As ivory grows old, it turns yellow, especially if kept in the dark. It is said that the ancients possessed the secret of softening it. If this is so, it is one of the lost arts, as it cannot be done to-day; though it is rendered more flexible by submitting it to the solvent action of phosphoric acid.
The uses to which ivory is put are innumerable. Formerly it was used in the manufacture of false teeth, and it is used to some extent to-day by native dentists in India. The dust and chips of ivory are all used, and are either boiled down into a gelatine, or calcined into ivory-black.
The confectioners are said to use ivory-dust as a basis for groups, and it is often utilized when a delicate size is required. The calcined ivory affords a fine black pigment called ivory-black, and is also used as fine printing-ink, and in printing etchings and engravings.
All the objects manufactured at Dieppe to-day can, perhaps, trace back many of their methods to Demosthenes, the father of the orator, who was a worker in ivory. He had an extensive manufactory of cabinet-ware, and used great quantities of ivory. He had another manufactory, where ivory knife-handles were made, and was also a wholesale dealer in the commodity.
We are indebted to Messrs. F. Grote & Co. for the following interesting item, which was received too late for insertion in the proper place:—
“The tusk which stands at our door, in 14th Street, New York, was brought from Zanzibar, Africa, being from the species Elephas Africanus. Its length, on the outside curve, is eight feet and eleven inches; its length on the inside curve is eight feet and one half inch; its diameter at base is six and one half inches; its weight is one hundred and eighty-four pounds.”
This is a notable example, and one which has long excited public interest.
We are also indebted to Messrs. Totans & Schmidt, of Fulton Street, New-York City, for the dimensions of a pair of tusks of an African elephant, which have long graced their show-window. They measure respectively, eight feet and six inches, and eight feet four inches, in length. The larger weighs one hundred and thirty-five pounds, and its circumference is twenty inches and three quarters at base.