I have never heard of an elephant in India so much as kicking,
striking or otherwise injuring either human beings or other
domestic animals. There have been several instances, however, of
persons killed by elephants which were temporarily insane, or
"_must,_" and also by others permanently insane. In America
several persons have been killed in revenge for ill treatment. In
Brooklyn a female elephant once killed a civilian who burned her
trunk with a lighted cigar. It is the misfortune but not the fault
of the elephant that in advanced age or by want of necessary
exercise, he is liable to be attacked by _must,_ or sexual
insanity, during which period he is clearly irresponsible for his
acts.

So many men have been killed by elephants in this country that of
late years the idea has been steadily gaining ground that
elephants are naturally ill-tempered, and vicious to a dangerous
extent. Under fair conditions, nothing could be farther from the
truth. We have seen that in the hands of the "gentle Hindu" the
elephant is safe and reliable, and never attacks man except under
the circumstances already stated. In this country, however, many
an elephant is at the mercy of quick-tempered and sometimes
revengeful showmen, who very often do not understand the
temperaments of the animals under their control, and who during
the traveling season are rendered perpetually ill-tempered and
vindictive by reason of overwork and insufficient sleep. With such
masters as these it is no wonder that occasionally an animal
rebels, and executes vengeance. In Minneapolis in December an
elephant once went on a rampage through the freezing of its ears.
I am quite convinced that an elephant could by ill treatment be
driven to insanity, and I have no doubt that this has been done