ELEPHANT (As. cipend. OF. olifant, en fant, Lat. clop/as. from (;k. :\ercbas, possibly from el, Arm. e.;, horn + -upas, -cTlts, La t.
char, ivory. from Egypt. nba. (lb, Copt. cdots, elephant I. An ungulate(' mammal of the suborder Proboscidea and family represent ing by two species the largest existing land ani mals. The ordinary height at the shoulder is about S feet. but oucasionally exceeds 10 feet, and has been known in one case, in Ceylon. to reach 12 feet. The weight of a large elephant is about five tons. the liotly being very bulky in proportion to its height. To sustain this weight, it is furnished with limbs of colossal thickness and strength, which are also remarkably straight, each bone resting vertically on that beneath it. Lu ling down, the elephant does not bring his hind legs under him, like other quadrupeds, but extends them backward as a man do •s when klieeling. 'Flue elephant's pace, when exceeding a walk, is neither a trot nor a gallop, lint a sort the speed of which is increased or diminished without change of gait.
STitucruar.. The head in elephants is large; the neck is short and thick, the long flexible pro boscis enabling the animal readily to reach ob jects on the ground or at a height or distance of several feet. A great extent of bony surface in the head affords attachment for muscles destined to move and give power to the pro boscis or trunk, '.et the head is light in propor tion to its bulk. as a great space separates the internal and external tables of all the bones of the skull. except the occipital bones. so that the brain-chamber is but a small part of the \Omit. head. The space between the tables of the bones is occupied by cells, some of which are 4 Or 5 inches in length, which connect with each other and are filled with air, making the vast skull comparatively light.