THE COMMERCE OF IVORY 443 



the same species, furnish ivory differing as much in quahty 

 as does Egyptian ivory from that of the Congo. Indeed, 

 ivory of the same district will often vary greatly. While 

 some Congo ivory is hard, brittle, white, and translucent, 

 other material from the same region will be opaque, and 

 soft in texture as that from Zanzibar; it may also be green- 

 ish tinted at the nerve-centres. 



A large part of the trade in ivory imported to Europe is 

 in the hands of two firms, Messrs. Hale & Sons of London 

 and Messrs. Lansberger & Cie. of Antwerp, the latter house 

 taking all the ivory from the Belgian Congo. The price of 

 choice pieces of ivory in the London market is sometimes 

 very high. For instance, while in 1908, $453 per cwt. repre- 

 sented a record figure for whole tusks, $750 per cwt. was 

 paid for cut points especially suitable for billiard balls. 



The general price-movement of ivory in the New York 

 market during the past thirty -eight years is shown in the 

 following figures, which note the weight of the ivory pur- 

 chased at a given date in the year and the price per pound; 

 this is only for the finest selected material, and not for an 

 average quality: 



WEIGHT OF IVORY PRICE 



^^"^^ IN POUNDS PER POUND 



1875, Oct. 15 128 $3.55 



1876, Sep. 22 125 3.25 



1877, Oct. 18 84 2.90 



1878, June 21 83 3.15 



1879, Aug. 8 75 1.87 



1880, May 7 50 2.50 



1881, June 24 70 2.65 



1882, Nov. 13 68 2.95 



1883, Nov. 2 70 2.95 



1884, Nov. 20 75| 2.82| 



1885, Oct. 12 76i 2.75 



1886, Oct. 5 80| ^ 2.70 



1887, Nov. 2 81 2.75 



1888, Oct. 5 87 2.69 



