ment. In the horse it is long and strong; and the admirable thing is, the accurate adjustment of the elasticity of this ligament to the weight and position of the head: the head is nicely balanced by it, as on a steelyard. With this circumstance in our mind, let us observe the peculiar form of the elephant. 1. As in treating of the boar, we begin again by observing the teeth. Now, one grinder tooth of the elephant weighs seventeen pounds;* and of these there are four in the skull, besides the rudiments of others. 2. We next observe how admirably these teeth are suited to sustain great pressure and attrition. 3. The jaws must be constructed of a sufficient size, not only to afford a deep socketing to the teeth, but to give lodgment to muscles strong enough to move this large grinding machine. 4. The animal must be provided for its defence too. Now each of the tusks sometimes weighs as much as one hundred and thirteen pounds and projecting as they do, they may be considered as placed at the extremity of a long lever. 5. If : this enormous and heavy head had hung on the end of a neck of anything like the proportions in the horse, the pressure on the anterior extremities would have been inordinate; and more than four times the expenditure of muscular power would have been necessary to the motion of the head. 6. What has been the resource of nature? There are seven vertebræ of the neck in this animal (the same number that we count in the * The natural tooth weighed seventeen pounds, the fossil tooth sixteenand-a-half pounds. giraffe); but these bones are compressed into a small space in a very remarkable manner; and thus the head is brought close upon the body, so as to appear a part of the body, without the interposition of any neck. 7. But the animal must feed: and since its head, owing to the short neck, cannot reach the ground, it must possess an instrument, like a hand, in the proboscis— to minister to the mouth, to grasp the herbage, and lift it to its lips.* Thus we perceive that the conformation of the elephant, as regards the peculiar character of his figure, in the shoulders and head, in the closeness of the head to the body, in the possession of the proboscis, and the defence of that proboscis by the projecting tusks,-is a necessary adaptation to the great weight of the head, and, indeed, of the general large size of the animal. We may carry the inquiry a little further, to the effect of elucidating a very curious part of natural history. The Mastodon is the name of an extinct animal, which must have been nearly of the same size as the elephant. It has received that name from the early familiarity of naturalists with the teeth; which have upon their surfaces of contact mamillary-shaped projections. It was supposed, at one time, that these teeth belonged to a carnivorous animal. But a portion of the upper jaw, with the teeth preserved in it, being found, it admitted of this course of reasoning :-In the superior maxillary bone of all vertebrated animals, there is a hole for transmitting a branch of the fifth nerve which goes to the upper lip ;† when, however, as in the elephant, a great proboscis is added to the lip, it follows that, as that organ possesses its sensibility through the same branch of the fifth, not only will the nerve itself be proportionably large, but the hole through which it is transmitted, will be increased in diameter. Accordingly, when a fragment of the upper jaw-bone in which that hole is preserved is found, we can infer from the greater size of the orifice, that the nerve supplied more than a mere upper lip-that, as in the case of the mastodon, the animal had a proboscis, and was a species of elephant. Let us consider the principle in another light. How are the Anguimanus, was a name given to the elephant by Lucretius :- neck and head of an animal accommodated to feeding, when the neck is short, and there is no proboscis? The elk is a strange, uncouth animal-principally from the setting on of its head. The weight of the horns is enormous: and if the head and horns were placed at the extremity of an elongated neck, it would be preposterous; they would, in fact, overbalance the body. It is for that reason, we presume, that the head is so curiously approximated to the trunk. We observe, in the next place, a want of relation between the fore-legs and the neckthat the legs are of great length, while the neck is extremely short. Now it is interesting to find that the animal does not browse upon the herbage at its feet; it feeds off the sides of the rocks! A very remarkable proof of the incapacity of this animal to feed in the common way, was afforded by an accident which befell a fine male specimen confined in the Zoological Gardens. To reach the ground, on which his food was unintentionally scattered, he had to extend out his fore-legs laterally; in this position his foot slipped, he dislocated his shoulder, and died of the accident. Contrasted in a most remarkable manner with the elk, we have the giraffe. The giraffe feeds upon the branches of lofty trees; and the whole constitution and form of the animal are provided to enable it to reach high-the fore-legs are long, the neck still longer, the head is remarkably small and light, and the tongue has a power of elongation which no other quadruped possesses. The tongue, indeed, is not inaptly compared with the trunk of the elephant; it can be extended seventeen inches; it can be twisted about so as to resemble a long black worm; and it is used with extraordinary dexterity, in picking up a straw, as "well as pulling down a branch. The relative proportions of the skeleton of the giraffe are full of interest, as showing the accommodation in the structure to the necessities of the animal. And, first, of the head: if we have the skull of the giraffe before us, and compare it with that of the camel or horse, we shall be struck with the delicacy of the bony textures of the former, with its being cellular, thin, and light as a paper case. Now, can there be anything more obvious than that this lightness of texture is provided in consequence of the extraordinary length of the neck? Had the skull of the giraffe been as strong and heavy as that of the horse or camel, it would have preponderated too much at the extremity of such a neck. Secondly, as to the spine: there is an accommodation in the form and position of this part also. In most quadrupeds, the spine lies horizontally: but if the bones had been so placed in the giraffe, the whole weight of the shoulders, neck, and head would have been thrown on the anterior extremities. This, however, is prevented by the anterior extremities being much longer than the posterior: whence it results that the trunk is placed in an oblique, or semi-erect position; and, accordingly, a portion of the weight of the neck and head, parts which in other creatures are sustained altogether by the fore-legs, falls upon the hind-legs.* Thirdly, on looking to the ribs, we observe another peculiarity of form; which may be accounted for on the same consideration of the length, and consequent weight, of the neck and head. The chest is supported, of course, upon the anterior extremities: *The ligamentum nuchæ in this the spine, from the os sacrum to the animal extends the whole length of | skull. but the ribs in front, which rest upon the legs and bear the principal pressure, are of great comparative strength; while the posterior ones, by their delicacy, weakness, and mobility in breathing, present a singular contrast to them. In short, the fore part of the chest, which in a manner intervenes between the neck and anterior extremities, requires its compages to be particularly firm and strong, for supporting the superincumbent weight: while the motions of respiration are performed chiefly by the posterior ribs. Although the proportions between the neck and the legs, in this creature, may seem to be duly preserved, yet he is not suited to browse the grass: his proper food is the leaves on the high branches of trees. In attempting to reach the ground with his mouth, his limbs appear to be in danger of suffering dislocation; he extends his feet laterally, elevates the scapulæ, draws in the crupper, and stretches the neck, so as to present a very ludicrous figure. Camel and Hippopotamus. We have here a sketch of the skeletons of the hippopotamus and of the camel, as they stood accidentally contrasted in the |