it refused to be helped second, 
and never drank its master’s health again in its daily libations. 
The Elephants which are exhibited in different places in theatrical 
representations give proofs of a most varied intelligence. They 
move over the boards with singular lightness. On a stage crowded 
with actors they avoid any blunders which might interfere with 
the stage arrangements ; they advance with measured paces, 
keeping time with the music. They distinguish one actor from 
another. If, for example, they have to place the crown on the 
head of the lawful king, they do not go and place it on the head 
of an usurper. There was in Paris, in 1867, an Elephant perform- 
ing at the circus of the Boulevard du Prince-Eugene, which went 
through a great many gymnastic exercises and feats of address 
which gave one a high idea of its docility and intelligence. This 
creature, which was called 1? Elephant ascensioniste, went so far as 
to balance its heavy mass on a tight-rope, like Blondin. This is 
a feat which many a man could not accomplish.* 
Some Elephants possess a taste for music. In 1813, the 
musicians of Paris met together and gave a concert to the male 
Elephant, which was then in the Jardin des Plantes. The animal 
showed great pleasure at hearing sung 0 ma tendre Musette ! 
But the air of La charmante Gabrielle pleased it so much that it 
beat time by making its trunk oscillate from right to left, and by 
rocking its enormous body from side to side. It even uttered a 
few sounds more or less in harmony with those produced by the 
* The African Elephant was trained to do this in the time of ancient Borne ; and 
for anecdotes of the docility and sagacity of Elephants consult iElian’s work on The 
Nature of Animals , hook ii. chap. 11. The passage is translated by the late Sir J. 
Emerson Tennent in his work entitled Ceylon . — Ed, 
c 
