tending from the posterior side of the orifice of the right | well set on and carried rather high; tne arch or curve of superior cava. The tricuspid valve, and its chorda tendi- his back rising gradually from the shoulder to the middle, neæ and columnæ carnea, are also well displayed. (Cat. and thence descending to the insertion of the tail, and all Gallery, vol. ii.) his joints firm and strong. Reproduction, &c.-Romantic stories were formerly told of the extreme modesty of elephants; but Mr. Corse has disproved these and others which asserted that they would only reproduce the species in a state of nature, by showing that captivity and numerous witnesses formed no obstacle: but it must be remembered that the experiments recorded by him were made in India. Copulatio more equino. The period of gestation is twenty months and some days. The female mentioned by Mr. Corse produced a fine male, which was thirty-five inches and a half high just twenty months and eighteen days after she was first covered. The breasts of the female are placed under the chest, and the young one sucks, not with the trunk, but with the mouth. The young of the elephant, at least all those I have seen,' writes Mr. Corse, begin to nibble and suck the breast soon after birth; pressing it with the trunk, which, by natural instinct, they know will make the milk flow more readily into the mouth while sucking. Elephants never lie down to give their young ones suck; and it often happens, when the dam is tall, that she is obliged for some time to bend her body towards her young to enable him to reach the nipple with his mouth; consequently, if ever the trunk was used to lay hold of the nipple, it would be at this period, when he is making laborious efforts to reach it with his mouth, but which he could always easily do with his trunk if it answered the purpose. In sucking, the young elephant always grasps the nipple (which projects horizontally from the breast) with the side of his mouth. I have very often observed this; and so sensible are the attendants of it, that, with them, it is a common practice to raise a small mound of earth, about six or eight inches high, for the young one to stand on, and thus save the mother the trouble of bending her body every time she gives suck, which she cannot readily do when tied to her picket.' The maternal affection does not seem to be very strong in the female elephant, at least in captivity; for the same author states | that tame elephants are never suffered to remain loose, as instances occur of the mother leaving her young and escaping into the woods; and he says that if a wild elephant happens to be separated from her young, for only two days, though giving suck, she never afterwards recognises or acknowledges it. This separation,' adds Mr. Corse, sometimes happened unavoidably, when they were enticed separately into the outlet of the Keddah. I have been much mortified at such unnatural conduct in the mother, particularly when it was evident the young elephant knew its dam, and, by its plaintive cries and submissive approaches, solicited her assistance.' · LIVING SPECIES. Elephas Indicus. The Asiatic elephant differs from the African species, not only in its greater size and in the characters of the teeth and skull, but also in the comparative smallness of the ears, the paler brown colour of the skin, and in having four nails on the hind feet instead of three. The sagacity of this species is also supposed to be greater than that of the African elephants; but though many wonderful stories are told, and some of them are as true as they are wonderful, of the grateful remembrance which it long retains of benefits conferred, or of the tenacity with which it treasures up a wrong,' and though the instances of its docility, both antient and modern are very extraordinary, we agree, upon the whole, with Baron Cuvier, who observes, that after having studied these animals a long time, he never found their intelligence surpass that of a dog nor of many other carnivorous animals. It is imposing to see such a mountain of vitality obedient to the voice of its keeper and performing feats at his dictation; and the massive gravity of its physiognomy assists the impression. The following is Mr. Corse's description of a perfect Asiatic Elephant. An elephant is said to be perfect when his ears are large and rounded, not ragged or indented at the margin; his eyes of a dark hazle colour free from specks; the roof of his mouth and his tongue without dark or black spots of any considerable size; his trunk large, and his tail long, with a tuft of hair reaching nearly to the ground. There must be five nails on each of his fore-feet, and four on each of the hind ones, making eighteen in all; his head The following are the castes (Zat) or varieties of the Asiatic