THE ELEPHANT 
A study of the hind quarters of an African elephant will show that from 
behind the pelvis they slope off very sharply, and that from the top of the 
animal’s back to the root of the tail the vertebral column stands out in the 
form of a high ridge some inches in breadth. If a bullet is placed in the 
centre of this high ridge, about three feet above the root of an elephant’s 
tail, his hind quarters will be instantly paralysed and the injured animal 
placed at one’s mercy. But the bullet must be placed in the centre of the 
ridge and should therefore be fired at short range. 
Should an elephant have any of the large bones of either a fore or a hind 
leg broken, it becomes at once absolutely helpless, as it will not be able 
to move from the place where it is standing; and when using the large 
smooth-bore guns of forty years ago, the elephant hunters of that period 
often aimed deliberately at the great bulge to the side of the chest of a 
half-facing elephant, which marked the spot where the knob of the 
humerus joined the shoulder-blade. If this spot was fairly hit, the bone was 
almost certainly shattered and the elephant anchored. It is, however, I 
think, possible that where a large round bullet might shatter a bone, a 
small hole might be drilled through it without doing much damage by a 
hard nickel-coated projectile fired from a modern cordite rifle. After a 
shot has been fired at a bull elephant amongst a herd of cows, a sudden 
charge by one of the latter is always to be expected, and it may become 
necessary to shoot such an aggressive animal in self-defence. Whenever 
an elephant is seen holding its ears half cocked forwards, turning quickly 
from side to side, and holding its tail straight up in the air, look out for 
it, for an animal acting in this way will assuredly charge immediately it 
is able to locate the whereabouts of its enemy either by sight, scent or 
hearing. 
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