finger, and immediately passed it behind the
thumb, turning back the latter so as to hold it
securely. He then extended his trunk for another
supply. I gave him another small carrot, which
he put into the same place as the first; I gave
him another, and then he bent his trunk, and put
all three into his mouth. On giving him larger
carrots he united two for a mouthful, but the
largest of all he took single.”
The importance of the trunk is well known to the Elephant himself; it is his first care in time of danger. When sustaining the attack of a tiger or other wild beast, the trunk is raised high in the air; he will rarely strike a heavy blow with it, though he will throw stones and clods at dis- tant objects which he dislikes, as he often does at hogs. An Elephant that was accidentally burned to death, at Dublin, in the year 1681, had been so solicitous about this precious organ, that it was found thrust nearly two feet into a very hard ground. Nor is this a needless care. Mr. Wil- liamson saw an Elephant in India, whose trunk had been accidentally cut through with a bill-hook; and though the wound was healed, the animal was perfectly helpless; unable to supply its own food, and incapable of even travelling without danger. He was fed with bundles of grass, which were put into his mouth; had he been in a state of nature, be must have perished.
The incisors, which are found only in the upper jaw, form a conspicuous feature of the Elephant, and are well known by the name of tusks. They project with an outward and upward curve, are round, and terminate in a blunt point; they con- tinue to grow as long as the animal lives, but the
