108 THE ELEPHANT OF INDIA. 
is true enamel, but is not harder than the central 
part of the tooth or the ivory. The external ear 
is large, but small compared with that of the 
next animal. The eyes are very small, with 
round pupils, and with a piggish expression. 
The feet have five toes, which are concealed by 
an envelope of skin, (and are only shewn at the 
tips by the nails) which fits them and protects 
them like a slipper. But the most remarkable 
portion of the structure of the Elephant, is what 
is usually called the trunk or proboscis, properly 
an elongation of the nose, and used as an organ 
of prehension, most valuable when we consider 
the unwieldy size of the head, and the shortness 
of the neck.* It acts also as a delicate organ of 
touch and of smell ; it can lift an article of great 
minuteness, while it can raise the most immense 
weights ; it serves also to convey drink to the 
mouth, which otherwise would be unattainable, 
and it is a weapon of defence of a most powerful 
description. It is formed by a membranous pro- 
longation of the tubes of the nostrils, furnished 
with muscles, and covered exteriorly with tendi- 
nous expanse. The muscles which move the trunk 
are of two kinds, — the longitudinal ones, divided 
* Among herbivorous animals we have noticed a relative 
proportion between the neck and the legs, but here there 
is none, and a substitute wns required, which we find 
beautifully compensated by the trunk. 
