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Ch. 6 Sources of Ivory

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QUALITIES OF IVORY              225
inch through had formed around the bullet. Among the numerous interior growths several cuplike hollow masses are to be noted, one of these being 4| in. across, 4 in. high and 3-1/2 in. wide. In still another example a tusk measuring 6 in. across contained certain rounded growths of a whitish or yellowish dentine in which could be observed very small globular masses of a pronounced yellow. These minute globules were of an almost saffron yellow, apparently striated, and represented a different or subsidiary growth to that of the main mass. These speci­mens afford good evidence that many elephants are struck by shots but are not killed. In other words, judging from the number of tusks showing encysted iron or lead bullets, it is self-evident that these were not the bullets that ended the animal's life; of course the wounding of the tusk would at most give an elephant a powerful shock, and unless the shot that hit the tusk were closely followed by another to the brain, the animal would escape practically uninjured, and when the tusk has been traversed by the ball the direc­tion usually indicates that it could not have inflicted a mortal wound even if its momentum were not too much lessened by the resistance of the ivory it had passed through. Instances of recent shooting showed that the ball had shat­tered the tusk and this had regrown, thereby proving that the bullet in question had not been that which had killed the elephant.
Of the irregular masses of exostotic ivory, one was 5 in. long and weighed 3 pounds. One of these growths resembled a seahorn. In one instance the tusk showed a large opening, beginning at its outer edge, running well into it and making a hollow space; this was apparently due to disease. In several examples a growth was to be seen ex­tending across from one side of the tusk to the other, form­ing a sort of Siamese-twin ligature.
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