120 
ELEPHANT. 
not thicker than on the foot of a man who is use*! 
to walking*. The whole skin of the animal is 
rough, and covered very thinly with short black 
hair. The skin was not more than one third of 
an inch in thickness at the strongest part ; under 
the belly it was hardly a quarter of an inch ; any 
part of it might be cut through with ease by a 
common dissecting knife. 
The animal had not that appearance of armcu* 
which is observed in the single-horned rhinoceros. 
" Since I dissected the male, I have had an op- 
portunity of examining a female, which was more 
of a lead colour ; it was younger than the male, 
and had not so many folds or wrinkles in its skin : 
of course it had still less appearance of armour.’ 5 
The height of the first of these specimens, or 
the male, was, according to Mr. Bell, four feet 
four inches at the shoulders ; nearly the same at 
the rump ; and eight feet five inches from the tip 
of the nose to the end of the tail. 
ELEPHANT TRIBE. 
These animals have no front teeth in either 
jaw ; and from the upper jaw proceed two long 
and stout tusks, which, in a state of nature, are 
used in tearing up trees for food, and as weapons 
pf defence against their enemies. They have a 
long, cartilaginous, prehensile trunk, which is ca- 
pable of laying hold even of the most minute sub- 
stances. Their body is very thinly scattered over 
with hairs. 
" Of all quadrupeds / 5 says M. de Buffon, " the 
