y. But if, as there seems
no reason to doubt, these delicate nervous processes traverse the tusk
by means of the numerous tubes already described, if attacked by caries
the pain occasioned to the elephant would be excruciating.

As to maintaining a stud of elephants for the purposes to which they are
now assigned in Ceylon, there may be a question on the score of prudence
and economy. In the rude and unopened parts of the country, where rivers
are to be forded, and forests are only traversed by jungle paths, their
labour is of value, in certain contingencies, in the conveyance of
stores, and in the earlier operations for the construction of fords and
rough bridges of timber. But in more highly civilised districts, and
wherever macadamised roads admit of the employment of horses and oxen
for draught, I apprehend that the services of elephants might, with
advantage, be gradually reduced, if not altogether dispensed with.

The love of the elephant for coolness and shade renders him at all times
more or less impatient of work in the sun, and every moment of leisure
he can snatch is employed in covering his back with dust, or fanning
himself to diminish the annoyance of the insects and heat. From the
tenderness of his skin and its liability to sores, the labour in which
he can most advantageously be employed is that of draught; but the
reluctance of horses to meet or pass elephants renders it difficult to
work the latter with safety on frequented roads. Besides, were the full
load which an elephant is capable of drawing, in proportion to his
muscular strength, to be placed upon waggons of corresponding dimension,
the to the roads would be such that the wear and tear of the highways
and bridges would prove too costly to be borne. On the other hand, by
restricting it to a somewhat more manageable quantity, and by limiting
the weight, as at present, to about _one ton and a half_, it is doubtful
whether an elephant performs so much more work than could be done by a
horse or by bullocks, as to compensate for the greater cost of his
feeding and attendance.

Add to this, that from accidents and other causes, from ulcerations of
the skin, and illnesses of many kinds, the elephant is so often
invalided, that the actual cost of his labour, when at work, is very
considerably enhanced. Exclusive of the salaries of higher officers
attached to the government establishments, and other permanent charges,
the expenses of an elephant, looki