The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-14

city for the discovery Of an artificial substitute
for ivory possessing all the important properties
Of that beautiful product of Nature The Ameri.
can inventive genius is for once baked. Only
two patents have ever been issued In this
country for the production Of artificial ivory, |
and neither Of them has made It's way 10 public |
recognition. The same is true Of all the foreign
patents for the same purpose. The difficulty
Is not in recombining the wcllknown ele-
mCnts which enter into the composition
of ivory, but in putting them together With
the tenacity Of cOberonce belonging 20 the tusk
as IL grew from the elephants head and In pro-
ducinR the equality of density and weight in all
parts Of the composition which Is so necessary TO
billiard. balls, aud other articles made Of ivory.
No amount Of hydraulic pressure eau impart the
solidity and toughness derived from the natural
cellular growth This is the dificulty TO he over
come When it is surmounted, the elephants
can have a holiday. Until then, they must be
slaughtered at the rate Of 10000 year to keep
the world In billiard balls.
Some day they will become extinct, and known
only in the picture books and museums, like the
megatherium, the ichthyossurus, and other pro-
dges Of the antediluyan world. The Yankee
invention will be spurred on by necessity, aud
perhaps prove itself equal to the occasion of sup
plying a fabricated ivory. Elephants, however,
are not the only source Of ivory, although the
chief one. Inferior qualities can be obtained
from the teeth and tusks of the walrus and the
norwhal, and the masicating teeth of the sper-
maCeti whale. Bones and tusks OF extinct spe-
ces Of mastOdOns and elephants are picked up
on the banks Of rivers in Northern Siberia, where
y
| decay. At what period Of the worlds history
/ the animals which bore about those tusks lived
| and how il happens that they tlOurished up there
| where the elephants of the present day would
! freeze, or die from starvation, are among the
! most curious questions yet propOunded and un-
! answered. 1t is a fact well authenticated, and
! known probably TO many of our readers, that a
fine specimen of the prIneval elephant, IN prOpria
persona, flesh, bones and all, was thawed out of
one of the great iCeDergs or mountains of the
Northern sea. The skeleton was preserved en-
tire, and is now in the imperial museum at st.
! Petersburg; the flesh had been wholly or partly
eaten by wolves at the time of the discovery.
! Some of the fossil tusks, dropped thousands of
/ years ago, are over 10 feet long and weigh 1870
! pounds, and are of fine grain and sound texture
! throughout. They furnish a large portion of the
! ivory supply for Russia and Northern Europe.
Vegetable ivory answers we'll for small articles
| like ear ornaments, bosom pins and sleeve but
| tons. The supply of this is abundant. It is the
hardened secretion of milky fluid in the fruit of
| a species Of the palm, common in South America.
1t Is more liable to chip and tarnish than animal
ivory, but, in other respects, closely resembles it.
| The fruit of the Dom palm, in the East furnishes
! also a vegetable ivory which is used extensively
in making beads, rosares, and other articles
From elephants to rats is quite a jump. But to
! the mind of an ivory dealer, the mention OF the
one generally suggests the other for the rat plays
an important part in the ivory trade. In ware
| houses where the tusks are owed away, this
little rodent gnaws into them Just enough to dis
close the quality of the ivory, which Iotherwise
| might be concealed trOm the purchaser. HOW
this happens is stated in an interesting article on
RATS" in Mr.. Buckland's "Curiosities of Natural
History" from which we extract as follsws:-
There is a curious but little known fact, which
well illustrates the ravages which the rats can
inhict on a hard substance with their little sharp
teeth. Many of the elephants tuskS imported
into London for the use of the various workers in
ivory are observed to have their surfaces groOved
into small furrows of unequal depths, as though
cut out by a very sharp edged instrument.
Surely no man would have taken the trouble to
do this for what would be the profit of his labor
The rats, however, have found out there is some
thing worth working for, or else, clever fellows.
they would not have used their chisel-ike teeth
with such effect. They have discovered which
tusks contain the most gelatine or animal gue-s
sweet and delicious morsel for their dainty
palates and, having gnawed away as much as
suited their purpose, have lett the rest for the
ivory cutter; he, for his part, is neither unable
nor unwilling to profit by the fact marked out by
the rats teeth for ivory which contains gelatine
is particularly valuable for many purposes.
1t is a curious fact, as narrated TO me by Mr.
Jacques, the iyOry-turner OF Hatton Garden, tina
the rats gnaw the African ivory, more especially
that which is called green ivory, on account o
its amber tinted, transparent color Indian ivory
1. they will not, and do not touch; there is no
enough gelatne in il TO make il worth their whil
+. to be at the trouble of gnawing. Even Of tn
: African ivory they touch only the tip and lowe
extremity, aud why because 1t is the purcsi, an
densest, and sOftest part Of the tusk.
When this article on rats first appeared In Bent
' leVS 1IlScettdfYt 1 stated Llat tnc lNOfy-gurue
chooses the rRt-gnawn ivory to make his billiard
! balls; and this statement was copied by the Quar-
! terly RetieW, but have since ascertained that
! was mistaken in the fact. / consulted Mr.. Jlque
! upon the subject, and he tells me that billiard
: balls are made only of East Indian ivory, tha
: which the rats never touch, and not Of Africa
ivory which they always do touch The Afric 4
= ivory contains more moisture and gelatne tina
: the other kind; and this occasions the ivory I
shrink in dry ing, and consequently the ball, whe
> turned, 10 get out of the rounds it is, however
= very valuable to make other articles not billiard
), balls Mr.. Jaques tells me that the trade hav
y y always given he alligators the credit of gnawin
3 the ivory, which is sim ply impossible, for whe
> and where could they have the opportunity
!, getting at the tusks And even il they had bee
= gnawing, or rather champing at it-fOr an alligf
- - tor is not a rodent or gnawing animal-the marx
- on the ivory would have been very different I
y those made by the rats. Mr.. Jaques confirms III
81 fact that where the gnawlng has taken plac
lv the ivory has been Every transparent and of th
y finest quality"
The rats are useful in an indirect way to tt
purchaser Of ivory from another cause Not onl
is the fact of the rats Judgment in choosing goo
ne ivory, by making meal OF it, Acknowledged an
is acted upon by the turner who wishes to get
mt good bit Of ivory, but the mark of his teeth wi
=, show 70 the eye what the substance of the iyOr
w otherwise concealed under the external crust
- the tusk, is like-whether good, bad, or ndiffe
,ec ent. Many turner will give the merchant
AR higher sum for tusk, If previous TO the barga
-, he will saw off the tip that he may see more
ne the quality of the ivory, whether the tusk
The sound throughout. Now if the rat has be-
,ks gnawing, the turner does not make this requei
.he because in the grooves eaten by the rat he c.
see plainly what the substance under the extern
rst coat Is Netc YORK Journal Of Conlmeree.