s 
VILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
it appears upon the surface, it will, in an artful 
manner, only expose the great round nose ; this 
will just break the water for the tenth part of a 
second, during which the air will have been ex¬ 
changed and the lungs inflated instantaneously. 
Although it is a stupid animal, it certainly ex¬ 
hibits a considerable amount of cleverness, in thus 
preserving its head from attack, and when it takes 
to such tactics as exposing no other portion than 
the nose, it is quite impossible to shoot with any 
effect. 
At a former period the tusks of the hippo were 
more valuable than the ivory of the elephant, 
as they were in request by dentists for artificial 
teeth. Their superiority to ordinary ivory con¬ 
sisted in the permanence of colour, as they never 
turned yellow. For this reason the price was 
exceedingly high, as much as 25s. per lb. having 
been given at the commencement of this century. 
It was necessary to clean off the hard enamel by 
a revolving grindstone before it was possible to 
manufacture the close-grained material beneath. 
The American invention of porcelain enamel for 
artificial teeth has destroyed the value of hippo¬ 
potami tusks, which are now lower in price than 
the ivory of elephants. 
The value of the hippopotamus depends at 
present entirely upon its hide and fat; the former 
is used for whips, and for facing revolving wheels 
when polishing steel surfaces. Hippopotamus fat 
is excellent, being free from any strong flavour, and 
