Joan Shamblin, age 13, of North Brunswick, N.J., for her question:

Why is an elephant called jumbo?

One of the world's most famous elephants spent some years of his life in London. He was the first elephant that countless Britishers, young and old, had ever seen. His name was jumbo, and he was greatly admired and loved. In 1882 jumbo was bought by p.t. Barnum, the american circus man. The price paid for this elephant was $10,000, and $20,000 more was paid to ship him to the new world.

In America, jumbo became the first elephant ever seen by more loving admirers. But his departure from England caused trouble of all kinds. Parents and children begged barnum to give him back. Even the queen and the prince of wales pleaded for his return, and newspapers and even parliament protested. Jumbo became famous indeed, so famous that all other elephants were given the nickname jumbo in his honor.