ELEPHANT TUSKS 411 



weight had diminished to 226 pounds and 216 pounds respec- 

 tively, a loss of about 10 pounds on each tusk, over 4 per 

 cent, of loss. The price paid by the British Museum for the one 

 purchased for that institution was £350 ($1,750) ; for the smal- 

 ler tusk Messrs. Joseph Rodgers & Sons paid £325 ($1,625). 

 These wonderful examples of elephant ivory far exceed in 

 weight, though not in length, any others that have been se- 

 cured. The next in weight among those owned in England is 

 one weighing 198 pounds, in the possession of Major H. B. 

 Powell Cotton. Even tusks ranging from 100 pounds to 110 

 pounds in weight have been but rarely found during the past 

 five years. 



These famous tusks, the heaviest ever brought from 

 either Africa or India, came from Kilimanjaro, East Africa. 

 Their original weight was 236 pounds and 225 pounds, 

 respectively, the exact dimensions of the larger one being 

 given as follows:* 



Length of outside curve 10 ft. 1 in. 



Length of inside curve 8 ft. 10 in. 



Base to tip in straight line 8 ft. 1 in. 



Circumference at commencement of solid ivory . . . 23f in. 



Circumference at hoUow end 23f in. 



Diameter at commencement of solid ivory .... 7f in. 



The remarkable pair of tusks noted above were bought in 

 Zanzibar in 1900 for $5,000, and were exhibited for some 

 time by Tiffany & Co., of New York. The Arab who killed 

 the elephant declared that the aged animal was hardly able 

 to drag himself along, borne down as he was with the im- 

 mense weight of his tusks. Zanzibar ivory is of the variety 

 known as " soft ivory," the best material for working. Some 

 of the "soft ivory" from the West Coast is exceedingly 

 brittle, and it is related that a tusk of this type, while stand- 



*Commumcated by Hugo Laadsberger & Co., of London. 



