246 
THE ELEPHANT. 
of holding objects as the fingers of a man. He 
lifts from the ground the smallest piece of money ; 
he selects herbs and flowers, and gathers them one 
by one; he unties knots of rope, opens and shuts 
gates, and, with his trunk, he grasps any body to 
•which it is applied so firmly that no force can tear 
it from his gripe. 
As an organ of touch, the proboscis of the 
elephant is exquisitely fine. Elephants sometimes 
go blind, and, under that privation, the poor*animal 
can, not only collect its food and discriminate its 
quality by means of this wonderful instrument, but 
travel, without much difficulty, over irregular ground, 
avoiding lumps and hollows, and stepping over 
ditches. The creature, under such circumstances, 
rarely touches the ground with his trunk ; but, pro¬ 
jecting it forward as far as possible, lets the finger, 
which is coiled inward to protect the nostrils, skim 
along the surface, to the inequalities of which it 
adjusts itself with wonderful exactness. 
With this organ the elephant collects his food, 
liquid as well as solid. He has no power to 
apply his mouth (with the single exception of the 
mode in which the young elephant sucks) to the 
food to be taken; and, therefore, whether he gather 
the supply below or above his head, the substance is 
introduced into his mouth by the inward flexure of 
the trunk. 
Under these circumstances, it is little surprising 
that the elephant, whether in a state of nature or 
under the control of man, should invariably keep 
this invaluable member as much out of harm’s way 
