re no real grounds for such a change, and
that the genus Elephas is amply sufficient for both species.

The enormous ears of the African elephant are not without their use to
the hunter, who finds in them an invaluable aid in repairing damages
to his wagons and guns. Even if a gun-stock be smashed,--an accident
which is of no very unfrequent occurrence in South African hunting,--a
large piece of elephant's ear, put on while fresh and wet, and allowed
to dry in the sun, sets matters right again, and binds the fragments
together as if they were enclosed in iron. Sometimes the ear seems to
be a protection to the animal; for it is so tough and strong, despite
its pliability, that the hunter will occasionally find several bullets
lodged in the ear, which have not been able to penetrate through a
substance at once tough and flexible.

This species is of a thirsty nature, so that wherever elephant paths
are seen, the hunter knows that he is not very far from water of some
kind. And as elephants have a fashion of travelling in Indian file, it
is easy enough to trace their footsteps, and so to find the water. The
animals go to drink in the evening, as do many other wild beasts, and
the quantity which they consume is enormous. They go close to the
water's edge, insert the end of the trunk into the liquid, draw it up
until the two nostril-tubes are full, turn the end of the trunk into
the mouth, and then discharge the contents into the stomach. When
satiated, they amuse themselves for a while by blowing water all over
their bodies, and then retrace their steps to the forest glades whence
they came.

The enormous quantity of water which they carry home within them has a
rather curious effect. At tolerably regular intervals a loud, rumbling
sound is heard, much resembling the "glug-glug" produced by pouring
wine out of a bottle, and lasting a few seconds. Were it not for this
phenomenon, the hunters would meet with far less success than at
present is the case. When hiding from a foe, the elephant can remain
motionless, so that not a cracking stick nor a rustling leaf betrays
its presence. But it cannot prevent this periodical rumbling; and
accordingly, when a hunter is in the bush after elephants, he sits
down every few minutes, and waits, in order to catch the sound which
tells him that elephants are near. Even in the semi-domesticated
specimens at the London Zooelogical Gardens, this sound is easily to be
heard.

The African