The trunk of which I have just spoken, is formed of numbers of muscular fibres, amounting to at least 40,000, which take various directions, and cross each other in so many ways, that the whole forms one of the most flexible organs that can be conceived. It can be contracted, raised, depressed, curved, turned, or twisted round any object at the will of its possessor; and can lay hold of, and pick up the most minute and the thinnest substance, aided in such instances by the prolongation of its upper edge into what is called a finger, which protects the nostrils, and acts as a feeler. This trunk serves as a reservoir for holding liquid, which can be put into the mouth at pleasure, by inserting the end between the jaws; or for retaining it as long as may be wished, when it is discharged over any object which the elephant desires to inundate. He occasionally pours it upon his own body, thereby not only cooling and refreshing himself, but getting rid of the numerous insects which lodge themselves in his hide. The trumpet-like noise, for which elephants are remarkable, proceeds from their trunk, and it serves in other ways to express their feelings, for with it they bestow their caresses. A tame elephant, in the Jardin des Plantes, took a great fancy to a little girl, who used to walk in the menagerie every morning with her nurse, before it was open to the public. It constantly happened that she and the elephant would be met together, and not only was his care to avoid trampling upon her most excessive, but if she were going the same way, he would gently insinuate the end of his proboscis under her arm, lovingly rest it there, and walk by her side. Great pains are always taken by these animals to guard their trunks from injury; and they constantly raise them as high in the air as they can, to prevent their coming in contact with any hurtful substance. With them food is procured and conveyed to the mouth; and they pull down, not only branches of trees, but, in many instances, the trees themselves. The immense skull and neck, and in fact, the size of the body, required to sustain the weight of this ponderous organ, and the tusks with which they are provided, give elephants a clumsy, heavy look. The proportions of the head cause the eyes to look small; the weight of the head itself is, however, much diminished by the hollow cavities in front, which make it almost a vain attempt to try to kill an elephant by shooting him in the forehead; for the balls lodge in these cells: they so protect the brain, which is the seat of feeling, that fearful buttings are practised with impunity by these animals.