Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

PREFACE.

SINCE the publication of the First Part of The Elephant's Head the material at our disposal has been largely
increased. First, in 1916, by a young Indian Elephant, a few days old, born in the Copenhagen Zoolo-
gical Gardens; owing to a weakness in the hind limbs the animal was unable to go and therefore was
killed. Later on, in 1918, through the decease of an old Indian Elephant, a male of about 50 years. In
the following the new-born Elephant is designed as No. 1; the Elephant, which we obtained already in
1899, is No. 2; the old Elephant, an animal familiar to the people of Copenhagen as „Chang", is mentioned
as No. 3 or Chang. Further we have purchased a series of Elephantine skulls of various ages for our
investigations.

On this rather large material we have in the present Second Part been able to give i. a. a representation
of the very remarkable development of the skull from the quite young age to that of the quite
old Elephant (an Elephant of fifty years must already be looked upon as rather aged, the age of the Elephant
having often been exaggerated); of the morphology of the Elephantine skull in comparison with that
of other Mammals; of the nasal cavity and the pneumatic sinuses etc. The description of the facial nerve
which was announced in the Preface to the First Part is also included in the following. The treatment
of the ear-cartilage of the Mammals also announced in that Preface has in the meanwhile been treated b}^
one of us in a separate book.

Our former excellent draughtsman Carl Cordts having departed this life, the figures in the present
Part of our work have, under our direction, with a few exceptions been drawn by Mrs. Bodil Strubberg,
late Miss Rohweder, to whom we render our best thanks for the great care and ability with which she
has accomplished her work.

This part will presumably be the last of our contributions towards the anatomy of the head of the
Elephant.