ANCIENT CARVED IVORIES 23 



possessed some lost art for welding together separate pieces 

 of ivory. In the late Latin treatise on the arts of the Ro- 

 mans, belonging probably to the tenth century, and which 

 passes under the name of Eraclius, the following directions 

 are given : "Take sulphate of potash, fossil salt, and vitriol ; 

 these are ground with very sharp vinegar in a brass mortar. 

 Into this mixture the ivory is placed for three days and 

 nights. This being done, you will hollow into a piece of 

 wood as you please. The ivory being thus placed in the 

 hollow, you direct it and will bend it to your will." But 

 this recipe as well as others given by various ancient writers 

 do not give satisfactory experimental results. 



Although in some instances tusks of quite exceptional 

 size have furnished very large flat pieces of ivory, it is re- 

 garded as possible, if not probable, that the ancients cut 

 large cylindrical pieces from the median part of the tusk, 

 split these cylinders at a given point, softened them by some 

 process, and then flattened them out, thus securing a piece 

 as broad as the circumference of the tusk. This theory 

 was advanced by Mons. Quatremere de Quincy. Steeping 

 in vinegar and almond oil does really render ivory ductile 

 to a certain extent. While it can be decomposed by caustic 

 alkalis, it cannot be recomposed. 



Some very interesting, even if possibly not quite exact, 

 information as to the care bestowed upon the ivory material 

 of their statues by the ancient Greeks is afforded us by 

 Pausanias. Treating of the colossal chryselephantine statue 

 of Zeus at Olympia, he notes that around the black stone 

 flagging laid in front of the image there ran a raised edge of 

 Parian marble "to keep in the olive oil and water that is 

 poured out," adding, "for oil is good for the image at Olym- 

 pia," since it counteracted the effect of the moist atmosphere 

 caused by surrounding marsh land. In spite of all precau- 

 tions, we learn that some of the ivory plates did really crack 



