INTELLIGENCE, POWER, 



shooting. In neither instance did the bullet penetrate a 

 vital organ of the lion. 



In the case of the first lion, the total concussion effects 

 of nine shots were required to discharge completely the 

 hundreds of millions of brain cells. The second lion was 

 killed instantly at 18 feet by the powerful concussion 

 waves that spread from the shoulder nerves and the adja- 

 cent spinal cord to the brain and entire nervous system, 

 completely detonating the hundreds of millions of brain 

 cells. 



Above all things, the hunter endeavors to place his shot 

 so that the animal cannot escape wounded. Therefore, the 

 shot high in the center of the shoulder, just below the level 

 of the spinal column, is the "mercy shot." 



The vigorous activity of an animal after the circulation 

 of the blood has been arrested by a heart shot has an 

 interesting scientific aspect. Mr. Leslie Tarlton, a famous 

 big-game hunter in Africa, told me that the vigor of the 

 getaway or the vigor of the charge, after the destruction 

 of the heart, was, to his mind, explained largely by the 

 animal's state of excitement when shot. If the animal was 

 quiet and not roused or startled, he would move little when 

 shot through the heart and would go down readily, but if 

 he was on the alert, frightened, or chased, he might bound 

 away. In the case of a lion, however, he might charge 

 vigorously. 



Mr. Tarlton made a practice of not firing immediately at 

 a lion that was coming toward him. His procedure was to 

 freeze and, with rifle pointed, to wait until the lion had 

 made his decision. Then, he said, the lion, though wounded, 

 will continue the intention established in his mind before 

 he received the shot. 



Two facts are important, (i) The complete heart shot 

 in an unsuspecting quiet animal will not be followed by the 

 violent bounding away or the vigorous charge of the animal 

 that is first roused or startled, then shot. (2) When an ani- 



80 



