This is a collection, assortment, mixture, mixed bag, mixed lot, hash, potpourri, smorgasbord, jumble, hotchpotch or hodgepodge, sundries, oddments, bits and pieces, odds and ends, bits and bobs, snippets, paraphernalia, potpourri, mishmash, patchwork, mosaic, medley, miscellanea, and anecdotes about the word elephant.
Elephant Country
In mineral exploration parlance, an "elephant"is a large, rich, world-class mineral deposit, and elephant country denotes a region which, by virtue of exceptional geology and/or previous exploration success, has the established potential to contain such world-class deposits.
Hornby Bay Basin is part of "uranium elephant country" in Canada
A region thought to contain major ore deposits is sometimes referred to as "elephant country". In the past "elephants" were found by surface outcrops or gossans They were relatively easy for explorers to discover. New deposits are still being found by exploring close to previously discovered mineralisation or old mines and workings.
Today, by applying the most up to date science and technology, many deposits are being found by geologists finding surface geochemical or geophysical indications of an "elephant" below.
The challenge for explorers of the future is to use conceptual methods and sophisticated techniqes to find "elephants" hidden deep below the surface, with no surface indication.
Metallic Minerals in Alaska
Alaska Has a History of Being Elephant Country
Alaska is known for its mineral elephants. The copper deposit at Kennecott provided the base for the modern mining giant of the same name and contained ore grading as high as 70% copper with the average mill grade for the mine life at 12%. The Alaska-Juneau underground mine milled 12,500 tons per day in the early part of this century and will likely re-open at 22,500 tons per day. The Greens Creek Mine has produced 7.6 million oz. silver, 37,000 oz. gold, and 58,700 tons of lead-zinc concentrates per year. The Red Dog mine has produced more than 550,000 tons of zinc, lead, and combined concentrates per year and at that rate has a mine life of more than 50 years. The recently discovered (1989) Pebble Copper deposit is know to contain at least 500 million tons grading 0.35% copper and 0.012 oz per ton gold. It is estimated that there is as much coal in Alaska as in the remainder of the U.S. combined. All of this coal is very low sulfur and it is well positioned to compete in the Pacific Rim with coals from Australia and Indonesia. In addition to federal and state owned coal, there is also privately owned coal in some areas and these private owners are actively working to develop these coal fields. Many other elephants are known to exist. Some are being reevaluated for application of modern mining and extractive technologies. Others are being evaluated for infrastructure development.
Nevada's gold mining
State of Nevada
Within the gold industry, the state of Nevada is known as prime elephant country. In the past 15 years over 100 million ounces of gold have been discovered. During the period from 1985 to 1991, eight of the world’s
largest gold deposits were found in Nevada and new discoveries continue to be made on a yearly basis.
elephant grass
A stout coarse reedmace, Typha elephanta, commonly found in marshes and wet habitats from S Europe to the East Indies. It has long tapering leaves, which have been used to make baskets. The name is sometimes also applied to the tropical napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), which resembles sugar cane.
elephant cactus
also called Pachycereus. This group consists of twelve, columnar-shaped cacti native to parts of the southern United States and Mexico. This group contains some of the largest-growing cacti; they range in height from 13 to 42 feet. Some have solitary stems but many branch to form clumps or even trees. Mature plants that are 6 to 15 years old bear flowers. The blossoms are funnel-shaped and tinged with white or pink. They only open at night and are produced at the stem tips in spring to early summer.
They are followed by large, spiny, green, yellow, or red fruits. These cacti are great for growing in containers indoors and outdoors and as using for landscape plants. The most commonly seen is P. pringlei (Elephant Cactus; Mexican Giant). This species can grow up to 42 feet high, with a main trunk 2 feet thick. The mature branches are scarcely spined and bear 31/4-inch long, white flowers. In cultivation, this cactus can grow a foot in one season. It will not tolerate frost.
P. schottii (Senita Cereus; Whisker Cactus) forms numerous stems that can grow up to 20 feet high and have a spread of 8 feet. When this species is about 6 feet high, its gray spines become long and curly at the stem tips. Its cream to dark pink flowers are followed by small, red berries.