elephant noticed by Mr. Corse. Both males and females are divided into two castes, by the natives of Bengal, viz., the Koomareah (of a princely race) and the Merghee (hunting elephant, from mrigah a deer, or hunting, or from its slender make), and this without any regard to the appearance, shape, or size of the tusks in the male, as these serve merely to characterize some varieties in the species. The Koomareah is deep-bodied, strong, and compact, with a large trunk and short but thick legs. The Merghee is generally taller but is not so compact nor so strong he travels faster, has a lighter body, and his trunk is both short and slender in proportion to his height. As a large trunk is considered a great beauty in an elephant, the Koomareah is preferred, but not only for this, but for its superior strength, and greater capability of sustaining fatigue. The mixed breed is held in greater or less estimation in proportion as it partakes of the qualities of the Koomareah or Merghee. A breed from a pure Koomereah and Merghee is termed Sunkareah (from sunkarah, a mixture), or Merghabauliah (for the most part Merghee); but a farther mixture or crossing of the breed renders it extremely difficult for the hunters to ascertain the variety. Besides the Koomareah, Merghee, and Sunkareah breeds, several varieties are generally to be found in the same herd; but the nearer an elephant approaches to the true Koomareah the more he is preferred, especially by the natives, and the higher will be his price; though Europeans are not so particular, and will sometimes prefer a female Merghee for hunting and riding when she has good paces and is mild and tractable. The variety of male termed Dauntelah (toothy, having large fine teeth,) produces the largest tusks and the finest ivory: his head is strongly contrasted with that of the Mooknah (probably from mookh, the mouth or face), which can hardly be distinguished in this respect from a female elephant, and the tusks of some of the females are so small as not to appear beyond the lip, while in others they are almost as large as in the variety of male called Mooknah. The Dauntelah is generally more daring and less manageable than the Mooknah; and for this reason, until the temper and disposition are ascertained, the Europeans prefer the Mooknah; but the natives who are fond of show generally take their chance, and prefer the Dauntelah : and though there is a material difference in their appearance as well as in the value of their tusks, yet, if they are of the same caste, size, and disposition, and perfect, there is scarcely any difference in their price. There are many varieties between the Mooknah and Dauntelah, and these are varied according to the variation of the form of the tusks from the projecting horizontal, but rather elevated, curve of the Pullung-Daunt* of the true Dauntelah, to the nearly straight tusks of the Mooknah, which point directly downwards. Thus the Goneish or Ganesa, which is a Dauntelah that has never had but one tusk and this of the pullung sort, and which is so called from Ganesa, the Hindu god of wisdom, who is represented with a head like an elephant's with only one tooth, was sold in Mr. Corse's time to the Hindu princes for a very high price, to be kept in state and worshipped as a divinity. Another variety of the Dauntelah has the large tusks pointing downwards and projecting only a little beyond the trunk: he is then said to have Soor or Choordaunt (Hog's teeth). A third is the Putteldauntee, whose tusks are straight like those of the Mooknah, only much longer and thicker. The Ankoos Dauntee is a fourth, and has one tusk growing nearly horizontal, like the Pullung-Daunt, and the other like the Puttul-Daunt, and there are other less distinct varieties. The term Goondah seems to be used to designate those wandering male elephants which are much larger and stronger than the males generally taken with the herd, the Goondah departing from it or returning to it according to his desire. The Goondahs are supposed to be rarely taken with the herd: when they are so taken, their violence and ferocity renders them most destructive. Mr. Corse relates an instance of the ungovernable passions and terrible havock jecting so regularly, and being a little curved and elevated at the extremities, Pullung signifies a bed or cot, and daunt teeth; and, from the tusks prothe natives suppose a man might lie on them at his ease, as on a bed. (Corse. occasioned by the savage disposition of one, or at least a large male that was supposed to be one, when in the Keddah*. He was at length tied and led out, but his untameable spirit could not brook restraint, and after languishing about 40 days he died. Mr. Hodgson in his paper on the Mammalia of Nepal' (Zool. Proc. 1834) suggests that there are two varieties, or perhaps rather species of the Indian elephant, Elephas Indicus, viz., the Ceylonese, and that of the Saul Forest. The Ceylonese has a smaller, lighter head, which is carried more elevated; it has also higher fore-quarters. The elephant of the Saul Forest has sometimes nails on its hinder feet. The height to which the Asiatic elephant will attain has been variously stated: but upon a strict examination of alleged great heights, the natural disposition among men to exaggerate has generally been detected. A male elephant recorded by Mr. Corse was at its birth 35 inches high. In one year he grew 11 inches, and was In the 2nd year In the 3rd year In the 4th year In the 5th year Feet. Inches. 