[NHCOLL-L:1106] Re: ivory

[Sean Barry]

On Thu, 19 Jul 2001, Britney Hager wrote:

> Taking a match to some scrapings is an option we thought of, I just didn't
> know if there was an alternative.

Examine the wide end (cross-section).  An intact elephant, narwhal, or
walrus tusk almost always has "cross-hatching" just inside the enamel
layer.  Bone and celluloid plastic (ivory's chief imitators) are never
cross-hatched, though they might be "laminated."  Celluloid burns
furiously when ignited, and has a faint 'organic" odor that is pronounced
if you sratch it.  Bone also has minute foramina that ivory lacks, and
plastic is "warm" to the touch and taste (ivory is "cool").  The diameter
you describe suggests elephant, though it could be from a big walrus.

Sean Barry

*********************
Sean J. Barry
The Rowe Program in Molecular Genetics (mail address)
  and The Section of Evolution and Ecology
University of California
Davis, California  95616
(530) 752 9160
FAX (530) 754 6015
sjbarry at ucdavis.edu