ELEPHANT TUSKS 419 



Sudan. Their tusks have been carefully measured, and 

 show the following dimensions and weights: 



Length along outside 



curve . . . 7 ft. 3 in. 7 ft. 2 in. 6 ft. 3 in. 6 ft. 1 in. 



Length along inside 



curve . . . . 6 ft. 5 in. 6 ft. 1 in. 5 ft. 5 in. 5 ft. 2 in. 



Greatest circumfer- 

 ence .... 18| in. 18i in. 19 in. 19 in. 



Circumference at base 18 in. 18 in. 18 j in. 18| in. 



Weight .... 70 lbs. 68| lbs. 64 lbs. 58| lbs. 



There appears to be considerable difference in the average 

 size of tusks from the various African regions. For example, 

 while those from Abyssinia and Taka show an average of 

 about 25 lbs., the average for tusks from Central Africa is 

 about 40 lbs., the usual limit of size being 40 lbs. from the 

 former region and as high as 140 lbs. from the latter; this, 

 of course, leaves out of account the occasional tusks of al- 

 together exceptional weight. The difficulty experienced 

 in securing a really symmetrical pair of tusks is principally 

 caused by the fact that an elephant will use one of them, 

 either the right or the left, as the case may be, more fre- 

 quently than the other, just as most men employ the right 

 hand more usually than the left one. This "working tusk" 

 called by the Arabs the Hadam, or "Servant," will therefore 

 exhibit great signs of wear. Although its trunk is of vastly 

 more use to an elephant than its tusks, still the African 

 elephant, a much more decided tree feeder than the Indian, 

 utilizes them in the wholesale destruction of mimosa trees, 

 a favorite article of diet. By thrusting the tusks like crow- 

 bars under the roots of such trees, which while generally 

 from 16 ft. to 20 ft. high, have no tap roots, the elephants 

 can easily bring them to the ground.* 



* This and the following paragraph communicated by Lieut. F. W. Feavearyear of the 

 British Army. 



