HORNS AND TUSKS 293 



to which great taHsmanic virtues were ascribed, would help 

 to assure for the new king a happy and glorious reign. 

 Though now of comparatively little value, these narwhal's 

 tusks were, a few centuries ago, very costly, and only the 

 rich could afford to buy them.* 



The treasury of the Abbey of St. Denis near Paris guarded 

 as one of its chief ornaments a "unicorn's horn," measuring 

 6 ft. 7 in. in length and weighing 25 marcs 3 ounces, or about 

 13 pounds. A valuation of 6,090 crowns ($13,500) was put 

 upon this by those who made the inventory of 1534. f The 

 weight indicates that this was a narwhal's tusk and not 

 the elephant's tusk said to have been bestowed upon Charle- 

 magne by Haroun al Rashid at the time the latter sent an 

 embassy bearing a number of valuable gifts to Charlemagne, 

 among which was a live elephant. { 



Among Anne de Bretagne's treasures was a unicorn's horn 

 having a silver-gilt setting at either end. It measured 6 

 ft. in length and weighed 21| marcs, or about llf pounds 

 avoirdupois; hence this was evidently one of the narwhal 

 tusks so greatly prized in the olden time. To preserve it 

 from possible injury the "horn" was enclosed in a leather 

 case provided with lock and key, and this case in turn was 

 securely locked up in a wooden coffer.** 



We have a detailed description of a very fine "unicorn's 

 horn" preserved in the treasury of Strassburg Cathedral in 

 the sixteenth century. This description was given to the 

 celebrated naturalist Conrad Gesner by his friend Nicholas 



*Murrayi, "A Handbook for Travellers;" Denmark, 4th ed., London, 1875, p. 58. 



fBibl. Nat. MS. fr. 18766; Fol. 27 of transcript in writer's library. 



JLydekker thinks this was an elephant tusk; but the light weight is against this view. 

 He is mistaken in stating that Eginhard relates the gift of an elephant's tusk to Charle- 

 magne by Haroun al Rashid; it was a live elephant that was sent. However, as this ani- 

 mal died a few years later, we may suppose that the tusks were preserved somewhere. 

 R. Lydekker, "Mammoth Ivory," Report of Smithsonian Institution, 1899, p. 364. 



**Inventaire d'Anne de Bretagne, 1498, Bibl. Nat. MS. frangais 22335. Fol. 53. Trans- 

 script in author's library from collection of M. E. Molinier. 



