FALCONER ON THE AMERICAN FOSSIL ELEPHANT. 
103 
tears down their branches, and crunches the twigs and leaves, strip¬ 
ping off the lactiferous bark of the larger boughs. The Elephant of 
the 4 Sal’ Forests also derives occasional food from the foliage and 
fruit of Artocarpus Lakoocha , 4 Dhao;’ Batis aurantiaca , 4 Puneeala 
Bassia latifolia , 4 Muhowa,’ and among others from the fruit of 
j Feronia JSlephantum , 4 Kuth-bel;’ JEgle marmelos , 4 Bel f Diospyros 
tomentosa , 4 Teindooand in the Southern Forests, from the huge 
induviated fruits of certain species of JDillenia , fyc. Of aliment de¬ 
rived from the roots of Dicotyledonous trees and shrubs, such as the 
African Elephant is said to affect, I know of but one form in the 
‘ Sal Forests’ which the Indian species is known to touch, namely, 
the huge tuberous dilatation of the ligneous root of the Scandent, 
Pueraria tuberosa, 1 Sural.’ The fruticose and herbaceous Dicotyledons, 
the foliage and stems of which may enter into his occasional food, I 
do not attempt to enumerate. 
Among the Monocotyledonous families, a very large portion of 
his habitual fare, is derived from the Graniineee, and more sparingly 
from Palms ; of the former, he luxuriates on the young shoots and 
tender foliage of various species of Bamboo, which occur in vast 
abundance, together with the fleshy albuminous fruit of Beeslia 
Bheedii, found in the southern forests. The ‘jheels,’ or swamps, to 
which he resorts, are sheeted with the gigantic reeds of Arundo kurka , 
4 Null the young culms of which, together with the stems and leaves 
of Typha Plephantina , 4 Pateia,’ at certain seasons, constitute a 
favourite food of the Indian Elephant. The open glades and prairie 
lands are covered with species of Saccharum, forming what is called 
* Grass Jungle,’ composed chiefly of S. spontaneum, 4 Kas,’ inter¬ 
spersed with 8. fuscum , 4 Tat,’ 8. Sara, 4 Surkura ,’ or, 4 Moonj, 5 
8. exaltatum , 4 Suroo,’ &c. Clumps of these grasses are twisted up 
by his trunk, in his journeys to and from the forests; they are 
beaten against his legs to free the roots from sand, and then sub¬ 
jected to mastication. The sand which still adheres to these 
grasses, together with the large quantity of silica contained in the 
leaves and culms of Saccharum spontaneum , the most characteristic 
species of the grass jungle, perform an important duty in the econo¬ 
my of wear of the Elephant’s molar teeth.* Palms, which are stated 
to occupy the first rank in the favourite food of the animals in Cey¬ 
lon,! are represented in the 4 Sal’ Forests by species which either do 
not, or hardly at all contribute to it: being limited to Calamus 
Boy lei, Phoenix acaulis , and Harina oblongifolia. But in the more 
southern forests they are replaced by various genera and species, the 
tender and farinaceous leading shoot of which, as in Ceylon, is eagerly 
eaten by the Elephant. But compared with the wild fig-trees, bam- 
* The excessive abundance of silica in the culms and leaves of S. spontaneum , 
is practically shown, when it is attempted to mow it with an English scythe. After 
a few sweeps with the implement, the edge is rounded off, as I have repeatedly 
witnessed. 
f Tenncnt, Nat. Hist, of Ceylon, p. 230. 
