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Show 1880.] MR. SCLATER ON THE BIRTH OF AN ELEPHANT. 223 " I send you with pleasure some measurements of the baby Elephant. The height and weight were taken an hour after birth, the others three days later. I have doubts of the accuracy of the weight, as it does not seem to m e possible that it can weigh so much. There are several other measurements I wanted; but the young one was very uneasy, and the mother did not like the operation; so it was by no means an easy task to get any. Weight 2131b. Height at shoulder 341 inches Length of forearm and manus 16 „ „ hind limb 30 „ „ lower leg and pes 16^ „ Girth at thorax 45 „ abdomen 49 }> „ forefoot 17 „ Length of trunk 12 „ Girth at base of trunk 9 Length of tail 20 Width between eyes 8| " DTihset aynocuen bg eotnwee ewna sa rutipc aulnadt iwoanlsk iofng j aawb,o uatc rvoesrsy .s.h or2tl6y after birth, has teeth in both jaws, and sucks with the mouth. The m a m m a of the mother when distended projects somewhat laterally; so that the trunk of the young one is thrown up, and rests, while sucking, in the angle between the shoulder and thorax. " Father and mother are each about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and about the same size, some eight feet high, I should say. " The proportions of the young one, to the eye, are nearly those of the adult; it is somewhat darker in colour; and the hairs are rather more plentiful about the forehead and shoulders. The mother shows much attachment for it. "They have another female, which is undoubtedly with young by the same male-a further support of the theory that the reproductive faculties of the male, under domestication, are affected to a greater extent, or more commonly, than those of the female. "The period of gestation in this case was just 629 days, from June 20, 1878, to March 10, 1880; she took the male some five or six times during several days. " I see no reason now to doubt that they will successfully rear it. The show will be here for a month yet; and I shall watch the young EleTphhea nfto lwliotwhi nmg upcahp eirnst ewreerste. "r ead :- PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1880, No. XV. 15 |