ELEPHANT TUSKS 409 



The British Nimrod, Gordon Cumming, states that he had 

 in his possession a tusk 10 ft. 9 in. in length and weighing 

 173 pounds. This was from an African elephant. If the 

 measurement is correct, it would be the longest tusk recorded 

 from the existing species of elephants, if we except the two 

 remarkable examples in the Bronx Zoological Collection of 

 Horns.* 



A curiosity recently exhibited in Siam at the housewarm- 

 ing of one of the provincial governors is a black elephant 

 tusk, 3 ft. in length, the diameter being above 6 in. Because 

 of its rarity and possibly also on account of a belief that so 

 unusual an object must possess talismanic virtue, this black 

 tusk had been carefully preserved for generations in the 

 governor's family as a greatly prized heirloom. Some of the 

 wealthy merchants in Siam decorate the walls of their 

 houses with thousands of dollars' worth of large tusks. 

 The Siamese elephant has furnished some of very considera- 

 ble dimensions, one in the National Museum at Bangkok 

 having a length of 9 ft. 



At an important State function in Siam one of the nobles 

 wore a splendid jewel set with diamonds, rubies, and sap- 

 phires. A European, who was much struck by its richness 

 and beauty, asked of the Siamese grandee if he might exam- 

 ine it more closely, but, on being accorded the privilege, he 

 was surprised to note the presence of an insignificant little 

 piece of old ivory as a pendant, and spoke of this to the 

 Siamese. "Oh," replied the latter, "that I consider to be 

 the most valuable part of my jewel. It is the tip of an ele- 

 phant's tusk found embedded in the trunk of a tree to which 

 the animal must have given such a violent thrust that he 

 could not free the tusk again without breaking off its point. 



*Ronalsyn Gordon Cumming, "Five Years of a Hunter's Life," New York, 1850, Vol. 

 I, p. 263. In Lydekker's "Royal Natural History," Vol. II, p. 546, this tusk is stated, 

 through an evident misprint, to have measured 20 ft. 9 in. in length. 



