284 



THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



and Buffon caused them to be represented In the 

 engraving.^"* 



Prior to the Revolution of 1848 there were from 

 300 to 400 elk in the forest of Ibenhorst, compris- 

 ing about twenty-four square miles, in East Prus- 

 sia. This forest lies near the mouth of the Memel, 

 close to the Russian boundary. During the 

 brief season when all legal restraint was relaxed 

 owing to the Revolution the peasants reveled in 

 their new-found freedom, and in one season re- 

 duced the number of elk in the Ibenhorst preserve 

 to sixteen. The price of elk meat at that time 

 fell to five Pfennige a pound {1% cents). Rigid 

 protection, supplemented by the introduction of 

 Swedish stock in the early '60s, saved the day, 

 however, and in 1874 Ibenhorst and the neighboring 

 minor preserves contained 136 elk. The number 

 has since increased to about 1000.^^ 



Elk Products in the Arts, — In the Middle Ages 

 elk skin was considered bullet proof — and perhaps 

 two or three thicknesses, properly tanned, would 

 have been impenetrable by the pistol balls of that 

 day. Elk-skin jackets were often made for soldiers* 

 wear. They would have the advantage of plia- 



^< Buffon, iJw/otVe Naturelle,Generale et Pariiculiere, edited by Sonnini, 

 (Paris, Van XI [1802-03]), vol. xxx., pp. 92, 145. 



*5 Meyers, Grosses KonversationS'Lexikon, supplement for 1910-11. 



