Dear Old Jumbo

Since tito dealh of Jumbo various statements li;ivo been pnblished as to tho ex;ict staturo of that giant celphant. Tho lignros rango tram eleven feot to eleven íect aud a hnlf, bul whether the height gtven is that at tho shonldor does not appear. If at the shoulder thero is rcaS'duTu'lu1 lieve that hc was tho Jargcst land animal in tho world. Tho sizü of elophants is commonly overestiruated. Tlicir stature is always esaggerated in thoso countrios whcre tíiey are founcl wild. Even Euro))can travelers of scientilic traiiln% havo made notablo ruistakos n this respect. Africanelephants which Major Denham, ono of tho early explorcrs, sujpo.scd to bo 3xteeu f eet high proved to be Icss thau ten feet when killed. In Ceylon Ihe nativo elcphant, which was formurly thought to bo largor thau tho Afrioan animal, is rarely taller than nino toet; and Sir Emerson Tennent in his claborateil work on tho natural liislory of that island says that in tho district whero the liunters agi'ee that the lar'O3t specimens are to be found, "the tallest of ordinary herds do nol average more than eight feet." In India the game tendency to exaggeration oreTails. Dr. l'aleonor was authority for ftii statemont b.7 Prof. Austcd, more than a quaivr of a centuiy ago, that "out of eleven 'Iiiiulrnd elephants from which tho ttülast wero geleiited and meásured, with caro, on ono occasion in India, tuero was not one whosüheight equalled elevan feot" At the present day probably no one i's botter qualilied to speak wilh roforeuce to tlio ' s'ze of Iridian elephauts than Mr. G. P. Sanderson, the otlicer in chargo of the elephant-catehing establishment maintatnod by tho Hritish goverimicnt at IUsore. He does not believe th:vt tliuir is an clephant in India ten föot high at the shoulrter. He has mcasurod a great niany, and the tallost v;is nitie feet and tea inches. "Tho next l.irgesb ;ir.! Uvo tnskera belongin's; to lïfs llighneís Iliê ] 1 :i I nj ah of Mysorc, eacli nine fcii clht iuchos. captorocl in Mysore soruo fortyyearj ao, und stül alivo." Mr. Sandersou, u )i!s vopy entortainmj; work on tho wild beasts ot India, siiys üuittwice round an elephant's toot is bis height. within one or two inchos. Generally this moasuremeat will give tho exact stature, bat wheu persotu anfamilia wilhclcph;iuts are asked to guess how niany times the eircumteronyc of tho foot must bo multiplied to ascertain how tall the animal is, they say fr u ton to lit'tiïcn times. Not oniy may wo reasonably conelude that JuiuIjo was tho largost lamí animal in the WOrld, or, at all evonts, without any stipyrior in size, but it is safo tosfty that a rnuch larger, walking beast coald not be made out ofileshaud bones. This is moehanically demonstrablo. In order to support a heavior creature, tho size of the Icgs, even witli practically solid bones, would havo to bo so inereased as to ronder progression impossible. Tüeso consideralions indícate that wo shftll nnver seo a larser land