10 high. 3 4 6 5 0 5 5 5 10 A female elephant was six feet nine inches high at the time she came to Mr. Corse's possession, and was supposed to be 14 years old according to the hunters; but, according to the belief of Mr. Corse, she was only 11 years of age. During the next five years, before she was covered, she grew only six inches, but, while pregnant, she grew five inches in 21 months, and in the following 17 months, though again pregnant, she grew only half an inch. Mr. Corse then lost sight of her. She was at this time about 19 year's old and had perhaps attained her full growth. Her young one was then not 20 months old, yet he was four feet five inches and a half high, having grown 18 inches since his birth. It thus appears that no certain standard of growth, for captive elephants, at least, can be depended on: nor do there seem to be any satisfactory data for defining the age at which the animal ceases to grow. Mr. Corse conJectures that elephants attain their full growth between the ages of 18 and 24. With regard to the height, the East India Company's standard for serviceable elephants was, in Mr. Corse's time, seven feet and upwards, measured at the shoulder in the same manner as horses are. At the middle of the back, they are considerably higher; and the curve or arch, particularly in young elephants, makes a difference of several inches. The lessening of this curve is a sign of old age when not brought on by disease or violence. During the war with Tippoo Sultaun, of the 150 elephants under the management of Captain Sandys, not one was ten feet high, and only a few males nine feet and a half. Mr. Corse was very particular in ascertaining the height of the elephants employed at Madras, and with the army under Marquis Cornwallis, where there were both Ceylon and Bengal elephants, and he was assured that those of Ceylon were neither higher nor superior, in any respect, to those of Bengal: nay, some officers asserted that they were considerably inferior in point of utility. The only elephant ever heard of by Mr. Corse as exceeding 10 feet, on good authority, was a male belonging to Asaph Ul Dowlah, formerly vizier of Oude. The following were his dimensions: From foot to foot over the shoulder be 12 feet high. He accordingly went to Dacca. At first he sent for the mahote or driver, who without hesitation assured him that the elephant was from 10 to 12 cubits, that is from 15 to 18 feet high; but added that he could not bring the elephant for Mr. Corse's examination without the Nabob's permission. Permission was asked and granted. Mr. Corse measured the elephant exactly, and was rather surprised to find that the animal did not exceed 10 feet in height. Variety. The white elephants so much esteemed by the Indian sovereigns are merely Albinos. Geographical Distribution.-The Asiatic elephant inhabits the greater part of the warm countries of Asia, and the large islands of the Indian archipelago. Mr. Corse states that the elephants for the service of the East India Company are generally taken in the provinces of Chittagong and Tiperah; but from what he had heard, those to the southward of Chittagong, in the Burmah territories and kingdom of Pegu, are of a superior breed. In confirmation of this opinion, he observes that the elephants taken to the south of the Goomty river, which divides the province of Tiperah from east to west, were generally better than those taken to the north of that river; and though elephants were taken at Pilibet as far north as lat. 29° in the vizier of Oude's territories, yet the vizier, and also the officers of his court, gave those taken in Chittagong and Tiperah a decided preference, they being much larger and stronger than the Pilibet elephant. Till the year 1790 Tiperah was a part of the Chittagong province; and so sensible was the Bengal government of the superiority of the southern eleless liable to casualties, that in the then late contracts* for phants for carrying burdens, enduring fatigue, and being supplying the army, the contractor was bound not to send any elephant to the military stations taken north of the