718 
AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 
The depth or size of the fossa occupying the upper surface 
of the premaxillary bones likewise depends upon the size of 
the tusks also. In a great measure the size of the skull is 
influenced by the tusks, the larger-tusked elephants having 
decidedly the larger skulls. Besides the individual varia¬ 
tions in skulls due to tusk differences, there is a marked age 
variation. The dome of the skull as represented by the 
cellular mass of bony tissue which surrounds the brain 
grows throughout a long period and seems to keep pace in 
its development with the growth of the tusks. On this 
account only skulls of absolutely the same age may be com¬ 
pared as regards their shape or the relative proportion of 
parts. 
We found elephant in the cool forests and bamboo belts 
of Mount Kenia and among its foot-hills; in the open plains 
and scanty thorn woods near the ’Nzoia River; in the tree 
jungle and tall elephant grass of Uganda; and in the hot, 
dry country along both banks of the upper White Nile. 
With the possible exception of the lion, the elephant is 
the wisest and most interesting of all the kinds of big game. 
Most wild animals lead very simple lives; and, while most of 
them at times perform queer and unexpected feats or show 
traits that upset the observer’s previous generalizations, 
there is ordinarily not much variety or originality in what 
they do. But the lion is forced by the exigencies of a life 
of prey to develop abilities as marked as they are sinister; 
and the elephant, instead of growing in stupidity as well as 
weight, has become the most intelligent of graminivores, 
with an emotional and intellectual nature sufficiently com¬ 
plex to make him a subject of endless interest to the observer. 
The elephant’s physical and mental equipment fits it for 
life under utterly diverse conditions. Most game animals 
live in narrowly circumscribed habitats; for instance, the 
