elephant

& a. [Dan., Ger., & Prov. ele phant; Fr. éléphant; Sw.elefant; Dut. oliphant; Port. elephante; Sp. & Ital. elefante; Lat. elephas (gen it. elephant is ), also elephant us; Gr. elephas (gen it. elephantos ): in Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar the elephant's tusk, ivory only; in Hero dot us and Aristotle the animal. Cf. Heb. eleph =an ox.] A. As substantive: IMG:content-0874.png:[blocks in formation] 1. Zool .: The name given to the only two species of clephants still living-viz., Elephas indicus , the Indian or Asiatic; and E. african us , the African elephant. The molars of the former are, with undulating bands of enamel; those of the latter, their crowns with lozenge-shaped ridges of enamel. The Asiatic elephant is, moreover, the larger of the two. The head is oblong, the forehead concave, the ears somewhat large, the hind feet with four hoofs. Its ordinary height is about ten feet. It inhabits India and other parts of Southern Asia, and the Eastern Islands. While many representatives of the species are yet remaining wild in the jungles of India, it has been largely domesticated in that land, every petty Indian potentate po e ing a few or many of them. The Anglo-Indians mount on their backs when hunting for tigers, besides occasionally using them to ride upon in journeys, or more largely to carry burdens. The Indian God Ganesh, or Ganesa, the patron of wisdom, has evidently been suggested at first by the sagacity of the E. indicus . The African elephant has a round head, convex forehead, very large ears, and the hind feet with only three hoofs. It is smaller than the Asiatic species. It is found through a great part of Africa, This seems to have been the species known to the Greeks and Romans. When first brought into the battlefield against the latter people, by Pyrrhus, it inspired some terror. This was, however, ultimately di ipated when it was seen how easily they could be driven by men through the amphitheater at the imperial games. 2. Her.: [ Order of the Elephant .] 3. Bot .: A kind of Scabious. ( Wright .) 4. Paper : A size of drawing-paper measuring twenty-eight by twenty-three inches, and weighing seventy-two pounds to the ream. A flat writing paper of about the same dimensions. B. As adj .: Pertaining to, derived from, or in any way connected with or resembling the elephant. (1) Order of the Elephant : A Danish Order of knighthood, originally religious, but secularized by Christian V., in 1693. (2) Sea elephant : The Bottle-nosed Seal. [CYSTOPHORA.] elephant-apple, s. Bot.: A tree, Feronia elephantum , which grows in India. It is of the Orange tribe, and is large and handsome, with pinnate leaves and a large gray fruit with a very hard rind. elephant-bed, s. Geol.: A bed or stratum at Brighton, England, noted for the abundant remains of fo il elephants. The name was given by Mantell. elephant-beetle, s. Entom.: Either of two large lamellicorn beetles from West Africa. They are (1) Goliath us gig an teus, (2) G. cacicus . elephant-fish, s . Ichthy.: Callorhynchus antarctica. [CALLORYN CHUS.]