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 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 Æthiopia, they are employed as door-posts for houses.
CHAPTER V.
THE LION.
I think that I ought here to make some further mention of Aristotle, seeing that upon these subjects, I intend, in a great measure, to make him my guide. Alexander the Great, filled with a strong desire to become acquainted with the natures of animals, entrusted the prosecution of this design to Aristotle, a man who held the highest rank in every branch of learning; for which purpose he placed under his command some thousands of men in every region of Asia and Greece, comprising all those who followed the business of hunting, fowling, or fishing, or who had the care of parks, herds of cattle, the breeding of bees, fish-ponds, and aviaries, in order that no creature that was known to exist might escape his notice. By means of the information which he obtained from these persons, he was enabled to compose some fifty volumes, which are deservedly esteemed, on the subject of animals; of these I purpose to give an epitome, together with other facts with which Aristotle was unacquainted; and I beg the kind indulgence of my readers in their estimate of this work of mine, as by my aid they hastily travel through all the works of nature, and through the midst of subjects with which that most famous of all kings so ardently desired to be acquainted.
It is a remarkable fact, that pards, panthers, lions, and other animals of this kind have retractile claws, so that they can walk with the points of their nails concealed in a sheath in the paw, thus preventing them from becoming broken or blunted.
The noble appearance of the lion is especially to be seen in the male, who has the neck and shoulders covered with a mane.
The lion is the only one of all the wild beasts that shows mercy to the suppliant; after it has conquered, it will spare, and when enraged, it will vent its fury rather upon men than women, and never upon children, unless when greatly pressed by hunger. It is the belief in Libya, that it fully understands the entreaties which are addressed to it. At all events, I have heard it asserted as a fact, that a female slave, who was returning from Gætulia, was attacked by a number of lions in the forests; upon which she summoned sufficient courage to address them, and said that she was a woman, a fugitive, helpless creature, that she implored the compassion of the most generous of animals, the one that has the command of all the others, and that she was a prey unworthy of their high repute—and by these means effectually soothed their ferocity.[89] There are various opinions on this point, as to whether it is through some peculiar disposition of the animals, or merely by accident, that their fury is thus soothed by addressing them. As to what is alleged, too, about serpents, that they can be drawn from their holes by singing, and thus be made to yield themselves up to death, the truth or falsity of it has not by any means been satisfactorily ascertained.
