ELEPHANT. 
105 
and the usual height of the male is from eight to 
ten feet : of the female from seven to eight. This 
animal has very large ears, which, like the human, 
lie flat upon his head; nevertheless he can move 
them backwards and forwards at pleasure. His 
eyes, which are very small in proportion to his 
bulk, are lively, brilliant, and capable of great ex- 
pression. He turns them slowly and with gentle- 
ness toAvards his master ; and when he speaks, the 
elephant regards him with mildness and attention. 
The trunk, which is about eight feet long, and four 
feet in circumference near the mouth, is so very 
flexible, that the animal can move it in all direc- 
tions, and generally rolls it up between his tusks 
when he engages with an enemy. The extremity 
of the trunk terminates in a protuberance which 
stretches out on the upper side in the form of a 
finger, by means of which the elephant can pick 
up whatever he pleases from the ground. This 
appendix, or finger, is situated on the superior part 
of the border that surrounds the extremity of the 
trunk, in the middle of which there is a concavity 
in the form of a cup, and in the bottom of the cup 
are the apertures of the two common canals of 
smelling and of respiration. The first or milk tusks 
never grow to any size, but are shed between the 
first and second year, when not two inches in 
length. The permanent tusks of the female are 
very small in comparison with those of the male, 
and do not take their rise so deep in the jaAv ; they 