Chittagong province. Hence Mr. Corse concludes the torrid producing the largest, the best, and the hardiest elephant; zone to be the natural clime, and the most favourable for and that when this animal migrates beyond the tropics the species degenerates. He speaks of elephants being taken on the coast of Malabar as far north as the territories of the Coorgali rajah; but adds that these were much inferior to the Ceylon elephant, and that from this circumstance the report of the superiority of the Ceylon elephant to all others probably originated. He remarks that most of the previous accounts respecting the Asiatic elephant had been given by gentlemen who resided many years ago on the coast of Malabar or Coromandel, where, at that time, they had but few opportunities of seeing the Chittagong or the Pegu elephant. Mr. Hodgson, in the paper above noticed, states that Elephus Indicus and Rhinoceros unicornis are both abundant in the forests and hills of the lower region of Nepal, whence, in the rainy season, they issue into the cultivated parts of the Tarai to feed upon the rice crops. Habits, Utility to Man, &c.—In a state of nature the Asiatic elephant lives in great herds, which are generally said to be under the conduct of the old males, or bulls, as they are sometimes termed. From time immemorial the species has been brought under the dominion of man and trained to swell the pomp of pageants, and add to the terrors of war, as well as to perform the more useful offices of a beast of burthen and draught, and the more dreadful one of executing the sentence of death on criminals. It has been long made the companion of the sports of the Orientalist in the great hunting parties; and from the same early period has been made to minister to the wanton and cruel pleasures of Eastern princes by being stimulated to combat not only with other elephants but with various wild animals. 22 10 Our limits will not allow us to enter into the highly interesting detail of the mode of capturing this enormous animal, &c., &c.; and we must refer the reader to the second volume of the Menageries, where he will find an abundant and amusing collection of anecdotes connected with this subject, as well as a complete history of the ele phant, both in the wild state and as the servant of man. Feet. Inches. 12 From the front of the face to the insertion of the tail . . . . 15 11 And yet the Madras elephants have been said to be from 17 to 20 feet high. Now let us see how dimensions shrink before the severity of measurement. Mr. Corse heard from several gentlemen who had been at Dacca, that the Nabob there had an elephant about 14 feet high. Mr. Corse was desirous to measure him, especially as he had seen the elephant often at a former period, and then supposed him to Keddah is the name of the enclosure into which the wild e.ephants are driven and then captured. The tusks of both species still form, as they did from the earliest periods, a valuable article of commerce. The ivory which is now sought for useful purposes and ornaments of minor importance, was in great request with the antient Mr. Corse's paper was read before the Royal Society in 1799. The earliest extant account in any European language of the mode of capturing the Indian elephant is in Arrian, Indike, chap. 13. 'Library of Entertaining Knowledge,' 8vo., London, 1831. FOSSIL SPECIES. The third and fourth divisions of the tertiary fresh-water Greeks and Romans for various domestic uses, as well as for the Chrys-elephantine statuary rendered so famous by Phidias. Of these rich statues the Minerva of the Par-deposits (Pliocene period of Lyell) abound in extinct species thenon, and especially the Olympian Jupiter, appear to have been the master-pieces. of recent genera, and among them the remains of fossil elephants are very numerous. The alluvium, the crag, the ossiferous caverns, the osseous breccias, and the subappenine formations afford the most numerous examples. Cuvier (Règne Animal,' last edit.) observes that there are found under the earth, in almost all parts of both continents, the bones of a species of elephant approximating to the existing Asiatic species, but whose grinders have the ribands of enamel narrower and straiter, the alveoli of the tusks longer in proportion, and the lower jaw more obtuse. An individual, he adds, found in the ice on the coasts of Siberia appeared to have been covered with hair of two sorts, so that it might have been possible for this species to have lived in cold climates. The species has, he concludes, long since disappeared from the face of the globe. This species he characterizes (Ossemens Fossiles) as having an elongated skull, a concave front, very long alveoli for the tusks, the lower jaw obtuse, the grinders larger, parallel, and marked with closer set ribands of enamel, and he designates it as The fossil Elephant, Elephas primigenius of Blumenbach, Elephas Mammonteus, Fischer, The Mammoth of the Russians. Elephas Indicus-Asiatic Elephant. Elephas Africanus.