240 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



little or no doubt that they were in reality fossil remains 

 of some animal or animals, the precise species being difficult 

 or impossible for us to determine owing to the lack of a 

 more exact description. 



It appears that certain rodents have occasionally treated 

 ivory as a food product. This is because of the grease or 

 fat present in some kinds of tusks. Certain African tusks, 

 found embedded in the soil where they have lain for many 

 years, have been seriously damaged by the attacks of one 

 or more of the gnawing breeds of animals. Similar condi- 

 tions have sometimes been noted in the case of the fossil 

 ivory of Siberia and Alaska. This has also been known to 

 happen on shipboard where rats have gnawed tusks which 

 were being transported to Europe or America. The point 

 of the tusk, as the most vulnerable point, is generally the 

 part that is found to have been damaged in this way. A 

 buried tusk has sometimes been encountered, having a 

 passage gnawed quite through the tusk, a part of which is 

 thus open at both ends. As a tribute to the good taste of 

 these rodents, we are told that one dealer at least expressed 

 a preference for tusks that had been slightly gnawed, this 

 fact affording proof that the tusk in question was of softer 

 texture than the others, more or less greasy ivory being of 

 a softer hue and possessing greater translucency, and being 

 thus better fitted for certain kinds of work, such as flower 

 work, for instance, especially for roses; for the rich, warm 

 yellow of this ivory imitates wonderfully well the hue of the 

 finest yellow roses. Hence the term "rose ivory" has been 

 bestowed in some countries upon this variety, which was in 

 great demand during the period from 1840 to 1860 when carved 

 ivory roses enjoyed such a vogue. With some German 

 ivory carvers this period was denominated the " Rosenzeit."* 



*Communication of Mr. F. R. Kaldenberg. An example cited in illustration is pro- 

 nounced by Dr. Richard L. Lull to have been gnawed by a rodent similar to the American 

 muskrat, Fiber zibethicus, as its teeth fit quite well into the grooves. 



