68 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[Mabch 1, 1899. 



gex, and even then in certain cases may be but very poorly 

 developpd. 



Again, it appears that in modern times, at all events, 

 much of the ivory yielded by the Asiatic elephant is worked 

 up in the land of its birth, comparatively little reaching 

 Europe in the raw state. Consequently, for recent ivory, 

 the European market is very largely dependent upon 

 the product of the African species, for which the great 

 commercial emporia are London and Antwerp. Now, 

 although, a few years ago, elephant hunting was a 

 profitable trade in the remoter districts of south-east 

 Africa, the herds have been so reduced in number, that 

 comparatively little ivory is obtained at the present day. 

 Moreover, the great stocks of ivory formerly possessed 

 by the native chiefs have been largely reduced or exhausted 

 over the greater portion of the country. It is true, indeed, 

 that in the Congo district elephants are still locally 

 abundant, while the opening up of the Egyptian Sudan 

 may very probably introduce to the market a supply of 

 tusks from Kordofan, Dafur, and the Bahr-el-Gazal districts. 

 But if these regions prove productive in ivory, it is only 

 too likely, unless proper precautions are taken, that they 

 will comparatively soon be shot out. And if the production 

 be not placed under restriction it is evident that the annual 

 supply will be relatively small. 



It is clear, therefore, that African ivory is likely to 

 become gradually scarcer and scarcer ; and if there were 

 no other source of supply this beautiful substance would 

 apparently soon reach a prohibitive price. 



As a matter of fact there exists, however, in the frozen 

 tundras of Siberia a supply of ivory which will probably 

 suffice for the world's consumption for many years to come. 



This ivory is the product of the mammoth (FAephna 

 pri mi genius), a species nearly allied to the Indian elephant, 

 but protected from the cold of the Arctic regions by a coat 

 of long, coarse hair, with a finer woolly underfur at the 

 base. The tusks, too, of the mammoth, were larger and 

 more curved than those of its living Asiatic relative, being 

 sometimes twisted into a spiral almost recalling that formed 

 by the horns of the African kudu. From the abundance 

 of these tusks it is further probable that they were 

 developed in both sexes. 



In addition to dwelling on the Arctic tundras of the Lena, 

 Yenisei, and Obi Valleys, as well as extending to the New 

 Siberian Islands (which in past times evidently formed a 

 portion of the Asiatic mainland), and Alaska, the mammoth 

 roamed over a large portion of Europe in Pleistocene times. 

 And in the gravels and brick-earths of our English river- 

 valleys its tusks, teeth, and bones are of comparatively 

 common occurrence ; while quantities of similar remains 

 are dredged from the Dogger-bank by the North Sea 

 trawlers. If, however, the ivory-turner expected to find 

 a workable commodity in British mammoth 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 ex- 

 hibition have to be copiously treated with size or gelatine. 



Not so the mammoth ivory 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 elephant. This 

 remarkable state of preservation has been produced by 

 entombment in the frozen soil of the tundras. In many 

 instances, as is well known, entire carcases 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 thousands 

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

 mammoths 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 ivory. 



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 must 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 contra- 

 distinction 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 cer- 

 tain spots, are questions which do not at present seem 

 capable of being satisfactorily answered ; and their discus- 

 sion would accordingly be useless, not to say out of place, 

 on the present occasion. It will suffice to say that such 

 accumulations do exist, and that the soil of certain portions 

 of the tundras seems to be almost crammed with such 

 remains. 



It may, however, be remarked that the contents of the 

 stomachs of the frozen mammoths, as also those of the 

 two species of rhinoceroses which were their fellow in- 

 habitants of the tundras, contain remains of pine needles 

 and other vegetable substances. And from this it may be 

 inferred that the tundras themselves were clothed with 

 forest during the mammoth epoch ; since the theory that 

 the carcases were carried down by the rivers flowing from 

 warmer southern regions into the Arctic Ocean can 

 scarcely merit serious attention. Possibly some light may 

 be thrown upon the subject by the great accumulations of 

 bones of large recent mammals, which have been met with 

 in certain districts of East Africa. 



Although, outside scientific and commercial circles com- 

 paratively little is known with regard to the subject in 

 England, mammoth ivory, in place of being a modern 

 discovery, was known to the ancients, and has for cen- 

 turies been an article of trade and manufacture. It is, 

 however, only recently that the history of the subject has 

 been worked out ; and for this we are largely indebted to 

 the labours of Sir H. H. Howorth,* and Dr. Trouessart.f 

 of Paris. Baron Nordenskiold has likewise contributed 

 important information on the subject in the " Voyage 

 of the Vega." And it is from these sources that the 

 following paragraphs are mainly compiled. 



If we may take the " buried ivory " mentioned by Pliny 

 on the authority of Theophrastus, a disciple of Aristotle, 

 to be the same as mammoth ivory, we may regard this 

 substance as known to the western world in the time of 

 Alexander. But apart from this, mammoth ivory was 

 evidently familiar at a very remote time to the Chinese, 



* " The Mammoth and the Flood," Chap. III. (1887.) 

 + "Le Mammoth et I'lvroire de SibSrip," UnJl. Soc. Acclim. Paris, 

 1898. 