P. schottii var. monstrose (Totem Pole) is an interesting mutation thought to be caused by a virus. It is slow growing and rarely flowers but is valued for its weird, knobby stems, which can also grow up to 20 feet high.
elephant garlic
a vegetable. Elephant garlic is of the leek family, Allium ampeloprasum. It produces very large garlic-like cloves with a mild, delicate sweet taste, irresistible to cooks the world over. A joy to cook with, elephant garlic is easy to digest and stays fresh for months if stored in a cool dry place.
elephant foot
an African species of yam (Dioscorea elephantipes) having unusual clusters of tubers that grow above the ground. Also any of several plants of the genus Elephantopus in the composite family, having small purplish flowers grouped in discoid flower heads.
elephant's ears
also called Kalanchoe. This large, group consisting of succulent plants, is found in subtropical and tropical countries throughout the world. These plants vary greatly. They range from leafy succulents to huge tree-like plants. The shapes, sizes, and colors of the leaves are as equally diverse. Some have whole or toothed edges. Some may be smooth or very fuzzy. Some species make excellent houseplants. In early spring or fall, bell-shaped flowers that may be white, red, purple, yellow, orange, or brown are produced.
They grow at the stem tips and are followed by small, brown seedpods. K. rhombopilosa is an interesting plant that produces flat whorls of grayish-green to white leaves that are usually splotched with red. The leaves grow on short, erect stems that form a small, prostrate bush with age. In the spring, tiny, greenish-yellow flowers are borne. If this delicate plant is bumped hard, its foliage will drop, but the leaves will root easily. This variety grows up to 6 inches high with a spread of 15 inches. K. beharensis (Elephant's Ears; Felt Bush) quickly forms a large bush or small tree with large, arrowhead-shaped, olive- to grayish-green leaves that are clothed with velvety bronze fuzz.
This plant can grow up to 12 feet high with a spread of 7 feet. On mature plants only, tiny, yellowish-green flowers are produced in the spring. Plantlets will form on the stalks of cut leaves; these will readily grow into new plants. K. tomentosa (Panda Plant; Plush Plant; Pussy Ears) grows up to 2 feet high with a spread of 4 feet. It makes a great houseplant when young, surviving in sun or shade. The Panda Plant is covered with soft, downy leaves, which are usually light blue-green. The darker colored leaf tips may be reddish to golden or dark brown.
K. tubiflora (Mother of Thousands) is a curious variety with mottled, tube-shaped leaves. The fuzzy, brownish leaves can be blotched with greenish-brown, gray, purple, or pink. The leaves grow from a hair-less central stem, which branches after blooming, eventually becoming prostrate. Numerous plantlets, which grow at the leaf tips, will readily grow into new plants. When the plant reaches maturity, clusters of orange-red to purple flowers are produced in early spring.
K. thrysiflora is a beautiful variety that can form clumps up to 2 feet wide and high, though the stems are usually shorter and prostrate, branching at the base. In low light, the round leaves are green and covered with white bloom, which washes off by rain or overhead watering. In bright light, however, the green leaves develop red edges. The flowers are yellow.
elephant bush
also called Portulacaria. This is a succulent bush with thick, gray or brownish stems and fat, tender, bright green leaves that are very small. It can grow 12-20 feet tall. Its pale pink flowers grow in little clusters. Even when small, this plant makes a handsome foliage plant.
elephant ears
also called Colocasia. This group consists of six tender, tuberous-rooted perennials, commonly known as Elephant Ears. Elephant Ears are natives of tropical countries and are grown for their beautiful, large leaves. They are suitable for growing in containers, borders, and also bog gardens because they tolerate wet soil, even standing water. The handsome, large leaves of these plants grow atop 3- to 7-foot stems and can reach a length of 2 or 3 feet themselves.
The leaves are held perpendicular to the stem (called a peltate leaf), so that they face outward and point to the ground; thus their beauty is completely seen. C. esculenta (Taro Root; Dasheen) has heart- to arrow-shaped, smooth green leaves. This species has been grown for over a thousand years for its edible tubers, which are a staple in the diet of people from India to the South Pacific. The Taro roots were boiled and eaten and the tender leaves were cooked as greens. However, they are poisonous if not prepared correctly.
Even though the leaves of C. esculenta are a deep green, there are several varieties with variegated foliage and stems. Variety 'Fontanesia' produces green leaves on very dark purple petioles (leaf stalks). Variety 'Black Magic' is a gorgeous plant with such dark plum leaves they appear black. The leaves grow on dark burgundy-black stems.
elephant's ear or African Masks
also known as Alocasia. This group consists of seventy, tender plants, which grow from rhizomes in the tropical forests of Borneo, Ceylon, Malaysia and Asia. These plants (commonly known as African Masks and Elephant's Ear) are mainly valued for their gorgeous leaves, which are very large, heart- or spade-shaped and beautifully colored and variegated in gleaming shades of green, purple, bluish-green, red and bronze.