-The African elephant is less than the Asiatic. The head is rounded; the front convex instead of concave; the ears are much larger than those of the Asiatic species; and the general number of nails on each hind foot is only three instead of four. Geographical Distribution.-From Senegal to the Cape of Good Hope. Cuvier says that it is not known whether the species is found up the whole oriental side of Africa, or whether it is there replaced by the preceding species. Habits, Utility to Man, &c.-The flesh is relished by the inhabitants of many districts of Africa. Major Denham speaks of it as being esteemed by all, and even eaten in secret by the first people about the sheikh; and he says that though it looked coarse it was better flavoured than any beef he found in the country. The antient Romans considered the trunk as the most delicious part; but Le Vail.ant speaks of the foot as a dish for a king. The disposition of this species is supposed to be more ferocious than that of the Asiatic elephant; though its habits in a state of nature do not greatly differ. It is not now tamed; but Elephas Africanus. African Elephant, there is good ground for believing that the Carthaginians availed themselves of the services of this species as the Indians did of those of the Asiatic dephant. The elephants exhibited in the Roman arena by Cæsar and Pompey appear to have been Africans; and from them principally, if not entirely, the ivory for ornamental purposes and the statues above alluded to, seems to have been taken. The tusks of this species are of great size. Skull of Elephas Primigenius. Mammoth's, or elephant's bones and tusks occur throughout Russia, and more particularly in Eastern Siberia and the Arctic marshes, &c. The tusks are very numerous, and in so high a state of preservation that they form an article of commerce, and are employed in the same works as what may be termed the living ivory of Asia and Africa, though the fossil tusks fetch an inferior price. Siberian fossil ivory forms the principal material on which the Russian ivory-turner works. The tusks most abound in the Laichovian Isles and on the shores of the Frozen Sea; and the best are found in the countries near the Arctic circle, and in the most eastern regions, where the soil in the very short summer is thawed only at the surface: in some years not at all. In 1799 a Tungusian, named Schumachoff, who generally went to hunt and fish at the peninsula of Tamut, after the fishing season of the Lena was over, had constructed for his wife some cabins on the banks of the lake Oncoul, and had embarked to seek along the coasts for Mammoth horns (tusks). One day he saw among the blocks of ice a shapeless mass, but did not then discover what it was. In 1800 he perceived that this object was more disengaged from the ice, and that it had two projecting parts; and towards the end of the summer of 1801 the entire side of the animal and one of his tusks were quite free from ice. The summer of 1802 was cold, but in 1803 part of the ice between the earth and the Mammoth, for such was the object, having melted more rapidly than the rest, the plane of its support became inclined, and the enormous mass fell by its own weight on a bank of sand. In March, 1804, Schumachoff came to his mammoth, and having cut off the tusks, exchanged them with a merchant for goods of the value of fifty rubles. We shall now let Mr. Adams, from whose account these particulars are abridged, speak for himself. Two years afterwards, or the seventh after the discovery of the mammoth, I fortunately traversed these distant and desert regions, and I congratulate myself in being able to prove a fact which appears so improbable. I found the mammoth still in the same place, but altogether mutilated. The prejudices being dissipated because the Tungusian chief had recovered his health,* there was no obstacle to prevent approach to the carcase of the mammoth; the proprietor was content with his profit from the tusks, and the Jakutski of the neighbourhood had cut off the flesh, with which they fed their dogs during the scarcity. Wild beasts, such as white bears, wolves, wolverines, and foxes, also fed upon it, and the traces of their footsteps were seen around. The skeleton, almost entirely cleared of its flesh, remained whole, with the exception of one fore-leg. The spine from the head to the os coccygis, one scapula, the basir and the other three extremities were still held together by the ligaments and by parts of the skin. The head was covered with a dry skin; one of the ears well preserved was furnished with a tuft of hairs. All these