ENCLOSED IN THE TUSKS OF THE ELEPHANT. 57 



of a substance which, although abnormal in the tusk of the 

 elephant, is nevertheless well known to the comparative ana- 

 tomist as occupying the interior of the teeth of some of the 

 other mammals, and usually considered to be ossified pulp. 

 It was evident that the pulp had ossified round the bullet, as 

 the first step towards the separation of the latter from it. In 

 one specimen the bullet has become enveloped in a hollow 

 sphere of this substance, on the surface of which the orifices 

 of medullary canals are situated. In other specimens the 

 irregular ivory, which surrounds the balls, had become smooth 

 on its surface, the medullary canals had disappeared, and the 

 regular ivory had been formed in a continuous layer over the 

 surface of the mass. In one tusk a cicatrix was seen occupy- 

 ing the hole through which the ball had passed, a circum- 

 stance which, when seen in similar specimens, has greatly 

 perplexed anatomists. It was observed, however, that in 

 this instance the shot had passed through that part of the 

 tusk which had been within the socket ; and bearing in mind 

 that the tusk is an organ of double growth, it appeared pro- 

 bable that the shot had been plugged up from within by the 

 ossified pulp, and from without by the continued growth of 

 cement, without any regeneration of the displaced ivory a 

 hypothesis which was afterwards verified by examination. 

 Before proceeding to give a more detailed account of this 

 interesting process, I shall state very briefly the opinions of 

 those authors who have written on the subject, so as to ascer- 

 tain how near they had approached to the truth, and to point 

 out the fallacies which had led them astray. 



Klockner mentions a ball of gold which was found by a 

 turner of Amsterdam in the substance of an elephant's tusk. 

 The longitudinal fibres of the tusk surrounded the metal in 

 an irregular manner, and were separated from the sound ivory 

 by a concentric chink situated at some distance from the 

 ball. 