They also produce small, calla-like flower spathes. A. cuprea produces erect clumps of foliage up to 3 feet in height. Long stalks are topped with 12-inch-long, heart-shaped, puckered leaves. They are a lustrous purplish-green above and purple beneath. This variety sporadically produces its purple spathes. A. macrorbiza produces large, spade-shaped leaves and edible, tuberous roots, which provide an important food item throughout tropical Asia.
The glossy, green leaves of this species grow from thick stems, which may remain below ground or stretch out a few feet as a ringed trunk. Small forms of this variety may grow only a foot or two, while large strains may reach four to five feet before they begin to form a trunk, eventually reaching a height of up to ten feet. Elephant's Ears are excellent when grown as houseplants and can be grown outdoors in mild, tropical climates.
elephant's tusk
also called tusk shell, elephant's tooth, or tooth shell. They are any of several marine mollusks of the class Scaphopoda. There are four genera of tusk shells (Dentalium is typical and most common) and more than 350 species.
Most tusk shells live in fairly deep water, sometimes to depths of about 4,000 metres (13,000 feet); many deep-sea species are cosmopolitan in distribution. Tusk shells are elongated, bilaterally symmetrical (i.e., the external halves are mirror images of one another) animals with a tubular, tusklike shell, open at both ends. The animals are encased in a tubular mantle and breathe through the body surface.
At the anterior (front), larger end of the shell is an extensible foot adapted for digging and an imperfectly developed head with slender tentacles, the captacula, that serve as sensory and food-catching organs. The anterior end is usually buried in the sea bottom. The posterior end admits water for respiration and discharges wastes. Tusk shells feed upon such small organisms as protozoans of the order Forminifera and young bivalves. Sexes are separate, and the eggs develop into free-swimming larvae.
elephant bird or Aepyornis
extinct genus of giant flightless birds found as fossils in Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on the island of Madagascar. The remains of Aepyornis are abundant. The several known species were massively constructed, with conical beaks, short, thick legs, three-toed feet, and relatively small wings that were useless for flight. The birds were probably slow-moving inhabitants of forests. The skull in Aepyornis was of small size, and the neck was long and slim. Some forms of Aepyornis attained very large size. Aepyornis titan, or maximus, stood 3 m (10 feet) high and weighed about 450 kg (1,000 pounds). The fossilized remains of Aepyornis eggs are relatively common, both fragmented and intact. The eggs of the giant forms were apparently the largest eggs ever laid by any animal. One of the largest intact specimens is 89 cm (35 inches) in circumference around its long axis and probably had a capacity of about nine litres (more than two gallons). A few Aepyornis eggs contain the bones of embryonic young.
Though Aepyornis occurred relatively late in the geologic record, it was a primitive member of the ratites, an evolutionary lineage that includes the ostrich, rhea, and emu. Aepyornis species survived on Madagascar well into the period of the island's human occupation. The birds became extinct sometime in the last 1,000 years, probably as a result of hunting and habitat loss due to deforestation. Aepyornis may have given rise to the Arabic legend of the roc, a gigantic bird.
elephant seal
a very large seal of the genus Mirounga, the male of which has an inflatable proboscis--also called sea elephant.
elephant shrew
a small insectivorous mammal of the order Macroscelidea, native to Africa, having a long snout and long hind limbs.
elephant-snout fish or elephant fish
A fish belonging to the family Mormyridae, such as the species Mormyrus kannume, which has its snout elongated into a trunk. It is an African freshwater fish, and feeds primarily on bottom-living insect larvae. Fishes of this family can produce an electric field by means of which they navigate in the rather murky waters of their river homes.
elephantoid
a derivative of olifaunt. Elephantus, elephans, Greek = elephas -antos ivory, elephant. Ivory was known to the Greeks long before the elephant.
elephant's horn, from the French cor'olifant
Holeless type of cow-horn made of ivory, introduced into the west from Byzantium in medieval times. Became symbol of royalty, owing to rich carving and decoration.
elephantiasis
chronic, often extreme enlargement and hardening of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue, especially of the legs and external genitals, resulting from lymphatic obstruction and usually caused by infestation of the lymph glands and vessels with a filarial worm.
elephantine
huge--also clumsy, unwieldy (elephantine movements; elephantine humour).
Nagendra (male)
From Sanskrit naga serpent, elephant + Indra (used as a superlative suffix), meaning 'the mightiest serpent' or 'the mightiest elephant'. It is attested as a vocabulary word denoting a particularly large or powerful snake or elephant in epic and classical texts, but is not found as a name until late medieval times.
pachyderm
A thick-skinned mammal, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus. Early naturalists classified these animals, together with pigs and walruses, in a group called Pachydermata. The classification is now abandoned but the term is still used.
Elephant Pass
a narrow strip of land at the north end of Sri Lanka, linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the island.
