ELEPHANT

(Gr. iXifcts, an elephant.) The generic name of the most gigantic of existing quadrupeds. They are characterized e entially by having grinders composed of alternating vertical plates of ivory, enamel, and caementum, and two tusks in the upper jaw: they are also the only living Mammal i a which have a proboscis or trunk longer than the head. It is inferred from the structure of the skull that the extinct Mastodons, which have grinders of a more simple structure, also po e ed a long proboscis; and accordingly Cuvier includes the genus Elephas and Mastodon in a particular family of Pachyderms called Proboscidians. Of the true genus Elephas there are two living and a greater number of extinct species. The Indian elephant {Elephas Indict is, Cuv.) differs from the African species in its greater size, in the skull being higher in proportion to its length, and with a more concave forehead. The Indian elephant has also comparatively smaller ears; the skin is of a paler brown colour; and it has four nails on the hind feet instead of three. The elephant will breed in confinement; its period of gestation is twenty months and some days. It brings forth one young at a birth, which derives its nourishment from two nipples placed on the inner side of the setting in of the fore-legs. The perpendicular height of the Indian elephant, measured from the top of the shoulder, has not been found to exceed ten feet six inches: the ordinary height is from seven to nine feet. The Indian elephant varies as to the length of the tusks; their ends only are visible externally in the females, and there Is also a race (Mooknah) in which they are straight and short in the males. In other races the males have the tusks long and curved, especially in that called " Dauntelah." The anecdotes of the docility, sagacity, and tenacious memory of the elephant are numerous and generally known. The characteristics of the African elefhant may be inferred from the account of those of the ndian species. It is usual to describe it as having a forehead convex instead of concave; but the projection is caused by the nasal bones, which are higher placed than in the Indian species; and the true front is in reality concave in the African species, but in a le degree than in the Indian. The chief external character of the African elephant is his huge ears. It is a remarkable fact that no African nation has ever subdued the elephant, or made it available for any useful purpose. For an account of the fo il elephants, see Mammoth. ELEUSl' [s. 402]