252 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



The intervening spaces in the board are then sawed through, 

 the hollow spaces falling out where the sharp is inserted. 

 The surface is polished by means of a circular felt-covered 

 disk which is guided by hand over the keyboard. Rotten 

 stone is used for the polishing. The small front part of 

 the key beneath the head was formerly made of ivory, 

 but now celluloid is used as a substitute. The saving may 

 seem slight, but because of the immense number of pianos 

 made and the keen competition every small saving is of 

 importance. At manufacturer's prices the keyboard with 

 keys sells for from $12 to $28 for fine quality, and rarely for 

 over $40 or $50. 



In normal times 350,000 sets of ivory piano keys are 

 made in the United States. The keyboards are almost 

 invariably 48 in. long and 6 in. wide, with 52 "heads" 

 and 52 "tails" intervening between the 36 ebony sharps. 

 Although weighing but 12 ounces when completed, these 

 "heads" and "tails" require 20 ounces of solid ivory for 

 their production. Thus it will be apparent that in normal 

 times, as for instance in 1913, the weight of the ivory used 

 for piano keys could reach 437,500 pounds. In 1886 the 

 consumption of ivory for this purpose was 110,000 pounds. 

 The use of celluloid as a substitute is very limited, amount- 

 ing to 8 per cent, of the total ivory or ivorylike material 

 used. The best ivory for piano keys is that obtained from 

 Abyssinia on the east coast of Africa. Many tusks also 

 come at present from Khartoum on the east side of the 

 Congo. 



Among the almost innumerable articles for which ivory 

 has been utilized because of its exceptional qualities, we 

 may enumerate all kinds of handles for daggers, knives, etc. 

 These hilts, or handles, are often elaborately carved, espe- 

 cially the ivory dagger-hilts; we may also note the rich inlays 

 in firearms so much in favour in the Orient. Li short, no 



