The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-27
BENEATH ELEPHANTS MASSIVE SKULLS ARE
 BRAINS ALMOST HUMAN
PECULIARITIES OF THE PRoBoSCIDEAN HERD
 DISCUSSED BY OLD SNOWMAN
Pachyderms Can Smell Mean'' Man and They Quickly Form Likes and Dislikes-skin is Sensitive Despite Apparent Thickness How They Take Medicine Strange Queries from Visitors to the Menagere.

To see the 9 elephants at the win ter quarters of the circus standing in their house. some perfectly still, oth- CTS swaying to and fro. one would never guess the many interesting things which can be told about them, by those who are familiar with them and their habits. Their very appear ance would almost preclude any pos- sibility of their being tricky least Of all very sensitive. No one would i'm agine that behind those great skulls thoughts existed which are duplicated by few other animals than man. It seems impossible that with a hide as formidable as theirs seems to be that the sudden placing of a hand upon the huge hulk of an elephant will cause the big beast to start like a horse. Nevertheless all these things are so according to one who has spent years with elephants and the circus.
 Every one of the 25 elephants has personality as humans have. One of them acts absolutely indifferent to whatever may happen. in the words of the keeper wouldn't care if the nervous that it will start with the slightest provocation- So it is with them all Each one has something which distinguishes 1t from the others. Mighty" is the most popular mem. Der of the troupe Whenever some of the others are loose they always man age to get as near him as possible. as human friends will gather about some man whom they all like and respect
 Their likes and dislikes toward men are a-s arbitrary as the likes and dis likes of men themselves One elephant took a dislike to a kind old circus man for no reason whatever. The man even tried to cultivate the friendship rH rhn heHn nuf Hnnt he. el arrt have none of 1t If the man ever got within reaching distance of the trunk of this animal he was always swept aside. more forcibly than gently. An elephant will scent a mean" man al-
 most at once and no amount of coax ing will change the elephants opin- ion.
 Elephants are very fond of heat and some of them have done the most pe- culiar things to keep themselves warm. Once an elephant leaned against a hot stove and burned his hide for several inches in an attempt to warm himself. Another noticed steam escaping from a steam pipe and placed himself di- rectly in front of the steam.
 Elephants as a whole are healthy animals. but are subject to rheuma- tism- This is brought on by their standing on the cold ground or con crete It Is very difficult to give an elephant medicine when he is sick be- cause it Is impossible to force his mouth open. In the first place he must smell of anything before it goes down his throat. If he doesn't like the smell. out with the medicine, and his mouth will shut. A half dozen levers would be necessary to pry open his jaws.
 Although 1t is not known generally the skin of an elephant Is very tender. A keeper said that he had blistered an elephants hide one time by using Sloane's rinament. He said a pin prick would raise a boil on an ele- plants hide within a few hours and matter would form there. It takes a long time for an elephants skin to heal He said he had once flicked off a small piece of the skin with a whip The prods or goads used by the ele- phant men do not pierce the skin as is generally supposed. A clumsy driver may do it but a real elephant man can handle his prod without in- flicting a wound.