IVORY. 273 



merce. Taking large and small together, twenty- 

 eight thousajid-t&ks are said annually to fimTtheTr 

 way into England alone, which will give some idea of 

 the great destruction committed amongst the animals 

 in question. The number killed in South Africa is 

 very great. Some idea of the havoc among them 

 may be formed from what the distinguished tra- 

 veller, Doctor Livingstone, tells us, " that within a 

 year and a half of his and Mr. Oswell's discovery of 

 Lake Ngami, no fewer than eleven hundred elephants 

 were slaughtered on and about the Zouga, the river 

 that falls out of that fine sheet of water." 



Ivory is chiefly used for knife-handles, carved 

 ornaments, chess-men, billiard balls, musical and 

 mathematical instruments, and so_ forth. Dieppe, 

 where works of every description and the most 

 beautiful finish are prepared, would appear to be , 

 the grand manufacturing place for this article. 



The valuable discovery of flattening ivory by sub- 

 jecting it to heat has considerably enhanced its 

 value and usefulness. The price of good bull- 

 elephant teeth in the London market varies from 

 five to ten shillings per pound. 



The texture of the ivory brought from Africa, i 

 may add, is said to be superior to that of India, 

 arising, it is supposed, from the drier atmosphere of 

 the first-named Continent, which tends to harden 

 and consolidate the tooth. 



In olden times, ivory was also in great request. 

 It is stated that its consumption in architecture/^ 

 painting, sculpture, &c., was at one period so great 

 in ancient Rome and Greece that the supplies ob- 



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