The term ivory, originally derived from a Greek word signifying heavy,
is indiscriminately applied to the following varieties of osseous
matter:--

1. _The tusks and teeth of the elephant_.--Naturalists recognise two
species of elephants--the Asiatic (_Elephas Indicus_) and the African
(_Elephas Africanus_.) The former of these species is indigenous to
the whole of Southern India and the Eastern Archipelago; but the
largest and most valuable Indian elephant is that of Ceylon. The
second species is found throughout the whole of Africa; and on the
banks of the great rivers and lakes of the unexplored regions of the
interior, hordes of the finest African elephants are supposed to
wander in security. It was until very recently believed that the
Asiatic elephant yielded the largest teeth, and those imported from
Pegu, Cochin-China, and Ceylon, sometimes weighed 150 lbs. Specimens,
however, have been obtained from the interior of Africa of much
greater weight and dimensions. Mr Gordon Cumming has in his collection
a pair of teeth taken from an old bull elephant in the vicinity of the
equator, of which the larger of the two measures 10 feet 9 inches
long, and weighs 173 lbs.; and Mr Cawood, who resided thirty years at
the Cape, has another pair in his possession measuring 8-1/2 feet
each, and weighing together 330 lbs.

Besides these contemporary races of elephants, the market is
extensively supplied by the fossil ivory derived from the tusks of the
great mammoth or fossil elephant of the geologist. The remains of this
gigantic animal are abundantly distributed over the whole extent of
the globe. They exist in large masses in the northern hemisphere,
deeply embedded in the alluvial deposits of the tertiary period.