xxxi IVORY 393 



tusk is repaired by the formation of secondary dentine, 

 and the offending body is encapsulcd by the same 

 material. As the tusk advances in its Docket, the 

 bullet is gradually incorporated in solid ivory. The 

 thorough way in which a bullet may be embedded in 

 the solid part of an elephant's tusk, and no mark 

 betray it, is proved by the fact that one has been found 

 in a billiard ball. Such a specimen is preserved 

 in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 England. 



These things happened in the days of muskets and 

 black powder : the introduction of the rifle and high 

 velocity bullets has completely changed elephant- 

 shooting. African elephants are often killed by a 

 single well-placed bullet. Compare this with the 

 description of the shooting of the famous elephant 

 Chunee in 1826 at Exeter Change, a wild beast show 

 off the Strand near the Lyceum. Chunee became 

 dangerous and a detachment of infantry was employed 

 to kill him : one hundred bullets were fired into the 

 wretched animal for this purpose. The skeleton of this 

 elephant is preserved in the museum of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, England. When the skull was 

 examined after the skeleton had been macerated a large 

 abscess was found at the root of one of the teeth, which 

 partly accounted for the trouble Chunee caused the 

 keepers. 



When we reflect on the agony human beings suffer in 

 consequence of an abscess in the pulp of a molar tooth, 

 it appears difficult to estimate the suffering endured 

 by an elephant when the pulp of a tusk is inflamed. 



It is possible for a solid body to enter the pulp 

 chamber without penetrating the wall of the tusk. The 

 open end of the tusk looks upwards, and as the natives 

 have a way, among others, of killing elephants by 

 dropping a heavy loaded spear upon them from a tree, 

 or as the result of a trap, it sometimes happens that 

 the spear penetrates the open end of the tusk and is 



