Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon eBook

J. Emerson Tennent
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 590 pages of information about Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon.

Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon eBook

J. Emerson Tennent
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 590 pages of information about Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon.
Under 1 year                  72        29      43
From 1 to   2 years           14         5       9
"  2  "   3   "              8         5       3
"  3  "   4   "              8         3       5
"  4  "   5   "              3         2       1
"  5  "   6   "              2         2       .
"  6  "   7   "              3         1       2
"  7  "   8   "              5         2       3
"  8  "   9   "              5         5       .
"  9  "  10   "              2         2       .
" 10  "  11   "              2         2       .
" 11  "  12   "              3         1       2
" 12  "  13   "              3         .       3
" 13  "  14   "              .         .       .
" 14  "  15   "              3         1       2
" 15  "  16   "              1         1       .
" 16  "  17   "              1         .       1
" 17  "  18   "              .         .       .
" 18  "  19   "              2         1       1
" 19  "  20   "              1         .       1

        Total 138 62 76

Of the 72 who died in one year’s servitude, 35 expired within the first six months of their captivity.  During training, many elephants die in the unaccountable manner already referred to, of what the natives designate a broken heart.

On being first subjected to work, the elephant is liable to severe and often fatal swellings of the jaws and abdomen.[1]

[Footnote 1:  The elephant which was dissected by DR. HARRISON of Dublin, in 1847, died of a febrile attack, after four or five days’ illness, which, as Dr. H. tells me in a private letter, was “very like scarlatina, at that time a prevailing disease; its skin in some places became almost scarlet.”]

From these causes there died, between 1841 and 1849    9
Of cattle murrain                                     10
Sore feet                                              1
Colds and inflammation                                 6
Diarrhoea                                              1
Worms                                                  1
Of diseased liver                                      1
Injuries from a fall                                   1
General debility                                       1
Unknown causes                                         3

Of the entire, twenty-three were females and eleven males.

The ages of those that died could not be accurately stated, owing to the circumstance of their having been captured in corral.  Two only were tuskers.  Towards keeping the stud in health, nothing has been found so conducive as regularly bathing the elephants, and giving them the opportunity to stand with their feet in water, or in moistened earth.

Elephants are said to be afflicted with tooth-ache; their tushes have likewise been found with symptoms of internal perforation by some parasite, and the natives assert that, in their agony, the animals have been known to break them off short.[1] I have never heard of the teeth themselves being so affected, and it is just possible that the operation of shedding the subsequent decay of the milk-tushes, may have in some instances been accompanied by incidents that gave rise to this story.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.