molar is reduced to minute dimensions by the
wearing down of its surface, and by the absorption
of its fangs, while it is almost pushed out by the
advance of the second. Of this about two-thirds
of the surface are partially ground away, while the
posterior laminæ are not yet perfected. Behind
this is the germ of its successor, as yet inclosed in
its membranous capsule, and lodged in the cavity
of the jaw.
Two species of Elephant are at present existing; and one is found in a fossil state. Of the former, one is confined to the two peninsulas of India, and the great adjacent islands; the other is spread over the expanse of Africa, from the Desert to the Cape of Good Hope. The specific distinctions are not very conspicuous. The head of the Asiatic species (Elephas Indicus, Cuv.) 1s oblong, with the forehead concave: the ears are comparatively small, or at least of moderate size; the laminæ on the crowns of the molar teeth present the appearance of transverse parallel ribands with wavy edges; and the hind feet have four hoofs. The Elephant of Africa (£. Africanus, Cuv.) has a rounder head with a convex forehead; ears so large as to cover the whole shoulder; the laminæ of the teeth present lozenge forms; there are but three hoofs to each hind foot; and the tusks are usually larger than in the former.
The Indian Elephant rarely exceeds ten feet in height: the East India Company’s standard for serviceable elephants is seven feet and upwards at the shoulder. Those from Pegu and Siam are much larger than those of Hindostan: and the skeleton of one, in the Museum at St. Petersburgh, measures sixteen feet and a half.
