. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon; with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. including a monograph of the elephant ... Zoology; Elephants. 122 MAMMALIA. [Chap. in. the water with his trunk without disturbing the sur- rounding I have reason to believe, although the fact has not been authoritatively stated by naturalists, that the stomach of the elephant will be found to include a section analogous to that possessed by some of the ruminants, calculated to contain a supply of water as a provis
. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon; with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. including a monograph of the elephant ... Zoology; Elephants. 122 MAMMALIA. [Chap. in. the water with his trunk without disturbing the sur- rounding I have reason to believe, although the fact has not been authoritatively stated by naturalists, that the stomach of the elephant will be found to include a section analogous to that possessed by some of the ruminants, calculated to contain a supply of water as a provision against emergencies. The fact of his being enabled to retain a quantity of water and discharge it at pleasure has been long known to every observer of the habits of the animal; but the proboscis has always been supposed to be " his water-reservoir,"' and the theory of an internal receptacle has not been discussed. The truth is that the anatomy of the elephant is even yet but imperfectly understood^, and, although some peculiarities of his ' Bkodekip's Zoological Beorea- tions, p. 259. i ' ]?or observing the osteology of the elephant, materials are of course abundant in the indestructible re- mains of the animal: but the study of the intestines, and the dissection of the softer parts by comparative anatomists in Europe, have been up to the present time beset by difficul- ties. These arise not alone from the rarity of subjects, but even in cases â where elephants have died in these countries, decomposition inter- poses, and before the thorough ex- amination of so vast a body can be satisfactorily completed, the great mass falls into putrefaction. The principal English authorities are An Anatomical Account of the Elephant accidentalli/ burnt in Dublin, by A. MotTiraux, 1696 ; which is probably a reprint of a letter on the same subject in the library of Trinity College, Dub- lin, addressed by A. Moulin, to Sir Wiaiam Petty, Lond. 1682. There are also some papers
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