Washington sentinel., 1899-04-01
F.> .,.l SENTINEL
Mammoth Ivory.
r. Lydskkcr, in Knowleage.

supply this beautiful substance
would apparently soon reach
prohibitive price. AS a matter OF
fact their exists, however, in the
frozen tundras Of Siberia a supply
otivory which will probably suffice
for the worlds consumption for
many years to come. This ivory
is the product Of the mammoth, a
sDecies nearly allied to the Indian
elephant, but protected from the
cold OF the Arctic regions by a
coat OF long coarse hair, with a
finer woolly underfur a! the base.
How the mammoths were en-
abled to exist in region where
their remains became so speedily
frozen, and how such vast quanti-
ties OF these became accumulated
in certain spots, are questions
which do not at present seem cap
BILE oil being satisfactorily ans
wered; and their discussion would
accordingly be useless, not to say
Out Of place, on the preseAt occa-
sion. IL will suffice to Sa,' that
such accumulat,ons do exist, and
that the soil ol certain portions OF
the tundTas seems to be almost
crammed with such remains. 1t
may, however, be remarked that
the contents OF the stomachs OF the
frozen mammothS, as also those Of
the two species Of rhinoceroses
which were their fellow inhabita1ts
Of the tundraS, contain remains OF
pine needles and other vegetable
substances. And from this it may
be inferred that the tundras them
selves were covered with forest
during the mammoth epoch; since
the theory that the caTcasses were
cIrried down by the rivers flowing
from the warmer southern regions
into the Arctic Ocean can scarcely
merit serious attention. Possibly
some light may be thrown upon
the subject by the great accumula-
tons OF bones oflarge recent man.
mails, which have been met with in
certain districts of East Africa.
Although outside scientific and
commercial circles, mparativelY
little is known IN regard to the
subject IN England, mammoth
ivory, in place Of being a modern
discovery, was known to the anci-
ents, and has tor centuries been an
article OF trade and manufacture.
1t is, however, only recently that
the history OF the subje ect has been
worked out; and for this we are
largely indebted to the labors Of
Sir II. H. Howorth and DR. Trous-
sart, OF Paris. Baron Nordensk-
iold has likewise contributed inn
portant information on the subject
in the Voyage Of the Vega" And
II IS from these sourc ces that the
following paragraphs are mainly
compiled.
II we may take the buried
ivory" mentioned by Pliny on the
authority OF Theophrastus, a dis
clple Of Aristotle, to be the same
as mammoth ivory, we may regard
thus substance as known to the
Western world in the time OF
Alexander. But apart from this,
mammoth ivory was evidently
familiar at very remote time to
the CHINESE, who spoke Of the an
imal by which It was yielded as
"thien- shu," the mouse that hides.
This mythical creature, which was
compared in size to an elephant,
was reported to lead a asubterranean
existence like a mole, with bones
as white as ivory, and the flesh
cold, but pure and wholesome, this
reference to the coldness OF the
flesh apparently pointing to their
acquaintance with frozen man.
moth carcasses. In Europe, ,Egin-
hard, the historian of Charlie
magne, states that among the pres
ents sent the Emperor OF the West
by the Kalif Haroun-al Raschid IN
the year So7 were the horn OF a
"licoTne" :" and the claw of 0riffon.
These rarities were long preserved |
IN the royal treasury at St. Denis |
and, from a description given in
work dated I646, it appears that |
while the former was a mammoth
tusk, the latter was the horn ofthe
woollY Siberian rhinoceros. Dur
ing the ninth or tenth century
Arab traders appear to have estab
lisheo trade route from northern
Russia or Siberia to Persia or
Syria; and their records refer to
the occurrence OF buried ivory near
the city OF Bolghari, on the Volga,
which was probably situated on or
near the site Of the modern Mini
Novogorod. The first Siberian
mammoth tusk imported into
western Europe in modern times
was brought to London IN the year
I6IG by one Josias Logan, by
whom it had been purchased from
the SamoYedes Of the Pechora dis
tTict, Concerning this specimen,
Baron Nordenskiold writes that as
Englishmen at that time visited
Moscow frequently, and for long
periods, a remark occurring in
Purchas's history appears to indi-
cate that fossil ivory first became
known in the capital Of Russia
some time after the conquest Of
Siberia.
BE this as it may, it is in evidence
from the account oil Avril, who
travelled in Russia during 1885,
that fossil ivory was at that time
imported into China and other
Aslatic countries, where it was