Serengeti National Park
A park in Tanzania, established in 1951 to protect wildlife, especially wildebeestes, gazelles, giraffes, elephants, and lions. It is now a World Heritage Site. Area: 14,763 sq km (5698 sq mi).
Nouable-Ndoki National Park
The Nouable-Ndoki National Park and surrounding area is now one of the last areas for free ranging forest elephants making conservation efforts in this area imperative for their survival. The major problems facing the elephants of this region is increased human population along with lumber and mining speculation which has dwindled the area elephants can travel with relative security. The opening of logging roads into the once unpenetrable Nouable-Ndoki forest has brought the poacher with it. Elephants are hunted for the few pounds of ivory that their tusks provide for rings and tourist trinkets sold in the shops of Brazzaville. The conservation presence has greatly diminished illegal hunting, but the temptation of easy money, close access to the park and an increased supply of guns from the Congo Civil War has taken a toll on the elephant populations. It is hoped that increased conservation and involvement of the local community will continue to curb hunting in the area.
Dzanga National Park
Dzanga National Park in the CAR.
Kruger National Park
A game and plant reserve in NE South Africa, adjacent to the border with Mozambique. About 325 km (202 mi) long and 20-50 km (12-31 mi) wide, it serves to protect such species as lions, leopards, zebras, and elephants. Area: about 21 000 sq km (8106 sq mi).
The Addo Elephant National Park
in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is 48 km (30 miles), 11718 ha. Endangered Elephant Sanctuary situated 73km from Port Elizabeth in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The conservation success story of this park is world famous. Since its proclamation in 1931, the last eleven elephants in that region have bred to number 170.
Tembe Elephant Park
in South Africa. Situated in Maputaland, the north-eastern region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, adjoining the Mozambique border, Tembe is home to the province's biggest elephant herd and its only indigenous elephants. Tembe's elephants used to be South Africa's last remaining free-ranging herd, at one time moving seasonally between Mozambique and Maputaland. In recent years they have sought refuge in the dense sand forests of Tembe to escape the depradations of border conflicts and landmines, and their continuous harassment by ivory poachers.
Amboseli National Park
where Cynthia Moss studies elephant families, covers 150 square miles in southern Kenya, near the Tanzanian border.
Knysna Elephant Park
home of the world’s southernmost elephants. Pass cursor over name to see page about this park.
Knysna Elephant Park
see the elephant
To forty-niners and those following, no expression characterized the California gold rush more than the words "seeing the elephant." Those planning to travel west announced they were "going to see the elephant." Those turning back claimed they had seen the "elephant's tracks" or the "elephant's tail," and confessed they'd seen more than enough of the animal.
The expression predated the gold rush, arising from a tale current when circus parades first featured elephants. A farmer, so the story went, hearing that a circus was in town, loaded his wagon with vegetables for the market there. He had never seen an elephant and very much wished to. On the way to town he encountered the circus parade, led by an elephant. The farmer was thrilled. His horses, however, were terrified. Bolting, they overturned the wagon and ruined the vegetables. "I don't give a hang," the farmer said, "for I have seen the elephant."
For gold rushers, the elephant symbolized both the high cost of their endeavor -- the myriad possibilities for misfortune on the journey or in California -- and, like the farmer's circus elephant, an exotic sight, and unequaled experience, the adventure of a lifetime.
pink elephants
when a person is drunk--have had a drop too much of an alcoholic drink, have had one too many, not hold one's liquor, he may think that he sees pink elephants.
Elephant Red
a beer brewed by Labatt Brewing Company.
Tusker Beer
flagship beer of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL).
Beer Chang
is the Thai version of Carlsberg's Elephant Beer. Chang means elephant in Thai. It's a strong beer but does not taste strong. Be careful with this beer. A beer which runs down this easily and holds 8-9% alcohol is dangerous.
Pink Elephant Stout
a beer from the Pink Elephant Brewery, one of the microbreweries of New Zealand.
Mammoth
strong ale from the Pink Elephant Brewery, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand.
Pachyderm Stout
Irish style stout from the Pink Elephant Brewery, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand.
Bull Elephant
a sweet stout Irish beer.
Elephant
a beer brewed by Carlsberg Breweries. Strong, imported beer. Elephant beer derived its name from the imposing Elephant Gate entrance to the Carlsberg Breweries in Copenhagen. Brewed since 1959, Elephant Beer is a strong lager with a smooth and distinctive taste.
Elephant House ginger beer
canned soft drink , a product of Ceylon Cold Stores Ltd.
The Elephant & Wheelbarrow
A Traditional British Pub in the heart of Northbridge, Perth Western Australia.