parts have necessarily been injured in transporting them a distance of 11,000 wersts (7330 miles); yet the eyes have been preserved, and the pupil of the eye can still be distinguished. This mammoth was a male, with a long mane on the neck, but without tail or proboscis.' (The places of the insertion of the muscles of the proboscis are, it is asserted, visible on the skull, and it was probably devoured as well as the end of the tail.) The skin, of which I possess three-fourths, is of a dark grey colour, covered with a reddish wool and black hairs. The dampness of the spot, where the animal had lain so long, had in some degree destroyed the hair. The entire carcase, of which I collected the bones on the spot, is four archines (9 feet 4 inches) high, and seven archines (16 feet 4 inches) long from the point of the nose to the end of the tail, without including the tusks, which are a toise and a half (9 feet 6 inches, measuring along the curve; the distance from the base or root of the tusk to the point is 3 feet 7 inches) in length; the two together weighed 360 lbs. avoirdupois; the head alone, with the tusks, weighs 11 poods and a half (414 lbs. avoirdupois.) The principal object of my care was to separate the bones, to arrange them, and put them up safely, which was done with particular attention. I had the satisfaction to find the other scapula, which had remained not far off. I next detached the skin of the side on which the animal had lain, which was well preserved. This skin was of such extraordinary weight that ten persons found great difficulty in transporting it to the shore. After this I dug the ground in different places to ascertain whether any of its bones were buried, but principally to collect all the hairs which the white bears had trod into the ground while devouring the flesh. Although this was difficult from the want of proper instruments, I succeeded in collecting more than a pood (36 pounds) of hair. In a few days the work was completed, and I found myself in possession of a treasure which amply recompensed me for the fatigues and dangers of the journey, and the considerable expenses of the enterprise. The place where I found the mammoth is about 60 paces distant from the shore, and nearly 100 paces from the escarpment of the ice from which it had fallen. This escarpment occupies exactly the middle between the two points of the peninsula, and is three wersts long (two miles), and in the place where the mammoth was found this rock has a perpendicular elevation of 30 or 40 toises. Its substance is a clear pure ice; it inclines towards the sea; its top is covered with a layer of moss and friable earth, half an archine (14 inches) in thickness. During the heat of the month of July, a part of this crust is melted, but the rest remains frozen. Curiosity induced me to ascend two other hills at some distance from the sea; they were of the same substance, and less covered with moss. In various places were seen enormous pieces of wood of all the kinds produced in Siberia; and also mammoths' horns (tusks) in great numbers appeared between the hollows of the rocks; they all were of astonishing freshness. How all these things could become collected there, is a question as curious as it is difficult to resolve. The inhabitants of the coast call this kind of wood Adamschina, and distinguish it from the floating pieces of wood which are brought down by the large rivers to the ocean, and collect in masses on the shores of the frozen sea. The latter are called Noachina. I have seen, when the ice melts, large lumps of earth detached from the hills mix with the water, and form thick muddy torrents which roll slowly towards the sea. This earth forms wedges which fill up the spaces between the blocks of ice. The escarpment of ice was 35 to 40 toises high; and, according to the report of the Tungusians, the animal was, when they first saw it, seven toises below the surface of the ice, &c. On arriving with the mammoth at Borchaya, our first care was to separate the remaining flesh and ligaments from the bones, which were then packed up. When I arrived at Jakutsk, I had the good fortune to repurchase the tusks, and from thence expedited the whole to St. Petersburg.' The skeleton is now in the Museum of the Academy, and the skin still remains attached to the head and feet. A part of the skin and some of the hair of this animal were sent by Mr. Adams to Sir Joseph Banks, who presented them to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The hair is entirely separated from the skin, excepting in one very small part, where it still remains attached. It consists of two sorts, common hair and bristles, and of each there are several varieties, differing in length and thickness That remaining fixed on the skin is of the colour of the camel, an