ELEPHANTS. 
5 2 3 
proboscis, into which the nose is produced; this proboscis having the nostrils at its 
extremity, and being used as an organ of prehension, and for the purpose of con¬ 
veying water to the mouth. Their build is extremely massive and bulky, the head 
being of great proportionate size, the ears large and flapping, the neck very short 
and thick, and the limbs long and stout. A peculiarity of the limbs, as shown in 
the figure of the skeleton, is that the humerus in the fore, and the femur in the 
hind-leg, are very long in proportion to the lower segments; the feet themselves 
being very short indeed. It will also be noticed that the bones of the limbs are 
set nearly vertically one above another; and from this cause, together with the 
SKELETON OF THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
great relative length of their upper segments, the knee and elbow-joints are not 
partially enclosed within the skin covering the body, as is the case in most Ungulates. 
Consequently, the knee of the elephant is more readily identified with that of man 
than is the case with that of a horse. It is further owing to this peculiarity in 
the structure of its limbs that an elephant kneels down, with its fore-feet stretched 
out in front and the hinder ones behind. The short feet are extremely broad, and 
have five toes each, of which the middle one (as shown in the figure on p. 517) is 
the largest; and from the extreme shortness of the feet the ankle-bone is placed 
close to the ground, instead of being raised half-way up the leg as in the horse. 
The whole of the toes are enclosed in a common skin, with a flat cushion-like sole; 
the position of the toes being indicated by the broad flat nails, of which there may 
