THE COMMERCE OF IVORY 445 



It will be noted that the price in 1912 is but 8 per cent, 

 higher than it was in 1875, the intermediate fluctuations 

 following, in the main, the general financial condition of the 

 country. 



As London is still recognized as a great ivory mart, 

 although of late years the Antwerp sales of Congo ivory 

 have attracted many buyers, English and Continental, 

 the German ivory dealers having their main ofiices in Ham- 

 burg usually keep also a branch house in London. Of a 

 total importation into Germany of 315.7 tons of ivory in 

 1912, 102 tons came from England. The various grades 

 are specially named, tusks under 20 pounds' weight, for 

 instance, being called scrivelloes; of these the tusks suitable 

 for billiard balls are called "ball scrivelloes," the smaller 

 ones being designated as "bagatelles," and others accord- 

 ing to their form or quality "hollows," "cores," or "de- 

 fectives." The London sales of April, 1913, were but 

 34 tons as against 45 tons in the same month of 1912. Impor- 

 tations from January 1 to March 31, 1913, amounted to 

 64 tons; for the same period in 1912, to 66 tons, while de- 

 liveries, 71 tons in 1913, were 85 tons in 1912. Stock in 

 dock warehouses was greater in 1913 than in 1912, the re- 

 spective figures being 72 tons and 62 tons. 



As there is a constant demand for all varieties of ivory, 

 and as the greater part of the buyers are excellent judges 

 of form and quality, there is less tendency to violent 

 fluctuations in the ivory market than in many others. It 

 but rarely happens that the supply outruns the demand to 

 any considerable extent or for any length of time. 



The prices obtained for ivory at the spring sales in London 

 April 23 and 24, 1913, show the following range for the 

 different grades and classes of tusks:* 



*Consul-General Robert P. Skinner, of Hamburg, "Ivory and Walrus Tusks in Europe," 

 Daily Consular and Trade Reports, December 9, 1913, p. 1390. 



