How to differeniate Elephant Ivory from Plastic or Bone?
The best way to tell whether your item is not plastic and is in fact ivory is with the Pin Test. This is done by heating a pin until it’s red hot and placing it on the item where you don’t mind putting a small burn mark. The smell that the ivory gives off is similar to the smell when your dentist has a drill on your tooth. If this is done with plastic or any other man-made material you will not experience the hot Pin Test. Now that you’ve eliminated the possibility that your item is plastic you have to determine whether it’s Elephant Ivory or some other bone? The best way to tell if the your item is elephant ivory is the characteristic of the cross graining or criss-cross growth patterns distinctively found only in elephant ivory. No other mammalian ivory has this characteristic. These growth marks or cross-hatchings are called Schreger Lines. Schreger lines can be divided into two categories. The highly visible found on the outer portion of the elephant tusk and the fainter lines that
