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I have once or twice alluded to the waste in the cutting of 
ivory, and it is a very important item in the cost of articles 
in ivory. From the best information I can obtain from 
persons who have had long experience in the cutting of 
ivory, the waste appears to vary from one-fifth to one-half, 
according to the articles into which it is cut ; for example, 
a piece of ivory, one and a half inches square and one 
inch thick, may be cut into thirty slabs for miniatures, 
which, when ready for the painter, will measure just half 
an inch. A piece of the above thickness, but six inches 
square, may be cut into sixteen slabs that will measure no 
more than half an inch. In this case it is evident that 
half the material is wasted, which, in such articles, doubles 
the price of the ivory ; and in all cases it is increased 
in proportion to the amount of waste. 
There are few persons who have not seen, at some time, 
the beautiful designs executed in ivory, either by the 
eccentric lathe, or the hand of the artist. The same cause 
which prompted the cheapening of manufactured articles 
generally has produced attempts to imitate the productions 
of the hand in carving. Horn is pressed into a variety of 
forms by being first softened by heat, and then pressed 
between a pair of cut dies. Many attempts in this way 
with ivory have been made with partial success. But as 
softening by heat does not succeed with that material, 
recourse was had, I believe, to some chemical process. The 
specimens before you* were executed about thirty years ago, 
by Mr. Westwood, but, as the process discoloured the ivory, 
the articles never had an extensive sale. As Mr. West- 
wood's process was never made public, I am unable to 
describe it. The incompressibility of ivory is so great, 
that only a slight impression can be made upon it by the 
greatest force of a vice, and a blow or sufficient pressure 
* Some specimens were shown at the meeting. 
