† Alice is a dead Female ♀ African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), , who died at Barnum & Bailey Circus, in United States, .
Alice was born wild at Sudan unspecified location. and imported 1865? by Lorenzo Casanova
The African elephant " Alice " was purchased of the late Mr. C. Rice (who at the time had an establishment in St. George's Street, E.) for the sum of £500. At that time she was under 4 ft. in height. She was very tractable. So small was she that it was suggested that she should be put in a cab and taken to the Gardens. Being anxious to remove her that same afternoon I determined to walk her through the streets. This I managed in spite of the trouble and annoyance caused by a crowd of two to three hundred of the London mob, composed as a London mob usually is of a lot of dirty, ragged, noisy boys, and not a few of that nomad, the London rough, the curse to modern travellers about town. Notwithstanding these difficulties I reached the Gardens just as it was dark. Finding my dinner awaiting me, I introduced my companion " Alice," who seated herself by my side at the table and evidently enjoyed the bread, apples, etc., with which I supplied her. One morning about nine o'clock in the month of August, Waterman, one of the keepers, came to me in breathless haste asking me to come to the elephant-house, at the same time saying that " Alice," the female African elephant, had torn off part of her Trunk. I went of course immediately and found the end of her Trunk lying in the middle of the den. Scott and one of the other keepers handed it to me at my request. It was warm and the nerves and muscles were still quivering and in motion ; it gave me a most painful shock. The poor beast appeared in great distress and agony, whirling and elevating her trunk and screaming ; she would not allow any one near her. I ordered the tank in the house to be filled with cold water, and a tarpaulin to be hung up in front of the den. I was sadly afraid I should have to destroy the poor creature and made the necessary preparation for an emergency ; however, I found, after visiting her from time to time, that the bleeding had stopped and that she had availed herself of the cold water into which to thrust the ragged end of the torn Trunk. When the painful excitement had partially worn off I weighed and measured the portion of the tom-off trunk. In weight it was 2 lbs. 2 ozs., and on the longest side measured 12 in. ; it however shrank considerably when placed in a glass jar containing strong spirits of wine. The constant and kind attention to the poor creature by the keepers convinced me that she would not die for want of food, as she allowed the men to put biscuits into her mouth, and by placing the indiarubber hose to her mouth she could take water. As the jagged end of the Trunk had ceased bleeding, and the animal had become quiet, I had great hopes of saving her life. Of course it was quite impossible to say what would happen. It might not heal, it might ulcerate and decay and rot off, and then it would be necessary to put an end to her sufferings. I was much gratified to find that the wound was gradually healing up, and continued to do so until it was perfectly sound, and the animal afterwards used her Trunk for all needful purposes nearly as well as the uninjured beasts.
(The name Alice is already submitted into the link, just click on the link for relevant results)
