, 1882-04-08

The othe; dagger? The Managers are
not hound to let him loose among the
crowds Dr.. ScIater speaks Of. That the
male elephant, once fully grown, is liable
for a year or two to fs of mad fury, and
that tor two months ia every year he ls
as dangerous as any other wild beast, are
admitted facts, true alike Of his wild
aud his confined state but unless be is
dangerous to himself, it must be as pos
si5Ie to keep him in London as 10 New
York. There are ways Of ~hobbIing him,
well known in the great kheddahs, which
will reduce the danger from a rush to u
minimum aud his house can be strength.
ened to any required point, if it be only
by stretching walls of strong rope net be-
tween him and the sides of bis room. Is
it quite impossible to give him an en-.
banked paddock, covered at one corner,
Or is it only too expensive !? The Society
might surely waste a little money on u
beast which in forty or fifty more years
will be IrtepIaceabie aud Incompatible,
and expensive as he is to keep, an Extra
penny tor se~iog him would compensate
them for almost any outlay. The coca.
Sl0uaI danger 10 a keeper would exist ia
New York as we'll as in London, and the
Society are not bound during the danger
Gus period to let children ride on " jun
bo's" back, or even to let him Out among
the pub &c at all. He is not imagined, We
suppose, though we SIC a hint OF the kind
in one paper, to be much more malignant
than other elephants aad, indeed, that
question OF malignity is very far from set.
lied, That an elephant is not the gentle
brute he Is often supposed to b, may be
taken as proved as aIso thar, like the
bull, he is subject to frs of uuaCcountbble
and extremely violent rage, dd.lng which
he Will attack any man or beast he s es:
while he has a certain liability to WHAT W o
mus. call i%nsaaity not known to exist in
any other animal. The "rogue" ele.
phan;, a solitary and dangerous beas',
expelled from every herd, aud absolute Y
hostile, is a known pheno nenon OF VERY
hunting district. II is evident, too that
the elephant is never donesticated, like
the bull or the hose, but remains always
half wild; for il he were not, he would
breed in confinement, aud we should
have, as in the case OF modern cattle and
horses, not a subjuga'ed beast, but -
beast who bad been for genera tons q d
uges tame. But Mr.. Charles Reade's the,
ory, in support OF which he collected SO
many cases, that the elephant has o per
maueut hostility to man, only suppressed
by :error, is sill at vAriauce with mucl
evidence. The elephant I'll walk through
a crowd, harming nobody, will for years
obey otders, aad show, distinct affection
for those who feed him. 1t is true he
kills his matOut very Otten--so often, that
in the Indian service q mahoui's widow
has special terms OF penslu"-but then the
mahou', to be j~ustto the beast, must be
not IA little provoking. l. cannot be plea
SAINT to have a three-cornered piece OF steel
about two pounds in weight dug perpetu-
ally into your head as you walk, even
thou.h the digger does bing you your
dinner. The operation may not be much
worse than squirting, but it looks 80, and
il is The sole method both OF urging and
guidir q, which sparrlng is MOI. We i'm
gine, on the evidence, tIlat the elephant IL
rather an uucertain-tempered beast, with
the tendency to lulacy which bright wits
haze. rather than permanently malignant
ANYHOW, Jumbo" is 10 worse lhau an
other, and as he is the only captive young
elenhant ia he world who looks as big as
he is expected to do, md as he may survive
all his kind, he ought, II il is now possible,
10 be kepr here. That is his own opinion
H.