aristotle says that the elephant lives to the age of two hundred years, and in some instances the extraordinary age of three hundred years has been attained. the elephant is in his prime at his sixtieth year. they are especially fond of water, and wander much about streams, although they are unable to swim, in consequence of their bulk.[88] they are particularly sensitive to cold, which is really their greatest enemy. the trunks and foliage of trees are their favorite 70 food. they throw down with a blow from their forehead, palms of exceedingly great height, and strip them of their fruit.
they eat with the mouth, but they breathe and smell with the proboscis which is not unaptly termed their “hand.” this they use as a drinking cup, for they suck the fluid into the cavity of the trunk, and bend the trunk into the mouth, where the water is received and swallowed in the usual manner. they have the greatest aversion to the mouse of all animals, and quite loathe their food, as it lies in the manger, if they perceive that it has been touched by one of these. they experience the greatest torture if they happen to swallow, while drinking, a horseleech, an animal which people are beginning, i find, to call almost universally a “blood-sucker.” the leech fastens upon the wind-pipe, and produces intolerable pain.
the skin of the back is extremely hard, that of the belly is softer. they are not covered with any kind of bristles, nor does the slender tail furnish them with any protection from the annoyance of flies; for vast as these animals are, they suffer greatly from them. their skin is reticulated, and invites these insects by the odor it exhales. however, when a swarm of flies has settled on the skin, while it is extended and smooth, the elephant suddenly contracts it; and, in this way, the flies are crushed between the folds which are thus closed. this power serves them in place of tail, mane, and hair.
luxury has discovered a curious recommendation in this animal, having found a particularly delicate flavor in the cartilaginous part of the trunk, for no other reason, in my belief, than because it fancies itself to be eating ivory. tusks of enormous size are constantly to be seen in the temples; and in the extreme parts of africa, on the confines of ?thiopia, they are employed as door-posts for houses.
