414 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



old bulls have become exceedingly rare, for when a bull- 

 elephant has developed tusks weighing, say, 50 pounds, 

 he does not usually long escape the zeal of the hunters for 

 ivory, either natives or foreigners.* 



The National Museum at Dublin, Ireland, possesses an 

 exceptionally fine elephant tusk weighing 176 lbs. It was 

 brought from the Uganda region in equatorial Africa and 

 measures about 6 ft. 3 in. in length. The circumference 

 taken at the middle of the tusk is 23 in., at the socket a trifle 

 less; owing to slight irregularity of the oval the diameter at 

 the socket varies at different points from 6J to 7j in. This 

 fine tusk was originally the property of Mr. Graham 

 Pownall.f 



A beautiful and symmetrical pair of tusks belong to the 

 Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. The longer meas- 

 ures 8 ft. 3 in., the other one being but Ij in. shorter. In 

 circumference also there is very little difference, the longer 

 tusk having a girth of 18 in. and the shorter one of 17f in. 

 This comparative evenness of size coupled with an exceed- 

 ingly graceful curve combine to render the tusks real orna- 

 ments. The comparatively slight difference between the 

 measurements along the curve and that between perpendic- 

 ulars, in one case 8 in., in the other case 7^ in., shows the 

 gracefulness of the curve in these tusks. 



Two heavy tusks were secured by the elephant hunter, 

 James Sutherland, when he brought down a big bull-ele- 

 phant with a single well-aimed shot through the forehead 

 to the brain. The heavier of the tusks weighed 152 pounds 



*Carl E. Akeley, "Elephant Hunting in Equatorial Africa," in the Museum Journal, 

 Vol. XII, No. 2, pp. 43-62; February, 1912. (Illustration of large bull with 110-pound 

 tusk, on p. 49, copyright by Carl E. Akeley). 



tCommunicated by Dr. R. S. ScharfF of the National Museum, Dublin, Ireland. The 

 tusk weighing 175 pounds and ha\'ing a circumference of 23f noted in Rowland Ward's 

 "Records of Big Game," was owned by Graham Pownall, and may be the other one of a 

 pair, although the great dijEEerence in length makes this improbable. 



