They are afterwards drilled with
great accuracy by a machine; rivetted to the blade; and finally
smoothed and polished. We believe that this branch of industry alone
gives employment to about 500 persons in Sheffield. Combs are seldom
made of any ivory but Indian, and their mode of manufacture we had
recently occasion to describe.[4] A large amount of ivory is consumed
in the backs of hairbrushes; and this branch of the trade has recently
undergone considerable improvements. The old method of making a
tooth-brush, for example, was to lace the bristles through the ivory,
and then to glue, or otherwise fasten, an outside slab to the brush
for the purpose of concealing the holes and wire-thread. This mode of
manufacture has been improved on by a method of working the hair into
the solid ivory; and brushes of this description are now the best in
the market. Their chief excellence consists in their preserving their
original white colour to the last, which is a great desideratum.
Billiard-balls constitute another considerable item of ivory
consumption. They cost from 6s. to 12s. each; and the nicety of our
ornamental turning produces balls not only of the most perfect
spherical form, but accurately corresponding in size and weight even
to a single grain.
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