inch and a half long, very thick set, and curied Mammoth found in Siberia. Reduced from the lithographie plate above mentioned, fle had fallen sick from alarm, on first hearing of the discovery, as it was considered a bad omen. Au error, as of 28 or 30 caudal vertebræ only 8 remained. P. C., No. 575. This is doubted; a dried substance is viab.o. in locks. It is interspersed with a few bristles about three | Brahma, the creator, occupies the centre position. This inches long, of a dark reddish colour. Among the separate face measures 5 feet in length; the width from the ear parcels of hair are some rather redder than the short hair to the middle of the nose is 3 feet 4 inches; the breadth just mentioned, about four inches long; and some bristles of the whole figure is near 20 feet. On the right is the nearly black, much thicker than horse hair, and from 12 preserver, Vishnu; and Siva, the destroyer, is on the left, to 18 inches long. The skin when first brought to the having in his hand a cobra capella, or hooded snake, and Museum was offensive; it is now quite dry and hard, and on his cap a human skull. To the left of this bust, amid a where most compact is half an inch thick. Its colour is group of uncouth figures, is one, a female figure, to which the dull black of the living elephants. (On the Mammoth, Niebuhr has given the name of Amazon, from the fact of or Fossil Elephant, found in the Ice at the Mouth of the its being without the right breast. This figure has four river Lena, in Siberia, with a lithographic Plate of the arms. The right fore-arm rests upon the head of a bull; Skeleton. From the 5th vol. of the Memoirs of the Impe- the left fore-arm hangs down, and once contained somerial Acad. of Sciences of St. Petersburg, London, 1819, 4to.) thing which is now mutilated and undistinguishable. The Fischer indicates the following species of fossil elephants hand of the hinder right arm grasps a cobra capella, and resting principally on the difference of form in the molar that of the hinder left arm holds a shield. At the west side teeth. 1. Elephas mammonteus (E. primigenius, Blumenb.) of the temple is a recess, 20 feet square, having in the 2. Elephas panicus. 3. Elephas proboletes. 4. Elephas centre an altar, upon which are placed symbols of a worship pygmaeus. 5. Elephas campylotes. 6. Elephas Kamenskii. offensive to European notions of delicacy. The entrance to M. Nesti proposes a species under the name of Elephas this recess is guarded by eight naked figures, each 13 feet Meridionalis, whose remains have been found in a fresh- high, sculptured in a manner which shows that the people water formation in many places in Italy, and especially in by whom they were executed must have made considerable the Val d'Arno. M. Nesti rests principally on the dif- progress in the statuary's art. ference of the conformation of the cranium, and especially on an apophysis in form of a beak which terminates the lower jaw. Dr. Harlan is of opinion that there are two species of fossil elephants peculiar to the United States. Captain Cautley mentions the remains of elephants among those of mammalia found by him in the Sewalik mountains, at the southern foot of the Himalayas, between the Sutluj and the Ganges, partly lying on the slopes among the ruins of fallen cliffs, and partly in situ in the sandstone. ELEPHANTA, a small island about seven miles in circumference, situated between the island of Bombay and the Maharatta shore, distant five miles from the latter and seven miles from the castle of Bombay. Its name among the natives is Gorapori; that by which it is known to Europeans was derived from the figure of an elephant cut out of the solid black rock on the acclivity of a hill about 250 yards from the landing-place, and which is a conspicuous object in approaching the island. This figure has been split in two, apparently by means of gunpowder, which injury is attributed to the religious zeal of the Portuguese invaders of Hindustan, which prompted them to destroy whatever they considered to be objects of pagan worship. In 1814 the head and neck of the elephant dropped off, and the figure is otherwise in such a state of decay as to threaten its speedy fall. At a short distance from the elephant stands the figure of a horse, also cut out of the rock. Mr. Dalrymple, in a description inserted in the Archæ ologia (vol. vii., page 324), says that this figure is still called the horse of Alexander, in memory of Alexander the Great, to whom has been attributed, without the least foundation, the excavation to which this island owes its celebrity. The construction of this cave has also been attributed, with no greater probability, to Semiramis; its origin is, in fact, involved in the greatest obscurity, although the rapidity with which its decay is