Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/530

 522 ELEPHANTA ELEPHANTIASIS tens; indeed their bones and teeth have been found side by side in the marshy alluvium of Big Bone Lick, and the two animals must have been exterminated together. ELEPHANTA, or Garapori, a small island of British India, on the E. side of Bombay har- bor, about 5 m. from the mainland; lat. 18 57' N., Ion. 73 E. ; circumference about 5 m. It consists of two hills with a valley between them. It is much overgrown with wood, but diversified with some rice fields and pastures. The inhabitants, about 100 in number, are en- gaged in rearing sheep and poultry for the Bombay market. The usual landing place is on the S. coast, about 250 yards from which, rudely cut from an isolated black rock, was the figure of an elephant 13 ft. long, now fallen to decay, from which the European name of the island is derived. Further inland, about half way up the N. side of a hill, is a remark- able cave temple of unknown antiquity, which Triad Figure, interior of Temple at Elephanta. has long been deserted by its priests, and is now frequented only by married women pray- ing for fecundity. The spacious entrance, 60 ft. wide and 18 ft. high, is supported by two massive pillars and two pilasters, being thus divided into three passageways. The interior breadth of the cavern is 123 ft., and its length, presenting a seemingly endless vista of huge columns cut from the living rock, some of them broken by the Portuguese, who formerly pos- sessed the island, is about 130 ft. The roof is generally flat, though not a perfect plane. The sides are excavated into compartments, all filled with mythological sculptures. Opposite to the main entrance there is a bust supposed to represent the Hindoo trinity, Brahma, Vish- nu, and Siva. The heads are 6 ft. long an4 well cut. The head dresses are curiously or- namented, and among other symbols a human skull and a young infant are represented on that of Siva, who also holds in his hand a cobra de capello. Several other figures of Siva, one of the four-faced Brahma, and one of the double deity, half male, half female, called Viraj, formed by the union of Siva with Parvati, are also to be seen. There are two smaller exca- vations on the E. and W. slopes of the hill, similar to the great temple, and filled with representations of Hindoo deities. But what is most remarkable is, that although most of the subjects of these sculptures are evidently Brahmanical, and the temples were probably dedicated to Siva, there is at least one figure which appears to be that of Buddha. No record of the origin of the shrines can be found. The general opinion of Europeans who have examined them is that they date after the birth of Christ, perhaps as late as the 9th or 10th century. ELEPHAJTTIASIS. Under this common name two entirely different diseases are compre- hended : E. Arabum, elephant leg, or Bar- badoes leg ; and E. Grcecorum, elephant skin, or tubercular ele- phantiasis. I. Ele- phantiasis Arabum was described by Rhazes in the 9th cen- tury ; it prevails ex- tensively in Barbadoes, and is common in Demerara, Cayenne, and Brazil, in the S. W. part of the island of Ceylon, and on the Malabar coast in In- dia ; it is sometimes found in Castile and the Asturias in Spain, and occasional spora- dic cases are met with throughout Europe and America. Not- withstanding its name, the disease is not con- fined to the leg, but may attack almost any part of the body. The attack is ushered in by marked rigor, headache, pain in the back and limbs, followed by heat of the skin, alterna- ting with profuse perspiration, and attended with burning thirst ; at the same time some part of the body becomes red and swollen, hot and painful, particularly along the tract of the lymphatic vessels. In a few days the symp- toms, both general and local, subside, with the exception that the affected part remains more or less swollen. At irregular intervals similar paroxysms recur, the affected part being each time left more swollen and indurated ; as the enlargement increases, the skin often becomes rough, covered with scales, and fissured. The disease is usually confined to one part of the body, though occasionally both legs are af- fected. The affected parts often attain an enormous size. The causes of Barbadoes leg are not understood ; its occurrence in particu-