[1568] See end of B. iv.
[1569] See end of B. ii.
[1570] Cuvier remarks, that this account of its superior intelligence is exaggerated, it being no greater than that of the dog, if, indeed, equal to it. The opinion may perhaps have arisen from the dexterity with which the animal uses its trunk; but this is to be ascribed not to its own intelligence, but to the mechanical construction of the part. The Indians, from whom we may presume that Pliny derived his account, have always regarded the elephant with a kind of superstitious veneration.—B.
[1571] Some would read this “Amilo,” and others “Annulo.” Hardouin considers it the same with the river Valo, which is mentioned by Ptolemy, B. iv. c. 1, and said to have its rise in the mountains known as the Seven Brothers, and mentioned in B. v. c. 1.
[1572] “Præ se ferentes,” probably alluding to the use which the animal makes of its trunk in seizing and carrying bodies.—B.
[1573] “Alienæ religionis.” The meaning of this is doubtful. It may mean “differences in religion,” or “religious feeling in others,” or perhaps, to judge from the context, “the religious regard for their oath which others feel.”
[1574] “Veluti tellure precibus alligata,” one of the harsh metaphorical expressions occasionally occurring in Pliny, which it is very difficult to translate, and even perhaps fully to comprehend.—B.
[1575] “Nothi.”
[1576] Cuvier remarks, that there are two kinds of elephants, one of which attains sixteen feet, and is chiefly known in Cochin China and Tonquin, while those that are domesticated in India are seldom more than half that height. They are supposed, however, to be only varieties of the same species. Pliny, in B. vi. c. 22, gives an account of the uses which the Indians made of the elephant, and of their different sizes, but he does not state there that it is the smaller ones only that are employed in agriculture.—B.
[1577] Plutarch informs us, that Pompey had resolved to have his chariot drawn by four elephants, but finding the gate too narrow, he was obliged to use horses.—B.