seen to go forward seems to preclude the idea of its being the work of any very remote age. The entrance to this cave, or temple, occurs about half way up the steep ascent of the mountain or rock out of which it is excavated. The length of this temple, measuring from the entrance, which is on the north side, is 130 feet, and its breadth 123 feet; the floor not being level the height varies from 15 feet to 17 feet. The roof was supported by 26 pillars and 8 pilasters, disposed in four rows; but several of the pillars are broken. Each column stands upon a square pedestal, and is fluted, but instead of being cylindrical is gradually enlarged towards the middle. Above the tops of the columns a kind of ridge has been cut to resemble a beam about 12 inches square, and this is richly carved. Along the sides of the temple are cut between forty and fifty colossal figures varying in height from 12 to 15 feet; none of them are entirely detached from the wall. Some of these figures have on their heads a kind of helmet; others wear crowns with rich devices, and others again are without any other covering than curled or flowing hair. Some of them have four and others six hands, holding sceptres, shields, symbols of justice, ensigns of religion, weapons of war, and trophies of peace. On the south side, facing the main entrance, is an enormous bust with three faces, representing the triple deity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The cave is not at present used as a temple, nor has it any establishment of priests connected with it, although it is frequently visited by devotees for the purpose of offering prayers and oblations. (Captain Hamilton's Account of India, 1744; Maurice's Indian Antiquities; Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie; Archæologia, vol. vii.; Asiatic Researches, vol. i.) ELEPHANTIASIS (ἐλέφας and ἐλεφαντίασις), elephant and elephant disease, so called partly on account of some supposed resemblance of the diseased skin to that of the elephant, but principally from the formidable nature of the malady. It is disgusting to the sight, says Aretæus, and in all respects terrible, like the beast of similar name. The term is now commonly applied to two different diseases; first to a peculiar disease of the skin, one of the most formidable of the dreadful cutaneous affections which occur in hot climates, and more particularly where agriculture and the arts of civilization are imperfectly advanced; and secondly to a peculiar disease of the leg, which becoming enormously tumid, is conceived to bear some resemblance to the leg of an elephant. The first distemper, elephantiasis properly so called, is a tubercular disease of the skin. The tubercles present a shining appearance; they are of different sizes, and are of a dusky red or livid colour on the face, ears, and extremities. The tubercles are accompanied with a thickened and rugous state of the skin, a diminution or total loss of its sensibility, and a falling off of all the hair excepting that of the scalp. The disease is wholly unknown in this country. It is described as slow in its progress, sometimes continuing several years without materially deranging the functions, but gradually producing an extraordinary degree of defor mity. The following is the description commonly given of this formidable malady; but there is reason to believe that the picture is much exaggerated. The ala of the nose become swelled and scabrous; the nostrils are dilated; the lips are tumid; the external ears, particularly the lobes, are enlarged and thickened, and beset with tubercles; the skin of the forehead and cheeks grows thick and tumid, and forms large and prominen. rugæ, especially over the eyes; the hair of the eye-brows, the beard, the pubes, axillæ, &c., falls off; the voice becomes hoarse and obscure; and the sensibility of the parts affected is obtuse or totally abolished, so that pinching or puncturing them gives no uneasiness. This disfiguration of the countenance suggested the idea of the features of a satyr or a wild beast; whence the disease was by some called Satyriasis, and partly also on account of the excessive libidinous disposition said to be connected with it; and by others Leontiasis, from the laxity and wrinkles of the skin of the forehead, which resembles the prominent and flexible front of the lion. As the malady proceeds, the tubercles begin to crack, and at length to ulcerate; ulcerations also appear in the throat and in the nose, which sometimes destroy the palate and the cartilaginous septum; the nose falls; and the breath is intolerably offensive; the thickened and tuberculated skin of the extremities becomes divided by fissures, and ulcerates, or is corroded under dry sordid scabs, so that the fingers and toes gangrene and separate joint after joint |