“At Paris, some curious experiments have been lately made on the power
of music, over the sensibility of the elephant. A band of music went
to play in a gallery, extending round the upper part of the stalls, in
which were kept two elephants, distinguished by the names _Margaret_
and _Hans_. A perfect silence was procured; some provisions, of which
they were very fond, were given them to engage their attention, and the
musicians began to play. The music no sooner struck their ears, than
they ceased from eating, and turned, in surprise, to observe whence
the sounds proceeded. At the sight of the gallery, the orchestra,
and the assembled spectators, they discovered considerable alarm, as
though they imagined there was some design against their safety. But
the music soon overpowered their fears, and all other emotions became
completely absorbed in their attention to it. Music, of a bold and
wild expression, excited in them turbulent agitations, expressive,
either of violent joy, or of rising fury. A soft air, performed on the
bassoon, evidently soothed them to gentle and tender emotions. A gay
and lively air moved them, especially the female, to demonstrations of
highly sportive sensibility. Other variations of the music produced
corresponding changes in the emotions of the elephants.”
_Bingley’s Animal Biography._