Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon | Page 5

his death
Instinct of flies in search of carrion (_note_)
Strange scene
A second herd captured
Their treatment of a solitary elephant
A magnificent female elephant
Her extraordinary attitudes
Wonderful contortions
Taking the captives out of the corral
Their subsequent treatment and training
Grandeur of the scene
Story of young pet elephant
CHAP. VII.
THE ELEPHANT.
* * * * *
Conduct in Captivity.
Alleged superiority of the Indian to the African elephant--not true
Ditto of Ceylon elephant to Indian
Process of training in Ceylon
Allowed to bathe
Difference of disposition
Sudden death of "broken heart"
First employment treading clay
Drawing a waggon
Dragging timber
Sagacity in labour
Mode of raising stones
Strength in throwing down trees exaggerated
Piling timber
Not uniform in habits of work
Lazy if not watched
Obedience to keeper from affection, not fear
Change of keeper--story of child
Ear for sounds and music
_Hurra! (note)_
Endurance of pain
Docility
Working elephants, delicate
Deaths in government stud
Diseases
Subject to tooth-ache
Question of the value of labour of an elephant
Food in captivity, and cost
Breed in captivity
Age
Theory of M. Fleurens
No dead elephants found
Sindbad's story
Passage from ?lian
CHAP. VIII.
BIRDS.
Their numbers
Songsters
Hornbills, the "bird with two heads"
Pea fowl
Sea birds, their number
I. Accipitres.--Eagles Falcons and hawks Owls--the devil bird
II. Passeres.--Swallows Kingfishers--sunbirds The cotton-thief Bul-bul--tailor bird--and weaver The mountain jay Crows, anecdotes of
III. Scansores.--Parroquets
IV. _Columbid?_.--Pigeons
V. _Gallin?_.--Jungle-fowl
VI. _Grall?_.--Ibis, stork, &c.
VII. Anseres.--Flamingoes Pelicans Strange scene Game--Partridges, &c.
List of Ceylon birds
List of birds peculiar to Ceylon
CHAP. IX.
REPTILES.
Lizards.--Iguana Kabara-goya, barbarous custom in preparing the kabara-tel poison Blood-suckers The green calotes The lyre-headed lizard Chameleon Ceratophora Geckoes,--their power of reproducing limbs
Crocodiles Their sensitiveness to tickling Anecdotes of crocodiles Their power of burying themselves in the mud
Tortoises.--Curious parasite Terrapins Edible turtle Cruel mode of cutting it up alive Huge Indian tortoises (_note_) Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous mode of stripping it of the tortoise-shell
Serpents.--Venomous species rare Tic polonga and carawala Cobra de capello Tame snakes (_note_) Anecdotes of the cobra de capello Legends concerning it Instance of land snakes found at sea Singular tradition regarding the robra de capello Uropeltid?.--New species discovered in Ceylon Buddhist veneration for the cobra de capello The Python Tree snakes Water snakes Sea snakes Snake stones Analysis of one C?cilia Frogs Tree frogs
List of Ceylon reptiles
CHAP. X.
FISHES.
Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known
Fish for table, seir fish
Sardines, poisonous?
Sharks
Saw-fish
Fish of brilliant colours
The ray
The sword-fish
Curious fish described by ?lian
Salarias alticus Beautifully coloured fishes
Fresh-water fish, little known,--not much eaten
Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake
Perches
Eels
Immense profusion of fish in the rivers and lakes
Their re-appearance after rain
Mode of fishing in the ponds
Showers of fish
Conjecture that the ova are preserved, not tenable
Fish moving on dry land Ancient authorities, Greek and Roman Aristotle and Theophrastus Athen?us and Polybius Livy, Pompomus, Mela, and Juvenal Seneca and Pliny Georgius Agricola, Gesner, &c. Instances in Guiana (_note_) _Perca Scandens_, ascends trees Doubts as to the story of Daldorf
Fishes burying themselves daring the dry season The protopterus of the Gambia Instances in the fish of the Nile Instances in the fish of South America Living fish dug out of the ground in the dry tanks in Ceylon Molluscs that bury themselves The animals that so bury themselves in India Analogous case of Theory of ?stivation and hybernation
Fish in hot water in Ceylon
List of Ceylon fishes
Instances of fishes falling from the clouds
Note on Ceylon fishes by Professor Huxley
Comparative note by Dr. Gray, Brit. Mus.
Note on the Bora-chung
CHAP. XI.
MOLLUSCA, RADIATA, AND ACALEPH?.
I. Conchology.--General character of Ceylon shells Confusion regarding them in scientific works and collections Ancient export of shells from Ceylon Special forms confined to particular localities The pearl fishery of Aripo Frequent suspensions of Experiment to create beds of the pearl oyster Process of diving for pearls Danger from sharks The transparent pearl oyster (_Placuna placenta_) The "musical fish" at Ballicaloa A similar phenomenon at other places Faculty of uttering sounds in fishes Instance in the Tritonia arborescens Difficulty in forming a list of Ceylon shells List of Ceylon shells
II. Radiata.--Star fish Sea slugs Parasitic worms Planaria
III. _Acaleph?_, abundant The Portuguese man-of-war Red infusoria Note on the Tritonia arborescens
CHAP. XII.
INSECTS.
Profusion of insects in Ceylon Imperfect knowledge of
I. Coleoptera.--Beetles Scavenger beetles Coco-nut beetles Tortoise beetles
II. Orthoptera.--Mantis and leaf-insects Stick-insects
III. Neuroptera.--Dragon flies Ant-lion White ants Anecdotes of their instinct and ravages
IV. Hymenoptera.--Mason wasps Wasps Bees Carpenter Bee Ants Burrowing ants
V. Lepidoptera.--Butterflies The spectre Lyc?nid? Moths Silk worms Stinging caterpillars Wood-carrying moths Pterophorus
VI. Homoptera Cicada
VII. Hemiptera Bugs
VIII. Aphaniptera IX. Diptera.--Mosquitoes Mosquitoes the "plague of flies" The coffee bug
General character of Ceylon insects
List of insects in Ceylon
CHAP. XIII.
ARACHNID?, MYRIOPODA, CRUSTAC?, ETC.
Spiders Strange nets of the wood spiders The mygale Birds killed by it Olios Taprobanius The galeodes Gregarious spiders Ticks Mites.--Trombidium tinctorum Myriapods.--Centipedes Cermatia Scolopendra crassa S. pollippes The fish insect
Millipeds.--Julus
_Crustac?_ Calling crabs Sand crabs Painted crabs Paddling crabs
_Annelid?_, Leeches.--The land leech Medicinal leech Cattle leech
List of Articulata, &c.
Note.--On the revivification of the Rotifera and Paste-eels

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
View of an Elephant Corral Frontispiece
Group of Ceylon Monkeys to face 5
The Loris (_Loris gracilis_) 12
Group of Flying Foxes (_Pteropus Edwardsii_) to face 14
Head of the Horse-shoe Bat (_Rhynulophus_) 19
Nycteribia 21
Indian Bear (_Prochylus labiatus_) 23
Ceylon Leopard and Indian Cheetah 26
Jackal's