PECULIARITIES OF THE TWO SPECIES. 
243 
effect than somewhat to bewilder him, and cause 
him momentarily to stay his headlong course. And 
that the shots in question were well directed, was 
shown after the death of the animal, <c when the 
three balls were found lodged so close together as 
only to occupy a space of about three inches. 55 
Elsewhere, Sir Samuel says, ss It was only in a 
single instance that I succeeded in slaying an Afri¬ 
can elephant with a front shot, although I have 
steadily tried the experiment on several occasions. 55 
Then, again, the back of the Indian elephant is 
exceedingly convex, whilst that of the African is 
exactly the reverse, and the concavity behind the 
shoulder is succeeded by a peculiarity in the sudden 
rise of the spine above the hips. 
The African elephant is, besides, superior, in 
height, by a foot or more, to the average of the 
Indian ; and both sexes are armed with formidable 
tusks, with which weapons females of the last- 
named species are not always, I believe, provided; 
or, if so, they are of comparatively diminutive 
size. 
The teeth of the African elephant, moreover, 
differ materially from those of the Indian by con¬ 
taining a lesser number of laminse or plates, the 
surfaces of which, instead of exhibiting straight and 
parallel lines like those of the Indian, are shaped 
in slight curves, which increase the power of 
grinding. 
The two species differ, not only in certain pecu¬ 
liarities of form, but in their habits. The Indian 
elephant, for example, dislikes the sun, and in- 
r 2 
