Thus the delicacy of feeling, exquisiteness of smelling, facility of motion, and the power of suction, are united in the trunk of the elephant. Of all the instruments which Nature has so liberally bestowed on her favourite productions, the trunk of the elephant is, perhaps, the most complete and the most admirable; it is not only an organic instrument, but a triple sense, whose united functions are, at the same time, the cause, and produce the effect of that intelligence, and of those peculiar faculties which distinguish the elephant, and raise him above all other quadrupeds. He is less subject than other animals to errors of sight, because he rectifies them quickly by the sense of feeling; and making use of his trunk as a long arm to feel distant bodies, he acquires, like men, distinct ideas of distance. But other animals (except the monkey, and some others, who have the fore feet similar to arms and hands) cannot acquire the same ideas without running over that space with their bodies. Feeling is, of all the senses, that which has the most relation to knowledge. The delicacy of feeling gives the idea of the substance of the bodies; the flexibility of the trunk gives the idea of their exterior form; the power of suction, that of their weight; smelling, that of their qualities; and its length, that of their distance. They, therefore, with the same member, and by one simultaneous act, feel, perceive, and judge of divers things at once. His multiplied sensations are equivalent to reflection; and though this animal is, like others, incapable of thinking, as his sensations are combined in the same organ, are coeval and undivided, it is not surprising that he has ideas of his own, and that he acquires in a little time those we inculcate to him. His remembrance should be more perfect than that of any other animal, for memory only depends chiefly on the circumstances of action; and no sensation, however lively, can leave a lasting impression, when single and abstractedly taken; but several combined sensations leave deep impressions, so that if the elephant cannot recall an idea by feeling alone, the sensations of smelling and suction, which act at the same time, help him in recalling them to remembrance. With us the best method to improve the memory is to make use successively of all our senses to consider an object; and it is for want of that combined use of the senses that man forgets more things than he can recollect.