White Elephant Salon
A famous local saloon of the 1880s, the White Elephant Saloon is an authentic Old-West watering hole which was re-opened more than 15 years ago on Exchange Avenue in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.
Elephant Pub
old English mansion, located in Singapore, serving now as a pub. Built in 1842, it's a one of a kind real English Manor House/Pub, filled with old English artifacts, complete with a library Trophy Room with Tiger heads, Elephants and two Victorian bars.
The Elephant Walk
two restaurants located in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The restaurants serve French and Cambodian cuisine.
rogue elephant
wild fierce animal driven away or living apart from others because of his abberant behavior.
Megatherium
A genus of extinct giant ground sloths that lived in North and South America about a million years ago. Megatherium was about the size of a modern elephant and probably ate leaves. Giant mammals like this were common in South America before the Panama isthmus closed at the end of the Ice Age, when most of them--including Megatherium--became extinct.
wart snake
A thick-bodied fish-eating aquatic snake belonging to the family Acrochordidae (2 species), having valves that close the mouth and nostrils when under water. The brown Javan wart snake (Acrochordus javanicus), also known as the elephant's-trunk snake, is 1.2 m long and occurs in rivers and coastal waters of Australia and SE Asia.
taro
A perennial herbaceous plant, Colocasia esculenta, also known as eddo, dasheen, and elephant's ear, native to tropical Asia and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas for its edible tubers. The tubers, which are large, starchy, and spherical, contain more protein than potatoes and are eaten cooked as vegetables or made into puddings or bread. Family: Araceae.
ganesa/ganesh
One of the principal Hindu deities, portrayed as having an elephant's head on a human body. His father Shiva beheaded him, but then decided to save him and replaced his human head with that of the first creature he found. A popular god, he is the teacher of the gods and is invoked at the start of any undertaking since he is believed to remove obstacles.
From Sanskrit gana host or horde + isa lord, meaning 'lord of the hosts'. Ganesa was originally a title in the Mahabharata of the god Shiva, who is renowned for having hosts of demigods in his retinue. These often have semi-animal forms and some demonic attributes, but some texts say that they are human beings who achieved semi-divine status by worship.
In the Mahabharata and especially in the Puranas, Ganesh is also the name of the elder son of Shiva. Numerous legends are recounted about his origins: he was born from the sweat and dust on the body of Shiva's wife, or was a clay doll that was brought to life; he was born of the mystical syllable om, or born of Shiva and his wife mating in the form of elephants. Ganesh has the head of an elephant. His body is that of a short fat man with a huge belly, and he often has a large rat as his vehicle. He is regarded as the god of obstacles and is therefore propitiated at the beginning of all Hindu ceremonies and at the beginning of literary works.
He is said to have written down the Mahabharata at the dictation of the sage Vyasa, using his broken tusk as a stylus. He is also the god of wisdom, often outwitting his brother Skanda or Kartikeya. He is widely worshipped in India and has his own festival when clay images are used.
jumbo
as applied to elephants derives from the African word jamba. Large animal, especially an elephant, person, or thing.
trumpet
sound of an enraged elephant (a trumpet like cry).
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, British explorer (1874 - 1922)
He accompanied Captain Robert Scott's expedition of 1901-04 and on his own expedition in 1908-09 nearly reached the South Pole. In an expedition of 1914-16 his ship, the Endurance, was marooned but he and his men reached Elephant Island by sledge and boats. With five others he then journeyed 1300 km (800 mi) to find relief. He died on his fourth expedition.
Kalpana (female)
From Sanskrit kalpana making, imagining, fantasy. The word is used to mean 'ornament' in the Mahabharata and specifically 'an elephant's finery' in a late classical text. In religious texts it is used to refer to the act of resolution immediately prior to the performance of a ritual, during which the performer concentrates on the solemn purpose of the ritual. Its use as a name is not attested before late medieval times and presumably refers to ideal female beauty in terms of perfect creation or imagination.
Pleistocene epoch
The epoch of geological time between the Pliocene and the Holocene, at the beginning of the Quaternary period. It lasted from about 1.8 million to 10 000 years ago. Fossils from the Pleistocene include horses, pigs, and elephants. It is often called the Ice Age because during this time the earth experienced great fluctuations in temperature: cold glacial periods, when the ice margins advanced towards the equator, separated by warmer interglacials, when temperatures at times were higher than today. Four main ice advances are recognized in the Pleistocene.
