endants, are all consumed in turn. The stems of the
plaintain, the stalks of the sugar-cane, and the feathery tops of the
bamboos, are irresistible luxuries. Pine-apples, water-melons, and
fruits of every description, are voraciously devoured, and a coco-nut
when found is first rolled under foot to detach it from the husk and
fibre, and then raised in his trunk and crushed, almost without an
effort, by his ponderous jaws.

The grasses are not found in sufficient quantity to be an item of daily
fodder; the Mauritius or the Guinea grass is seized with avidity; lemon
grass is rejected from its overpowering perfume, but rice in the straw,
and every description of grain, whether growing or dry; gram (_Cicer
arietinum_), Indian Corn, and millet are his natural food. Of such of
these as can be found, it is the duty of the leaf-cutters, when in the
jungle and on march, to provide a daily supply.]

The fallacy of the supposed reluctance of the elephant to breed in
captivity has been demonstrated by many recent authorities; but with the
exception of the birth of young elephants at Rome, as mentioned by
AELIAN, the only instances that I am aware of their actually producing
young under such circumstances, took place in Ceylon. Both parents had
been for several years attached to the stud of the Commissioner of
Roads, and in 1844 the female, whilst engaged in dragging a waggon, gave
birth to a still-born calf. Some years before, an elephant that had been
captured by Mr. Cripps, dropped a female calf, which he succeeded in
rearing. As usual, the little one became the pet of the keepers; but as
it increased in growth, it exhibited the utmost violence when thwarted;
striking out with its hind-feet, throwing itself headlong on the ground,
and pressing its trunk against any opposing object.

The duration of life in the elephant has been from the remotest times a
matter of uncertainty and speculation. Aristotle says it was reputed to
live from two to three hundred years[1], and modern zoologists have
assigned to it an age very little less; CUVIER[2] allots two hundred and
DE BLAINVILLE one hundred and twenty. The only attempt which I know of
to establish a period historically or physiologically is that of
FLEURENS, who has advanced an ingenious theory on the subject in his
treatise "_De la Longevite Humaine_." He assumes the sum total of life
in all animals to be equivalent to five times the number of years
requisite to perfect their gro