MAMMOTH IVORY. 363 



from the Dogger bank by the North Sea trawlers. If, however, the 

 ivory turner expected to find a workable commodity in British mam- 

 moth tusks, he would be grievously disappointed. All those found in 

 the gravels and brick earths, as well as the specimens hauled up from 

 the Dogger bank, have lost the greater part of their animal matter, in 

 consequence of which they crumble more or less completely to pieces 

 when exposed to the influence of the atmosphere, and for the purpose 

 of preservation and exhibition have to be copiousl}^ treated with size 

 or gelatin. 



Not so the mammoth ivor}" of the Siberian tundras, which, in the 

 best preserved specimens, retains the whole of the original animal 

 matter, and, except when stained by earthy infiltrations, is as suitable 

 for the purposes of the turner as the best product of the African ele- 

 phant. This remarkable state of preservation has been produced by 

 entombment in the frozen soil of the tundras. In man}' instances, as 

 is well known, entire carcasses of the mammoth have been found thus 

 buried, with the hair, skin, and flesh as fresh as in frozen New Zealand 

 sheep in the hold of a steamer. And sleigh dogs, as well as Yakuts 

 themselves, have often made a hearty meal on mammoth flesh thou- 

 sands of years old. In instances like these it is evident that the mam- 

 moths must have been buried and frozen almost immediately after 

 death; but as the majority of the tusks appear to be met with in an 

 isolated condition, often heaped one atop of another, it would seem 

 that the carcasses were often broken up by being carried down the 

 rivers before their final entombment. Even then, however, the burial, 

 or at least the freezing, must have taken place comparatively quickly 

 as exposure in their ordinary' condition would speedily deteriorate the 

 quality of the ivor}^ 



The retention of their animal matter and their unaltered condition 

 have led some writers to object to the application of the term fossil to 

 the Siberian mammoth tusks and to restrict its use to the altered and 

 partially petrified specimens met in the superficial deposits of warmer 

 countries. This, however, is quite illogical, seeing that a fossil nuist 

 be defined as including the remains or traces of any animal or vegetable 

 buried in the earth by natural causes. And we may, therefore, with 

 perfect propriety speak of the Siberian mammoth tusks as fossil in 

 contradistinction to petrified ivory. 



How the mammoths were enabled to exist in a region where their 

 remains became so speedily frozen, and how such vast quantities of 

 these became accumulated in certain spots, are questions which do not 

 at present seem capable of being satisfactorily answered; and their 

 discussion would accordingly be useless, not to say out of place, on the 

 present occasion. It will suflice to say that, such accumulations do 

 exist and that the soil of certain portions of the tiuidras seems to be 

 almost crammed with such remains. 