Baron Georges Leopold C.F.D. Cuvier, French naturalist (1769 - 1832)
carried out a study of fossil elephants which in effect founded the science of palaeontology. Pioneering also in comparative anatomy, he was the first to classify the lower invertebrates. He realized that each species could be derived from another by small changes in structure, which proved crucial in the emergence of evolutionary theory. However, he believed resolutely in the creationist view and quarrelled publicly with the early proponents of evolution, notably Lamarck.
nayak (male)
From Sanskrit vinayaka 'one who leads asunder', attested in late Vedic texts and in the Mahabharata as the name of a class of demons that cause despondency, failure, and even madness. They are loosely connected with Rudra, god of destruction. In later texts Vinayaka is a name of the elephant-headed god Ganesh, who is regarded as the son of Shiva (a euphemistic epithet of Rudra). Both as a name of Ganesh and as a personal name, it is used mainly in southern India.
Roc
a huge bird told of in one of the adventures of Sinbad the sailor. The bird could lift elephants in its claws.
Seth (male)
Of uncertain origin, but given in dictionaries of Hindi and other modern Indian languages as being derived from Sanskrit setu bridge, or sveta white. Setu, attested in the Rig-Veda, came to signify the sacred syllable om (see Om) in Puranic and Tantric texts, but is not found as a name in Sanskrit literature. However, sveta, also attested in the Rig-Veda, is the name of various characters from late Vedic texts onwards, including a solar deity, an attendant of Skanda (son of Shiva), a son of King Sudeva, a mythical elephant, and an incarnation of Shiva. From the epics onwards it is also the name of a range of mountains and an island in Hindu cosmography.
Padma (male, female)
From Sanskrit padma lotus, denoting especially Nelumbium speciosum which closes at evening. The word is widely attested from epic and classical texts onwards. It is often used symbolically, for example to denote the cakras, or centres of psychic energy in the human body. It is also the name of one of the nine treasures of the god of wealth Kubera, in which sense it is frequently personified. Padma occurs as the name of numerous minor characters in Sanskrit literature, for example a serpent, a mythical elephant, a demon, an attendant of Skanda (the son of Shiva), a brahmin, and a king. In a later text it is an epithet of Rama. Its use as a male name is commonest in Nepal, Kashmir and northern India. The feminine form padma is attested as a name of the goddess Sri or Lakshmi from epic and classical texts. In modern times Padma is commoner as a feminine Name.
Elephant Butte Dam
a section of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo), Mexico/USA. The largest dam of the Rio Grand (river). It is in New Mexico, which impounds a lake 518 sq km (200 sq. miles) in area, irrigating over 200,000 ha (494,000 acres).
white elephant
a useless possession. A rare, expensive possession that is a financial burden to maintain. Something of dubious or limited value. An article, ornament, or household utensil no longer wanted by its owner. An endeavor or venture that proves to be a conspicuous failure.
white elephant
A rare whitish or light-gray form (actually an albino) of the Asian elephant, often regarded with special veneration in regions of southeast Asia and India.
herd, parade
collective name for elephants. Use as in "a herd of elephants."
The Elephant Celebes
painting by Max Ernst, 1891 - 1976.
Hans Wenzel, c. 1538-1603
one of the members of a family of famous German goldsmiths. He is famous for a table fountain in the form of an elephant.
Elephant and Castle
A public-house sign at Newington, said to derive its name from the skeleton of an elephant dug up near Battle Bridge in 1714. A flint-headed spear lay by the remains, whence it is conjectured that the creature was killed by the British in a fight with the Romans. There is another public-house with the same sign in St. Pancras, probably intended to represent an elephant with a howdah.
Lucy the Elephant national historic building
located in Margate, New Jersey. Lucy is the world's largest elephant. She is the only one in America designated as a National Historic Landmark. She was built in 1881 by James V. Lafferty, a real estate developer with a knack for promotion. Standing six stories tall, weighing 90 tons, covered with 12,000 square feet of sheet metal, Lucy was more than an object of awe --she was a functioning building, serving first as a hotel, then as a tavern.
Lucy proved very useful. Lafferty made a bundle and went on to build other, even larger elephants in Cape May and Coney Island. Only Lucy has survived. She nearly didn't. By the late 1960s, Lucy was an abandoned wreck on the verge
of collapse. The citizens of Margate banded together and raised money to restore the proud pachyderm to her former glory.
elephant paper
a paper size (royal, octavo, crown quarto, demy, elephant, etc. A large-sized drawing-paper, measuring 20 inches by 23. There is also a double elephant paper, measuring 40 inches by 26 3/4.
clan
a family or group of animals such as elephants.
