FOSSIL IVORY, fossil ebur. This is what we call tusks of extraordinary size that resemble large horns and which are often found deep underground. They are either white, yellowish, or brown. Some have the hardness of ordinary ivory , while others are exfoliated and become softer and more brittle; these varieties in consistency can be attributed to the levels of decomposition the tusks have undergone in different soil conditions where they have been buried.

Tusks of this sort have been found in several European countries, such as England, Germany, and France; it has even been reported that not long ago, in the village of Guérard near Cressy in Brie, an especially large one was found. A similar find was reported on the plain of Grenelle—that is to say, at the very gates of Paris—but the findings have been nowhere as abundant as in Russia and Siberia. Findings have been especially prevalent in the territory of Yakusk, and in the area between that city and the Arctic Sea; these remains, according to the reports of some travelers, are typically exposed by the waters of the great Lena and Yenisei rivers which irrigate a great part of Siberia and which dislodge portions of the land on their banks when, during the thaw, they carry large chunks of ice.

The Yakuts of the Tartar nation who live in this country believe that these tusks belong to a huge animal that they call mammon or mammoth . As they have never seen one of these animals alive, they imagine that they must live underground and die as soon as they see the light of day. According to them, this happens when the animal comes unexpectedly to the edge of a river on its subterranean route. This is why, the Yakuts say, their remains are found there. They claim that they even found one whose flesh was not yet entirely consumed, which is as fantastical as the rest.

Czar Peter I, in his desire to know to which animal these tusks or horns of fossil ivory belonged, issued orders in 1722 to all the governors of the cities of Siberia to take great care to find the entire skeleton of an animal, or at least to gather all the bones found near the monstrous tusks. Given these orders, the Yakuts set out on a campaign and discovered whole heads and large bones that had previously gone unnoticed. They belonged to an unknown animal, which M. Gmelin, after examining the bones, believed to be a very large species of ox which no longer existed in the country, and that have not yet been discovered anywhere else. However, these bones differ entirely from the fossil ivory discussed in this article, and it was not to this animal that the enormous tusks belonged.

The fossil ivory of which we speak should also not be confused with the tusks of the seal or the sea cow, which are found in large quantities on the coasts of the Arctic Sea. Such tusks are smaller than those of fossil ivory , and they have a marbled, veiny appearance and may have black spots. However, it is said that the interior is harder yet than fossil ivory , and that they can be made into beautiful objects.

Fossil ivory must also not be confused with the horn called fossil unicornu , which has also been found from time to time in Siberia. See the article Unicorn fossil.

In St. Petersburg, in the imperial cabinet of natural curiosities, there is a tusk of fossil ivory weighing as much as 183 pounds. Sir Hans Sloane possessed one which was five feet, seven inches in length and six inches in diameter at its base. One was found in the province of Northampton, England, that was white and was six feet long. Baron von Strahlenberg speaks of some fossil ivory tusks that were found in Siberia, which ranged from six to nine inches in diameter at the base. He claimed that they belonged to an animal skeleton that was 36 Russian ells in length and which could well be the skeleton of an elephant. Indeed, Sir Hans Sloane has proven clearly in the Philosophical Transactions, n°. 403, and in the Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences, année 1727, that such great tusks cannot be regarded as ivory or real tusks that belonged to elephants; this is proven by their internal structure, as it appears to be composed of concentric layers arranged in the same manner as the rings in a tree trunk. This is further proven by the comparison which M. Gmelin has made between fossil ivory and elephant ivory in his fine work Voyage de Sibérie , published in German in four volumes in octavo, a book suitable as a model for all travelers to follow. This learned naturalist also has an explanation for the variation in color, texture, and durability of the fossil ivory tusks found: he attributes these differences to the climate and nature of the earth where the tusks were buried. Those found close to the Arctic Sea where the ground is perpetually frozen to a considerable depth are compact; those found in warmer districts may suffer more or less decomposition. The earth and the minerals in its soil are agents which cause a yellow or brown discoloration, sometimes making them almost the color of coconut, that is observed in some of the tusks. See Gmelin, Voyage de Sibérie , volume III, pp. 147ff.  [1]

Thus some naturalists have believed incorrectly that these tusks found in Siberia were not ivory ; they differ from that of elephants only because of natural changes undergone underground. The impression that there was some difference might have been because the other bones, like those of the mammoth or the tusks of sea cows, may have been confused with the fossil ivory or tusks of elephants found in the same countries.

As for the elephants, it would be in vain to search for living ones in Siberia today; they live only in hot countries and cannot survive in a climate so severe as Siberia, where remains of those like them are found. To what, then, do we attribute the large quantity of fossil ivory in such a northerly region? Is it because, as Count de Marsigli claims, the Romans brought these animals there? These conquerors never went off to conquer the Hyperborean Scythians, and it does not appear that any other Indian conqueror has had the temptation to bring war to such a severe and remote climate. It must be concluded, then, that in ancient times, of which history has retained no memory, Siberia enjoyed a milder climate and was inhabited by animals that some general revolution of our globe has buried—the same revolution that altered the temperature of the region. Siberians use fossil ivory just as they use ordinary ivory ; it is used for handles on sabers, knives, boxes, etc.

1. Johann Georg Gmelin (1709-1755) , Voyage en Sibérie (Paris,1767).