Buffon's Natural History. Volume 07 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 07 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
Having thus collected the different facts relative to the species,
let us now examine minutely the faculties of the individual; his
senses, motion, size, strength, address, sagacity, and intelligence.
The elephant has very small eyes, compared to the enormous size of
his body, but they are bright and lively; and what distinguishes them
from the eyes of all other animals, is their pathetic expression of
sentiment, and an almost rational direction of all their motions.
He turns them slowly and gently towards his master, and when he
speaks, the animal has the appearance of listening to him with an
eye of friendship and attention, and by an expressive glance seems
to penetrate into his wishes, and anticipate his desires. He seems
to reflect, to think, and to deliberate, and never acts till he has
examined and observed several times, without passion or precipitation,
the signs of which he is to obey. Dogs, the eyes of which have much
expression, are animals too lively to allow us to distinguish their
successive sensations; but as the elephant is naturally grave and
sedate, we may read in his eyes, whose motions are slow, the order and
succession of his interior affections.
He has a quick hearing, and this organ, like that of smelling, is
outwardly more marked in the elephant than in any other animal. His
ears are very large, even in proportion to his body; they are flat,
and close to the head, like those of a man; they commonly hang down,
but he raises and moves them with such facility that he makes use of
them to defend his eyes against the inconveniency of dust and flies.
He delights in the sound of musical instruments, and moves in exact
time to the sound of the trumpet and tabor. He has an exquisite sense
of smelling, and he is passionately fond of perfumes of all sorts,
and especially of fragrant flowers; he gathers them one by one, makes
nosegays of them, which he smells with eagerness, and then carries to
his mouth, as if he intended to taste them. Orange flowers are one of
his most exquisite dainties; he strips with his trunk an orange tree
of all its verdure, eating the fruit, the flowers, the leaves, and even
the young branches. He chuses in meadows odoriferous plants, and in the
woods he gives the preference to cocoa, palm, and sago trees, and as
these trees are pithy and tender he not only cats the leaves and fruits
but even the branches, the trunk, and the roots, for when he cannot
break the branches with his trunk, he roots up the trees with his tusks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account