176 
THE DISEASES OF ELEPHANTS. 
care it is easy to buy an animal so recently caught as to be 
still likely to develop it. Such an animal should be got for 
much less money than one longer domesticated. The state 
of training the animal has reached will generally indicate 
the period of his capture. If thoroughly obedient to its 
driver, lying down patiently to let you examine its feet, &c., 
it will probably have been sufficiently long in hand to be 
pretty safe. 
“ This brings me to unsound feet—a most common failing 
in an elephant. It is of two kinds, called by natives Kandi 
and Sajhan. The former is a sort of canker, that begins on 
the sole and gradually eats deep into the structure of the 
foot, until at length it breaks out above the toe nails. In its 
earlier stages it is easily concealed by plugging the holes; 
and many of the elephants brought to the great fairs, like 
that of Sonpur, are, in fact, affected with Kandi, though to 
outward appearance perfectly sound. It can generally be 
discovered by making the elephant lie down, and adminis¬ 
tering a series of smart raps with a stick all over the soles of 
the feet, when, if Kandi be present, the animal will be sure 
to show it by shrinking. 
“ Sajhan is what would be called f cracked heels’ ina horse. 
Its deep cracks, discharging matter, situated about the junc¬ 
tion of the horny sole with the skin, can hardly be passed 
over in a bad case, though a slight one may escape observa¬ 
tion. It is a serious unsoundness, being generally constitu¬ 
tional, and often rendering useless during every rainy season 
elephants that are subject to it. 
ee The eyes of the elephant are extremely delicate and ap¬ 
pear to possess in an unusual degree a sympathetic connec¬ 
tion with the digestive organs. Nearly every indisposition 
of the animal is accompanied by a clouding or suffusion of 
the eyes. Few elephants that have been long caught, espe¬ 
cially if in the hands of natives, have perfect eyes. Heating 
food, or undue exposure to bright sun, is often followed by 
the appearance of a film over one or both eyes, which, if not 
attended to, and its cause remains in operation, increases till 
the cornea becomes quite opaque, and the animal loses its 
sight. The leaves of the peepul fig-tree, which form excel¬ 
lent fodder in the cold season, are almost sure to produce 
this affection if given for any considerable time in the hot 
season. I would not reject an elephant, otherwise suitable, 
merely because it had a slight film over the eye ; for it is easily 
removed when attended to in time. But its presence would 
of course lessen the value the animal would otherwise bear. 
“ Another very tender point in the elephant is the back. 
