New-York tribune., 1899-03-26
MAMMOTH IVORY.
GREAT SUPPLIES OF IT ARE AVAILABLE
IN SIBERIA
Condensed from knowledge.

/ scarcer and sCarcer. and if there were no OF he
. source Of supply this beautiful substance wOul
apparently soon reach prOhibitve price. 4
/ a matter Of fact there exists, however, in tn
frozen tundras Cf Siberia a supply Of ivOr
which will probably suffice for the worlds con
sumption for many years TO come. This ivory
the product Of the mammoth (Elephas primi
genius). species nearly allied to the Indian Gle
phant. but protected from the cold Of the Arcti
region by coat OF long coarse hair, with
| finer wOOly under fur at the base
! How the mammOths were enabled to exist i
a region where their remains became so speed
/ frozen. and how such vast quantities of thes
! became accumulated in certain spots are qucs
tions which do not at present seem capable o
/ being satisfactorily answered, and their discus
sion would accordingly be useless not TO sa.
out OF place. on the present occasion. II vii
suffice TO say that such accumulatOns do exist
and that the soil Of certain portions Of the tun
/ dras seems to be almost crammed with suC
| remains. 1t may. however, be remarked tina
the contents Of the stomachs Of the HOZel
/ mammOths, as also those Of the two species %
rhinOcerOses which were their fellow inha bitant
Of the tundras. contain remains Of pine needle
and other vegetable substances. And from th
it may be inferred that the tundras themselves
were clothed with forest during the mammoth
epoch. since the theory that the CarCasseS Wer'
carried down by the rivers flowing from Warmc
southern regions into the Arctic Ocean car
scarcely merit serious attention. Possibly some
| light may bee thrown upon the subject 10y th'
great accumulations of bones Of large recen
mammals which have been met with in certain
districts " East Africa. Although outside sci
crtffic and commercial circles cOmparatiVely
little is known with regard 10 the subject IL
England. mammoth ivory in place Of being
modern discovery was known % the ancients
and has for centuries been an article Of trad,
and manufacture. II is. however, only recently
that the history OF the subject has been worked
out and for this we are largely indebted 10 the
labors of Sir II. II. Howorth and Or. Trouessart
Of Paris Baron Nordenski0ld has likewise CON
tributed important information on the subject
in the Voyage OF the Vega And 10 Is from
these sources that the following paragraphs are
mainly compiled.
MENTIONED BY PLINY.
II we may take the buried ivory mentioned
by Pliny on the authority Of TheOphrastus a
disciple Of Aristotle. to De the same MANI
moth ivory. may regard this substance as
known % the Western world in the time Of Alex
ander. But apart from this mammoth ivory
was evidently familiar at a very remote time 10
the Chinese who spoke OF the animal by which
IL yielded as "thien-shu. the mouse that
hides This mythical creature. which com
pared in size to an elephant was reported 10
lead q subterraneau existence like a mole with
bones as white as ivory. and the flesh cold Jut
pure and wholesome this reference to the cold
ness Of the flesh apparently pointing TO their
acquaintance with frozen mammoth carcasses.
In Europe Eginhard the historian Of Charlie
maEne. states that among the presents sent -
the Emperor Of the West 10y the kalif Haroun-
al Raschid in the year SD1 were the horn OF a
"hcOTne' and a claw Of griffOn. These raritieS
were long preserved III the royal treasury at -.
Denis. and, from description given IN a work
dated 1916 it appears that. while the former
was a mammoth tusk the latter was the horn
Of the W0olly Siberian rhinOccrcs. During the
ninth and tenth century Arab traders appear 10
have established "a 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 Noiga which
was probably situated on or near the site Of the
modern Mini NovOgOrUd. The first Siberian
mammoth tusk imported into Western Europe in
modern times brought To London in the
year l6ll 10y one JOsias Logan. by whom 1T had
been purchased from the Samoyedes Of the
PechOra district. Concerning this specimen
Baron Nordenskiold writes that as Englishmen
a. that time visited Moscow frequently. and for
long periods. remark occurring in Purchas's
history appears to indicate that fossil ivory first
became known IN the capital Of Russia some
time after the conquest of Siberia.
ORIGIN OF THE WORD "MAAMoTH"
b. this as il may it is in evidence from the
account of Avril. who travelled In Russia dur
ing lGNI. that fossil ivory was at that time i'm
ported into china ana other ASiaiic countries
where il was highly esteemed; and u IS stated
that il was largely employed 10y Turks and
Persians for Ornamenting sword and dagger
hits being preferred to Indian ivory on account
OF its whittier color and finer grain. And here IL
may be incidentally mentioned that, according
to the same author the Russian term maInmout
is a corruption Of the Hebrew behemOt or be-
hemoth which the Arabs made mehenot.
Canon Tristram is. however, Of opinion that IN
the Bible behemOth often refers to the hippo
potaInus. and, if thi be correct. a transferrence
OF the name would appear to have been made
by Arabs this being the less improbable since
il is stated in Hebrew to be applicable to any
large beast
Apart from this there is a record that about
l722 Peter the Great ordered the collection OF
tusks and other remains Of the mammoth for
the museum Of St Petersburg. And between
| 40 and 177O Russian trader. named I-iakhoff'
established an extensive importation OF mann
moth ivory from the districts lying between the
X KhotanCa and Anadyr rivers and likewise from
one Of the sOuthernmost islands Of the New
Siberian group which still bears his own name.
do nv