ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO. 
145 
The carving of ivory is one of the oldest arts in the world. 
Excellent bas-reliefs and images are found in ancient ruins, and 
when they are affected by time and weather they are partially 
restored by boiling in gelatine. The most expert carvers are the 
Japanese and Chinese, who spend years on a single piece, making it 
exquisitely beautiful. 
Many attempts have been made to produce artificial ivory, but 
thus far they have not been very successful, the elephant still retain¬ 
ing a monopoly of the business. Ivory is growing more costly and 
more rare from year to year, and it is only a question of time when 
the sources of supply will fail. 
Until a few years ago London and Liverpool were the two 
great ivory markets of the world, but they have been outstripped 
of late by Antwerp. This is on account of the development of the 
trade in the Congo Free State, which is a colony of Belgium. 
THE FUTURE OF THE IVORY TRADE. 
The stock offered in Antwerp for sale is remarkable not only 
for the great number of tusks, but also for the enormous size of 
some of them. Among those sold lately was a pair weighing nearly 
350 pounds. A few days before the opening of the market the 
tusks, all laid out and numbered in lots, are placed on public exhi¬ 
bition in some great hall, as represented in the accompanying 
illustration, and the buyers come here to select what they want and 
bid for them. 
The word's consumption of ivory is very large. The annual 
average quantity used is about 1,500,000 pounds. Taking into con¬ 
sideration the fact that in the wholesale markets such as Antwerp 
and London ivory costs on an average $1.75 a pound, an idea may 
be had of its importance in commerce. 
Unfortunately the future of this trade, which has caused 
streams of blood, is seriously threatened. The constant war waged 
upon the elephant on account of his ivory is bringing him nearer 
and nearer to extinction. The Congo Free State has occupied itself 
earnestly with this question, and has officially established a closed 
season and limited conditions, during which elephant-hunting is 
H. B. G.—10 
