ELEMI, an oleo-resin (Manilla elemi) obtained in the Philippine Islands, probably from Canarium commune (nat. ord. Burseraceae), which when fresh and of good quality is a pale yellow granular substance, of honey-like consistency, but which gradually hardens with age. It is soluble in alcohol and ether, and has a spicy taste with a smell like fennel. In the 17th and 18th centuries the term elemi usually denoted an oleo-resin (American or Brazilian elemi) obtained from trees of the genus Icica in Brazil, and still earlier it meant oriental or African elemi, derived from Boswellia Frereana, which flourishes in the neighbourhood of Cape Gardafui. The word, like the older term animi, appears to have been derived from enhaemon (Gr. ἔναιμον), the name of a styptic medicine said by Pliny to contain tears exuded by the olive tree of Arabia.
ELEPHANT, the designation of the two existing representatives of the Proboscidea, a sub-order of ungulate mammals, and also extended to include their more immediate extinct relatives. As the distinctive characteristics of the sub-order, and also of the single existing genus Elephas, are given in the article [Proboscidea], it will suffice to point out how the two existing species are distinguished from one another.
The more specialized of the two species is the Indian or Asiatic elephant, Elephas maximus, specially characterized by the extreme complexity of the structure of its molar teeth, which are composed of a great number of tall and thin plates of enamel and dentine, with the intervals filled by cement (see [Proboscidea], fig. 1). The average number of plates of the six successive molar teeth may be expressed by the “ridge-formula” 4, 8, 12, 12, 16, 24. The plates are compressed from before backwards, the anterior and posterior surfaces (as seen in the worn grinding face of the tooth) being nearly parallel. Ears of moderate size. Upper margin of the end of the proboscis developed into a distinct finger-like process, much longer than the lower margins, and the whole trunk uniformly tapering and smooth. Five nails on the fore-feet, and four (occasionally five) on the hind-feet.
The Asiatic elephant inhabits the forest-lands of India, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Cochin China, Ceylon and Sumatra. Elephants from the last-named islands present some variations from those of the mainland, and have been separated under the names of E. zeylonicus and E. sumatranus, but they are not more than local races, and the Ceylon animal, which is generally tuskless, may be the typical E. maximus, in which case the Indian race will be E. maximus indicus. The appearance of the Asiatic elephant is familiar to all. In the wild state it is gregarious, associating in herds of ten, twenty or more individuals, and, though it may under certain circumstances become dangerous, it is generally inoffensive and even timid, fond of shade and solitude and the neighbourhood of water. The height of the male at the shoulder when full grown is usually from 8 to 10 ft., occasionally as much as 11, and possibly even more. The female is somewhat smaller.
The following epitome of the habits of the Asiatic elephants is extracted from Great and Small Game of India and Tibet, by R. Lydekker:—
| Fig. 1. Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus). |
“The structure of the teeth is sufficient to indicate that the food consists chiefly of grass, leaves, succulent shoots and fruits; and this has been found by observation to be actually the case. In this respect the Asiatic species differs very widely from its African relative, whose nutriment is largely composed of boughs and roots. Another difference between the two animals is to be found in the great intolerance of the direct rays of the sun displayed by the Asiatic species, which never voluntarily exposes itself to their influence. Consequently, during the hot season in Upper India, and at all times except during the rains in the more southern districts, elephants keep much to the denser parts of the forests. In Southern India they delight in hill-forest, where the undergrowth is largely formed of bamboo, the tender shoots of which form a favourite delicacy; but during the rains they venture out to feed on the open grass tracts. Water is everywhere essential to their well-being; and no animals delight more thoroughly in a bath. Nor are they afraid to venture out of their depth, being excellent swimmers, and able, by means of their trunks, to breathe without difficulty when the entire body is submerged. The herds, which are led by females, appear in general to be family parties; and although commonly restricted to from thirty to fifty, may occasionally include as many as one hundred head. The old bulls are very generally solitary for a considerable portion of the year, but return to the herds during the pairing season. Some ‘rogue’ elephants—gunda of the natives—remain, however, permanently separated from the rest of their kind. All such solitary bulls, as their colloquial name indicates, are of a spiteful disposition; and it appears that with the majority the inducement to live apart is due to their partiality for cultivated crops, into which the more timid females are afraid to venture. ‘Must’ elephants are males in a condition of—probably sexual—excitement, when an abundant discharge of dark oily matter exudes from two pores in the forehead. In addition to various sounds produced at other times, an elephant when about to charge gives vent to a shrill loud ‘trumpet’; and on such occasions rushes on its adversary with its trunk safely rolled up out of danger, endeavouring either to pin him to the ground with its tusks (if a male tusker) or to trample him to death beneath its ponderous knees or feet.”
Exact information in regard to the period of gestation of the female is still lacking, the length of the period being given from eighteen to twenty-two months by different authorities. The native idea, which may be true, is that the shorter period occurs in the case of female and the longer in that of male calves. In India elephants seldom breed in captivity, though they do so more frequently in Burma and Siam; the domesticated stock is therefore replenished by fresh captures. Occasionally two calves are produced at a birth, although the normal number is one. Calves suckle with their mouths and not with their trunks. Unlike the African species, the Indian elephant charges with its trunk curled up, and consequently in silence.
| Fig. 2.—Immature African Elephant (Elephas africanus). |