An Elephant in Arcady, 1938
a play written by Farjeon Herbert, 1887-1945.
howdah
usually canopied seat for riding on an elephant or camel.
mahout
in India and other southeast Asian countries, an elephant-driver. [Hindi from Sanskrit]
Muha-pudma
in Eastern mythologies, the elephant which supports the world. According to Indian mythology, the world rests on the head of a great elephant, and when, for the sake of rest, the huge monster refreshes itself by moving its head, an earthquake is produced.
Chukwa
in Eastern mythologies, the tortoise which supports the elephant
Achtequed-jams
in Eastern mythologies we are told that the world stands on the backs of eight elephants.
Elephant Hotel
ficticious place in William Makepeace Thackeray's book, Vanity Fair.
Elephant Hill
a stronghold in the 14th cent., when Kurunegala was the capital of a Sinhalese kingdom. Kurunegala is a town (1995 est. pop. 29,500), W central Sri Lanka. It is a road junction and the administrative and commercial center of a coconut, rice, and rubber plantation district.
Elephant Rock
The trunk of a unique rock formation on Prince
Edward Island that resembled an elephant. Elephant Rock is no more. It was destroyed by a winter storm just before Christmas of 1998. Elephant Rock was created and six years later destroyed by the relentless winds and pounding ocean waves of the Northumerland Strait. The bright red rock, in the shape of an elephant, was the vocal point of West Prince tourism being featured on the front page of the region's tourism guide, on the provincial map and on the cover of a pictorial of the region.
Elephant Lake
in Northern Minnesota. The lake is 3 miles long by 1 mile wide. It is a glacial lake with deep holes 12 to 30 feet. It is ideal for a varied fish population including walleye, northern, small-mouth bass and crappies. Because of the low fishing pressure, average size of the fish is rather large.
an elephant in the moon
Sir Paul Neal, a conceited virtuoso of the seventeenth century, gave out that he had discovered an elephant in the moon. It turned out that a mouse had crept into his telescope, which had been mistaken for an elephant in the moon. Samuel Butler wrote a satirical poem on the subject called The Elephant in the Moon.
Thomas Nast, 1840-1902
German-born American editorial cartoonist whose caricatures in Harper's Weekly contributed to the downfall of the Tweed Ring in New York City. He also established the donkey and the elephant as symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties.
The Elephant
a collection of satirical short stories written by Sawomir Mrozek in 1967.
The Elephant in the Moon
a satirical poem written by Samuel Butler.
The Twilight of the Elephant
a novel written by Elio Vittorini in 1947.
The Four Rajahs
a game in which the pieces are the king, his general or fierche, the elephant or phil, the horsemen, the camel or ruch, and the infantry.
elephant chess or xiangqi (pronounced shee-ahng-chee in Mandarin)
a popular board game. It is a chess variant played throughout China, southeast Asia, and wherever Chinese immigrants have settled down.
Elephant Beautiful Balls
billiard balls. They are used on the ESPN Ultimate 9-Ball challenge. They are the official tournament balls of the ESPN Ultimate 9-Ball Challenge.
Fou
is a corruption of the Eastern word Fol (an elephant), as Thomas Hyde remarks in his Ludis Orientalibus. Also on old chess boards the places occupied by our bishops were occupied by elephants.
Alabama Crimson Tide
nickname of the University of Alabama football team. The elephant became associated with the team in 1930. The 1930 team was considered a great football team. On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. Strupper wrote, "That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes.
"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big and they went right to their knitting scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against one of the best fighting small lines that I have seen. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground." "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size." Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions.
Guineas
Sir Robert Holmes, in 1666, captured in Schelling Bay 160 Dutch sail, containing bullion and gold-dust from Cape Coast Castle in Guinea. This rich prize was coined into gold pieces, stamped with an elephant, and called Guineas to memorialise the valuable capture.
The Aulay
in Indian mythology, is the horse with a huge trunk, on which Baly the giant rode. Through these wide portals oft had Baly rode Triumphant from his proud abode, When, in his greatness, he bestrode The Aulay, hugest of four-footed kind. The Aulay-horse, that in his force With elephantine trunk, could bind And lift the elephant, and on the wind Whirl him away, with sway and swing, E’en like a pebble from the practised sling.
an animal that attacks the elephant
books in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries indicated that "The unicorn has but one horn in the middle of its forehead. It is the only animal that ventures to attack the elephant; and so sharp is the nail of its foot, that with one blow it can rip the belly of that beast."
the unicorn
Pliny, a Roman naturalist, out of whose account of the unicorn most of the modern unicorns have been described and figured, records it as "a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and a single black horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its forehead."
