seems small. His neck is short and strong; and l ears are large and pendulous, or hanging down. The eye is small, but brilliant, and his sense of hearing is very acute. His skin is thick, of a dusky color, with a few hairs scattered over it.

4. The most remarkable organ in the elephant is the trunk, which, next to the human hand, is the most curious mechanical instrument in the whole animal kingdom. It is of a tapering form, and composed of several thousand minute muscles, which cross and interlace each other, so as to give it the power of stretching and contracting, of turning itself in every direc tion, and of feeling and grasping with a delicacy and strength altogether astonishing.

5. At the end of the trunk are two holes, which answer the purpose of nostrils. By these he can draw in water and eject it again; and the way he drinks is, to fill the trunk with water and discharge the contents into his mouth.

6. The extremity of the trunk, on the upper side, is formed into a sort of rounded lip, something like the finger of a hand, while the under side has a fleshy point, resembling a thumb; and so useful are these parts of the trunk, that the animal constantly uses them as a hand. By them he is enabled to pick up a pin from the floor, to draw the cork of a bottle, and perform many other similar feats. The trunk is also an instrument of tremendous strength; with it he can root up a tree, or strike a man dead by a single blow.

7. Next to the trunk, the most remarkable parts of the elephant are his tusks. These are sometimes from five to seven feet in length. They are much

larger in the male than in the female. The tusks are made of a substance called ivory, which is neither horn nor bone, but in some degree resembles both. Ivory is a valuable article of commerce, and many useful and ornamental things are made of it.

8. The elephant subsists entirely upon vegetable food, feeding upon grass, roots, and the branches of trees. Like most vegetable feeders, elephants are gre garious; that is, fond of living and moving together in herds. They delight to bathe in running streams.

9. In India they often invade cultivated fields in search of food, eating vast quantities of green sugarcanes, rice, banana, and other crops, and trampling down with their feet more than they consume. The people try to drive them away by loud cries and by waving torches.

10. From his size and strength, the elephant defies the attacks of all other animals. The fierce tiger is received upon his tusks, tossed into the air, and trampled under foot when he falls. Even the lion does not venture to assail this huge animal. But man, the lord of creation, subdues him to his will.

11. The elephant is hunted both in Africa and India, but for different objects. In Africa the aim is to kill him. His tusks are valuable, and the natives are fond of his flesh. It is also desirable to destroy these stupendous animals because they do so much damage to the crops.

12. Europeans sometimes pursue the elephant from mere love of the sport. He is shot with rifle balls or with poisoned arrows, or he is driven into a pit which has been previously dug. Sometimes a hunter comes up behind him, and cuts one of the tendons of his leg,

so that he cannot run; and then he is killed with

spears.

13. But in India the object is to capture and tame him, and make him work, like the horse or the ox. He is used for all purposes which require great strength. He piles wood, draws water, carries burdens, and, in time of war, drags cannons. He will carry as much as five camels, and will pull with ease what it would take ten horses to move.

14. He is very valuable as an article of merchandise. An ordinary one sells for about five hundred dollars; but if large, strong, and tractable, for four or five times as much. His food, which consists of grass, roots, rice, sugar-cane, and other vegetables, costs about twenty dollars a month.

15. The mode of taking and taming elephants is very curious. In the midst of some forest abounding with these animals, a large piece of ground is marked out, and surrounded with strong palisades, interwoven with large branches of trees; one end of this enclosure' is narrow, from which it opens gradually, so as to take in a considerable extent of country.

16. A very large party of men are employed, who place themselves in such a manner as to prevent the wild elephants from making their escape. They then kindle large fires, of which these animals are exceedingly afraid, and make, at the same time, a dreadful noise, with drums and other discordant instruments, to increase their terror.

17. Another large party, with the aid of tame elephants trained for the purpose, drive the wild ones slowly towards the entrance of the enclosure, the whole train of hunters closing in after them, shouting

and making loud noises, till they are driven, gradually into the narrow part, through which there is an opening into a smaller space, strongly fenced in, and guarded on all sides. As soon as one of the wild elephants enters this narrow passage, a strong bar closes it from behind, and he finds himself completely environed."

18. On the top of this passage some of the huntsme? stand with goads' in their hands, urging the anima forward to the end of the passage, where there is just room enough for him to go through. He is then received into the custody of two tame elephants, which stand on each side of him, and press him into the service. If he be likely to prove refractory," they begin to beat him with their trunks, till he is reduced to obedience, and suffers himself to be led to a tree, to which he is bound by the leg, with stout thongs made of untanned elk-skin.

19. The tame elephants are then led back to the enclosure, and other wild ones are brought to submission in the same manner. Attendants are placed by the side of each elephant thus caught and confined, who supply him, by little and little, with food, till he is gradually brought to be sensible of kindness and caresses. In the space of fourteen days his subjugation" is completed.'

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1 QUADRUPED. A four-footed animal. • FLEXIBILITY. Quality of being easily bent, pliancy.

8 CIRCUMFERENCE. Distance round any thing.

4 INTERLACE. Intermix, intermingle. 6 TRACTABLE. That may be easily taught, manageable.

6 PALISADES. Stakes driven into the

ground.

7 ENCLOSURE. Space enclosed.

8 ENVIRONED. Surrounded, shut in, enclosed.

GOAD. A pointed stick for driving beasts.

10 REFRACTORY. Obstinately disobedient, unruly.

11 SUBJUGATION. A bringing to obe dience, subjection, conquest.

12 COMPLETED. Finished, done.

1. THE elephant is one of the most sagacious and docile of animals, and shows a nearer approach to human intelligence than any other of the brute creation. On this account he has been called the "half-reasoning elephant."

2. In India, where elephants are taught to labor for the use of man, they often show a sort of reflecting power in their operations. They will pile boxes, or pieces of timber, in regular order, as a man would do. In dragging along a heavy beam, they will lift up the end of it, when any obstruction lies in the way, so that it , may be cleared. It has been said that they will unload themselves, and return for a new burden.

3. Many years ago, a female elephant appeared upon the stage in London. She marched in procession," knelt down at a given signal, placed the crown on the head of the true prince in the play, and at one point of the performance knelt with her hind legs, and máde an inclined plane with her back, and thus helped some of the actors to escape from a supposed prison. All this was done without being disturbed by the lights of the theatre, the music, or the applause of the audience.3

In ancient times, elephants were much used in