Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/143

Rh forty thousand. It is of a lengthened, nearly cylindrical form, pierced through its whole length with two tubes which are the prolongations of the nostrils. "On the upper side of the extremity, immediately above the partition of the nostrils, is an elongated process, which may be considered as a finger; and on the under edge is a sort of tubercle, which acts as an opposible point; in short, as a thumb. Endowed with exquisite sensibility, nearly eight feet in length, and stout in proportion to the massive size of the whole animal, this organ, at the volition of the Elephant, will uproot trees or gather grass, raise a piece of artillery or pick up a comfit, kill a man

ELEPHANT'S HEAD.

or brush off a fly. It conveys the food to the mouth, and pumps up the enormous draughts of water, which by its recurvature are turned into and driven down the capacious throat, or showered over the body. Its length supplies the place