The times., 1901-06-09
THE FEET OF ELEPHANTS.
Carefully Treated Periodically to
Keep Them in order.
(From the New York sun.

lfIOH tue new 1OIh sun
The feet of elephants in captivity have
to be looked after carefully all the time,
and once or twice a year, anyway, spe-
cific treatment is required to keep them
in order.
If the elephant Is IA a travelling show.
where he is doing n.are or less marching
in street parades, amt it may be in NOV
ing from place to place on the road, ms
feet are worn down to something like
what they would be in nature. In such a
case they would have to be regularly
Overhauled only once year, at the close
of the winter season. In the case of ele-
plants remaining in one spot all the time,
in stationary mendgerle. where they
would do no marching and would scarce
ly wear their feet down at all, their feet
are looked after twice year.
\ captive elephant on the road might
suffer in his feet from stone brulSe, or
might pick up stone, or tack, or any
one of forty things; or he might have
COrns, or have something the matter with
his toe nails; or possibly maze suffered
the loss of a toe nail by some accident.
From some such injury the elephant
might go lame or suffer otherwise. 1t
might be that the foot would need to be
protected, under treatment, and there is
used for such purpose bag with shir-
ring around the top, which, drawn over
the foot and up little way on the leg
above it. can he closed around the leg to
keep out gravel or anything else that
might otherwise work in and irritate the
foot.
This elephant with the sore foot would.
of course, be spared all the walking pos
sible. He would not appear in the pa
rade but in the case of a railroad show,
for instance he would. on arriving at or
leaving a show town, limp along with
that bag over his foot from the car TO the
show lot or from the show lot to the car,
by the shortest way Incidentally the ele-
phants feet are being looked after all
the time. the annual or seml-annual over
hauling is to keep them down to their
natural proportions and conditions ana
make them less liable to injury.
In It's general shape the bottom OF an
elephants foot is somewhat ike a blunt
ed oval The sole is a fiat pad. or cush-
ion tough but elastic being OF SriStIy
or cartia ginOus character. Commonly
this pad would be about an inch In thick
The elephants toes do not project sep
arateIy out beyond the rest of the foot,
but are. virtually inclosed within the front
rim of the foot. their presence marked Dy
the toe-nailS. which are in appearance
as much as anything like big black hdrd-
shell clamshells set around on the front
edge five to a foot in the case or the ASl-
attic elephants, and four in the case ot
Africans.
With no use of its feet, nothing TO keep
them worn down as they would De kept
in nature, the pads may grow 10 De Two
inches thick. and come TO nave cTtNlctS
or seams in them in which foreign matter
may lodge. and the elephant IS IN more
danger Of picking up things, which may
btCUInG embtNItu III the lOuSll pau s'Al'A
get out of sight and work through into
the quick. -.
The toe nails also get long, and they
may curl under the sole of the foot ana
they become thus more liable to be caught
and the situation is then one of inconEenl-
ance and danger to the animal. But before
they reach this stage the elephants feet
are trimmed down into shape.
The manicure, or pedicGre. set with
which an elephants feet are put in order
consists of a carpenters drawkntfc. a
Eorseshoer's knife, rasp and sheet of
;and paper the last being a sort of extra
nsed for polishing the animals nails. if
that is considered desirable. The ele-
phan;'s hent leg is rested on a box OF
suitable height in such manner as TO
bring the sole of the foot into Il posi-
tion where it can be conveniently got at
And then the operator goes at the thick
ened pad with the drawknife, shaving 1t
down to the desired thickness Thus up
turned the bottom of the elephants root
appears to be about as big as the top
of n hat box. The nails are duly cut and
trimmed. and whatever other attention
the foot may require is given 1t.
Some elephants are more tender-footed
than others. Just as some men are more
tender-footed than their fellows; and some
elephants are very touchy about their feet
and don't IKE them to be handled at all,
and then, again, there are some that sub
nit to this manicuring without making
any difficulty about il.
The feet of the elephants in the Central
Park menagerie got one of their regular
OVerhauings last week.
Tom" said Elephant Keeper Snyder
to the larger of the two elephants on one
of the days when this work was going on,
give us your foot
And the big elephant raised his foot
as a horse might have lifted his on like
request.
Tom can tell what you are think
ing about when you look at him, says
Keeper Snyder.
julie. the other elephant. is not so tract
able or not so intelligent, and it takes
more diplomacy and effort to get at her