Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/911

* ELEPHANT BEETLE. 791 ELEPHANT SEAL. specimens are partly bare. Another species, Mcgasoiiia actcoii, of Nicaragua, is as large or larger, and its fur varies from chestnut on the horn to yellow on the elytra. ELEPHANT FISH or SHARK. A name fill- the c-liim.era i q.v. ) . EL EPHANTI'ASIS (Lat., from Gk. i€av- rioffis, from eXfV'as, clephas. elephant, so called because the skin becomes wrinkled like the hide of an elephant). A medical term applied to any marked hypertrophy of the skin and areolar tissues, though generally used to designate a disease accompanied by u;dema and progjessive hypertrophy of the cutaneous and areolar tissues. There are two diseases called by the name. One is the elephantiasis of the Greeks, which is re- garded as the same as the Eastern leprosy and as the spedalskhed of Xorway, and the chief features of which are described in llie article Leprosy. In this afl'ection the size of tiie limbs and the state of the epidermis are comparatively slightly altered. The other is the elephantiasis of the Arabs, identical with the Barbados leg (q.v.) of the East and West Indies and the Levant, where it is endemic. After headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, the leg, or arm, or scrotum becomes inflamed, swollen, and tender ; bulhc may form and burst, exuding servim. In a few hours or a few days the attack ends. But others fol- low, and the affected part becomes larger and larger, each attack leaving it greater in size. The scalp, face, or female genitals may become enlarged, as well as any part of the body ; but the leg is the most often affected. Hanson, in 1883, established the fact that endemic elephanti- asis is due to the presence in the lymphatics of a parasitic worm called filaria. Turner, of Samoa experience, believes some cases are due to malarial infection. Rest in bed, with elevation of the affected part, elastic bandaging, massage, galvanism, palliate some cases; change of climate and quinine cure a few; amputation may be necessary in some instances. EL'SPHANTirNE ( Lat.. from Gk,'E€0a.^i«;1. The Greek name of an island in the Xile, just be low the first cataract and opposite Assuan (q.v.), the ancient Syene. From very ancient times the island was a trading-post whither the Nubians brought ivory and other wares for barter with the Egyptians ; from this cir- cumstance it derives its Egj'ptian name, 'Ahu, 'ivory town,' of which the (ireck name is a trans- lation. It is called by the Arabs Jc^'irat Asivuii. 'the island of Assuan.' or simply El-.Jezireh. 'the island.' The whole southern end of the island is covered with rubbish-heaps which have accumu- lated over the ruins of the ancient city. Near by are the foundations of a small temple built by the Emperor Trajan, and a granite gateway on which are sculptures representing .Iexander. son of Alexander the Great, making offerings to the gods of Elephantine, and e>pecially to the rara- headed god Knuni. Farther north stood a temple built by Amenophis III., and another built by Thothmes III. Both existed in a fine state of preservation until 1822. when they were demolished for the sake of the building material they contained. The most interesting relic re- maining upon the island is the Xilometer (q.v.), of which a description i^ L'ivcn by Strabo. It was restored and placed in ii'^e in 1X70 by the Khedive Ismail Pasha. Consult: ChampoUion, Xotices dcucriptivcs (Paris, 1844) ; JIariette, Moiiu- mtnts of Upper Egypt (London, 1887) ; Edwards, .1 riioiisniid MiluyCiJ the MIc (l-ondon. ISSS). ELEPHANT SEAL, or SEA-ELEPHANT. The largest species { .Uaerorhiniis Iconinus) of the hair-seal family Phocida-, an inhabitant of the seas of the Southern Hemisphere. It is consider- ably larger than an elephant, being sometimes more than 20 feet in length, with a circumference of about 12 feet at the thickest part, which is at the chest, immediately behind the fore lli])pers; the body tapers toward the tail. The females are only one-half or one-third the bulk of the males. The color is grayisli or blackish brown. The whole body is covered with very short hair, distributed in patches, giving it a spotted appear- ance somewhat like watered silk. The head is larger in proportion than in many seals; the eyes are very large and prominent, with eyebrows of coarse hair; the whiskers are composed of very long and coarse spirally twisted hairs; there arc no external ears; the canine teeth form mas- sive tusks. The nose of the males is very remark- able, being prolonged into a kind of i)roboseis about a foot in length, which, however, seems to serve no purpose whatever analogous to that of an elephant's trunk, but ordinarily hangs flaccid on the face. During the breeding season the males have furious combats, the victor winning for himself a whole herd of females. When the proboscis is dilated the voice of the sea-elephant, which usually is like the lowing of an ox, is com- pletely changed, and becomes a loud and extraor- dinary gurgling. See Colored Plate of Seals. Sea-elephants were to be found, at the begin- ning of the nineteenth century, in immense herds on the coasts of Kerguelcn's Land. Juan Fernan- dez, South Georgia, the States Islands. .South Shetland, the Falkland Islands, and the south- ern extremity of South America ; but their num- bers have been greatly reduced, and they are practically extinct in the region about Cape Horn and other easily accessible haunts. They migrate southward at the beginning of sununer, and northward at the approach of winter, thus avoid- ing the extremes of heat and cold. A single in- dividual sometimes yields 20 gallons of excellent oil, which burns slowly, with a clear flame and without smoke or disagreeable odor. For this oil these animals have been hunted until now they are much reduced in numbers. Cuttle- fish and other cephalopods seem to be their prin- cipal food ; but remains of marine plants have also been found in the stomach. The skin is not at all valued on account of its fur. bil its thick- ness and strength make it very useful for harness- making and similar purposes. The flesh is black, oily, and indigestible, the tongue alone (salted) being esteemed palatable. An allied species, the northern sca-elcphant {Macrorhinus angustiroatris), v:fi formerly com- mim on the coasts of Lower California, but is now practically extinct. It differed very little from the southern species. Early descriptions of the elephant seal, in the voyages of Cook. Peron, Anson, and others, were tinned with much romance. A good modern and critical account of the animals, as observed on Kerguelen and neighboring islands, will be found in Sloselev. Notes by a Xntiiralist on the Chal- lenger (London. 1870). For the history and characteristics of the Californian species, consult Scammon, in Fishery Industries (L'nited States