Elephanta
an island, about 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in Bombay harbor, Maharashtra state, W India. It is noted for six Brahmanic caves, carved (8th cent.) from solid rock some 250 ft (76 m) above sea level. The Great Cave, the largest (130 ft/40 m long), contains gigantic pillars supporting its roof and colossal statuary, most notably the famous three-headed bust of the Hindu god Shiva. The caves are much visited by Hindu pilgrims, especially since they were restored in the 1970s. The statue of an elephant, now removed to Bombay city, gives the island its English name. The Indian name is Gharapuri.
animal symbolism
an elephant--sagacity, ponderosity.
Elephant Range
mountains in southwestern Cambodia.
orders of chivalry
Among the best known orders of chivalry are the Danish Order of the Elephant created in 1462.
The Elephant's Eye
an information service on new religious movements. The project is called "Elephant's Eye since religions are like large impressive elephants. Unfortunately, they do not see as well as they should. A little help to see the facts would be good!"
Bursera or elephant tree
a genus of the incense-tree family, the tropical elephant tree. It is the source of several gums and resins. Elephant trees are large shrubs or relatively small trees, characterised by their thick, swollen trunks which serve for water storage. The trunks also resemble elephants legs and trunks. Therefore, it is how the tree got its name.
They are very common in the drier desert regions of the Baja California peninsula (Mexico) and also in the western parts of mainland Mexica (Sonora), but only one of the elephant trees (Bursera microphylla) extends into the most southerly part of the USA. The other common elephant tree of Baja California is Pachycormus discolor (the term "pachy-" meaning elephant-like, because elephants are pachyderms). This plant is in a totally different family (the cashew family, Anacardiaceae) and yet looks almost identical to B. microphylla. The main features that help to distinguish it are the greyish twigs and the pinnate leaves with larger, irregular leaflets. The two plants often grow together in the same habitat and look almost identical when not in leaf.
The Elephant Tree, Bursera microphylla, the rare northernmost species in California and Arizona, is of a small, aromatic, tropical family which is extremely susceptible to cold. They have an open, but sparse crown, and grow to a height of only 10 feet. These trees typically have pinnate leaves that are shed in drought conditions, but the plants can photosynthesise through the stems of the trunk and major branches, which have a white, papery bark overlying the green photosynthetic tissues.
The Elephant Tree's scientific name means "small-leafed." Dull, light-green, oblong leaves about an inch long, with a winged axis, are composed of tiny leaflets. The twigs are reddish-brown, and the bark is thin and flaky, white on the outside with lower layers green, then red.
Elephant Trees were so rare in the California/Arizona area, that for many years, skeptics refused to acknowledge their existence. It wasn't until 1937 that this species was confirmed growing in the Anza-Borrego Desert Park region. In the 1980s, specimens were also discovered in the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains, 20 miles to the north. Native Americans considered medicines prepared from the Elephant Tree very valuable and powerful.
ratite
common and general term for a variety of flightless birds which include the now extinct Madagascan elephant birds (Aepyornithiformes). They are characterized by a flat, raftlike sternum rather than the keeled sternum, designed to support flight muscles, typical of most birds. Once used more technically, ratite, or Ratitae, is today but a loose covering term for a number of bird orders whose members possess such a breast shape.
It is generally recognized, however, that the common morphology shared by these assorted birds is the product of a shared adaptation to ground living rather than of a common evolutionary descent. While ratites were formerly thought to be ancestral to the carinates, or flying birds, they are now believed to be degenerate forms that have lost adaptation for flight. Indeed, they resemble permanent overgrown chicks with short, stubby wings and soft rather than stiff-vaned flight feathers.
This condition, in which animals reach adult size and maturity while maintaining an infantile appearance, is called neoteny. In their own environment, however, the ratites are by no means inferior to other birds. With their strong, heavy legs and reduced toes, they are powerful runners, and their heavy, solid bones are sturdier than the hollow bones of flying birds.
The ratites also include the Afro-Asian ostriches (order Struthioniformes) and their South American counterparts the rheas (Rheiformes). Also included are a number of orders now or recently native to Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea--the emus and cassowaries (Casuariiformes); the kiwis (Apterygiformes); the extinct moas (Dinornithiformes) and several other extinct orders.
elephant beetle
one of the largest scarab beetles in North America. In most species of this group the males are prominently horned.
The Stolen White Elephant
written by Mark Twain in 1882.
Information on this page came from various sources such as the Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press; The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; Oxford Paperback Encyclopedia; The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English; The Oxford Companion to English Literature; Penguin Encyclopedia of Places; Bloomsbury Thematic Dictionary of Quotations; The Macmillan Encyclopedia 2001; Bloomsbury Thesaurus; The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Macmillan Press Ltd, 1994; Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1810-1897; and The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2000; Botany Encyclopedia of Plants.
