' I looked immediately,
and saw about twenty of these fine animals, with their heads and trunks
just appearing above the water. Their bellowing it was which I had
heard, and which the water conveyed to us with a finer effect than if we
had been on shore." The Elephant can also eject from his trunk water and
dust, and his own saliva, over every part of his body, to cool its
heated surface; and he is said to grub up dust, and blow it over his
back and sides, to keep off the flies.
There are two Elephants in the Zoological Gardens. Both are of the
Asiatic species. The larger animal was purchased by the Society about
fifteen months since. It is probably about eleven years old, and is
still growing; and a register of its bulk at various periods has been
commenced. The smaller Elephant was presented to the Society by Sir
Edward Barnes, late governor of Ceylon. It has been stated to be a dwarf
variety, and that its age is not far short of that of the larger
individual; but this assertion is questionable. It is much more
consistent with our knowledge of the species to regard it, in the
absence of all previous knowledge of the history of the individual, as a
young one not exceeding four years old.
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