fissures and caves of Malta and Cyprus. Although some of these elephants are believed not to have been larger than donkeys, the height of others may be estimated at from 4 to 5 ft., or practically the same as that of the dwarf Congo race. By their describers, the dwarf European elephants were regarded as distinct species, under the names of Elephas melitensis, E. mnaidriensis and E. cypriotes; but since their molar teeth are essentially miniatures of those of the African elephant, it has been suggested by later observers that these animals are nothing more than dwarf races of the latter. This view may receive some support from the occurrence of a dwarf form of the African elephant in the Congo; and if we regard the latter as a subspecies of Elephas africanus, it seems highly probable that a similar position will have to be assigned to the pigmy European fossil elephants. If, on the other hand, the dwarf Congo elephant be regarded as a species, then the Maltese and Cyprian elephants may have to be classed as races of Elephas pumilio; or, rather, E. pumilio will have to rank as a race of the Maltese species. In this connexion it is of interest to note that, both in the Mediterranean islands and in West Africa, dwarf elephants of the African type are accompanied by pigmy species of hippopotamus, although we have not yet evidence to show that in Africa the two animals occupy actually the same area. Still, the close relationship of the existing Liberian pigmy hippopotamus to the fossil Mediterranean species is significant, in relation to the foregoing observations on the elephant.
It may be added that fossil remains of the African elephant have been obtained from Spain, Sicily, Algeria and Egypt, in strata of the Pleistocene age. Some of the main differences in the habits of the African as distinct from those of the Asiatic elephant have been mentioned under the heading of the latter species. The most important of these are the greater tolerance by the African animal of sunlight, and the hard nature of its food, which consists chiefly of boughs and roots. The latter are dug up with the tusks; the left one being generally employed in this service, and thus becoming much more worn than its fellow. (R. L.*)
ELEPHANTA ISLE (called by the natives Gharapuri), a
small island between Bombay and the mainland of India, situated
about 6 m. from Bombay. It is nearly 5 m. in circumference,
and the few inhabitants it contains are employed in the cultivation
of rice, and in rearing sheep and poultry for the Bombay
market. The island, till within recent times, was almost entirely
overgrown with wood; it contains several springs of good water.
There are also important quarries of building stone. But it
owes its chief celebrity to the mythological excavations and
sculptures of Hindu superstition which it contains. Opposite to
the landing-place was a colossal statue of an elephant, cracked
and mutilated, from which the island received from the Portuguese
the name it still bears. The statue was removed in 1864,
and may now be seen in the Victoria Gardens, Bombay. At a
short distance from this spot is a cave, the entrance to which
is nearly 60 ft. wide and 18 high, supported by pillars cut out
of the rock; the sides are sculptured into numerous compartments,
containing representations of the Hindu deities, but
many of the figures have been defaced by the zeal of the
Mahommedans and Portuguese. In the centre of the excavations
is a remarkable Trimurti or bust, formerly thought to represent
the Hindu Triad, namely, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the
Preserver, and Siva or Mahadeva the Destroyer, but now held to
be a triform representation of Siva alone. The heads are from
4 to 5 ft. in length, and are well cut, and the faces, with the
exception of the under lip, are handsome. The head-dresses are
curiously ornamented; and one of the figures holds in it’s hand
a cobra, while on the cap are, amongst other symbols, a human
skull and an infant. On each side of the Trimurti is a pilaster,
the front of which is filled up by a human figure leaning on a
dwarf, both much defaced. There is a large compartment to
the right, hollowed a little, and covered with a great variety of
figures, the largest of which is 16 ft. high, representing the double
figure of Siva and Parvati, named Viraj, half male and half
female. On the right is Brahma, four-faced, on a lotus—one
of the very few representations of this god which now exist in
India; and on the left is Vishnu. On the other side of the
Trimurti is another compartment with various figures of Siva and
Parvati, the most remarkable of which is Siva in his vindictive
character, eight-handed, with a collet of skulls round his neck.
On the right of the entrance to the cave is a square apartment,
supported by eight colossal figures, containing a gigantic symbol
of Mahadeva or Siva cut out of the rock. In a ravine connected
with the great cave are two other caves, also containing sculptures,
which, however, have been much defaced owing to the action
of damp and the falling of the rocks; and in another hill is a
fourth cave. This interesting retreat of Hindu religious art is
said to have been dedicated to Siva, but it contains numerous
representations of other Hindu deities. It has, however, for
long been a place not so much of worship as of archaeological
and artistic interest alike to the European and Hindu traveller.
It forms a wonderful monument of antiquity, and must have been
a work of incredible labour. Archaeological authorities are of
opinion that the cave must have been excavated about the 10th
century of the Christian era, if not earlier. The island is much
frequented by the British residents of Bombay; and during
his tour in India in 1875 King Edward VII., then prince of Wales,
was entertained there at a banquet.
ELEPHANTIASIS (Barbadoes leg; Boucnemia), is a disease
dependent on chronic lymphatic obstruction, and characterized
by hypertrophy of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Two
distinct forms are known, (1) elephantiasis arabum, due to the
development of living parasites, filaria sanguinis hominis (or
filaria Bancrofti), and (2) the non-filarial form due to lymphatic
obstruction from any other cause whatsoever, as erysipelas, the
deposit of tuberculous or cancerous material in the lymphatic
glands, phlegmasia dolens (white leg), long-continued eczema,
&c. The enlargement is limited to a particular part of the body,
generally one, or in rare cases both of the lower limbs, occasionally
the scrotum, one of the labiae or the mammary gland; far
more rarely the face. An attack is usually ushered in by febrile
disturbance (elephantoid fever), the part attacked becoming
rapidly swollen, and the skin tense and red as in erysipelas.
The subcutaneous tissues become firm, infiltrated and hard,
pitting only on considerable pressure. The skin becomes
roughened with a network of dilated lymphatics, and vesicles
and bullae may form, discharging a chyle-like fluid when broken
(lymphorrhoea). In a later stage still the skin may be coarse
and wart-like, and there is a great tendency for varicose ulcers to
form. At the end of a variable time enlargement ceases to take
place, and the disease enters a quiescent state: but recrudescences
occur at irregular intervals, always ushered in by
elephantoid fever. At the end of some years the attacks of
fever cease, and the affected part remains permanently swollen.
The only difference in the history of the two forms of the disease
lies in the fact that the non-filarial form progresses steadily,
until either the underlying condition is cured, or in the case of
cancer, &c., brings about a fatal issue. The elephantiasis due to
filaria is spread by the agency of mosquitoes, in whose bodies
the intermediate stage is passed. The dead mosquito falls upon
the water, which thus becomes infected, and hence the ova
reach the human stomach. The young worm develops, bores
through the gastric mucous membrane and finally becomes
lodged in the lymphatics, usually of one or other of the extremities.
A large number of embryonic filariae are produced. Some remain
in the lymphatic spaces and cause lymphatic obstruction, while
others enter the blood stream by night (filaria nocturna), or by
day (filaria diurna). It is supposed that a mosquito, biting
an infected person, itself becomes infected with the blood it
abstracts, and that so a new generation is developed.
Treatment for this condition is unsatisfactory. Occasionally the dilated lymph trunks can be found, and an operation performed to implant them in some vein (lymphangeioplasty). And in some few other cases artificial lymphatics have been made by introducing sterilized silk thread in the subcutaneous tissues of the affected part, and prolonging it into the normal tissues. This operation has been most successful when performed on
