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Ch. 6 Sources of Ivory

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CHAPTER VI
SOURCES, COMPOSITION, AND QUALITIES
OF IVORY
What is ivory? We all know it as one of the most attrac­tive art materials, but the structural qualities to which its beauty and appropriateness are due and the sources whence it is derived are often lost sight of by those who fully appre­ciate its rare beauty when they see some artistic object executed in this soft-toned and yet rich and lustrous material. In its most restricted sense, the term "ivory" denotes pri­marily elephant ivory, although as generally employed the designation covers many other forms of dentine.
The characteristic distinction between true ivory and other forms of dentine appears on examining a transverse section, when wavy lines of different shades are observable, their decussations enclosing minute approximately lozenge-shaped spaces in concentric rows. Under the microscope the tubular structure is revealed, the tubes being exceed­ingly minute and closely set; their smallest branches are immeasurably fine, while at the largest point they only average 1-1000 of an inch. Their angular gyrations are much more marked than are the secondary curvatures of ordinary dentine; these are believed, in both cases, to be due to successive stages of calcification. Through the tubes pass from the central pulp excessively fine threads of a pro­toplasmic substance. The disposition and the peculiar curvature of the ivory tubes serves to render the entire
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