the termination of the story differs
from that usually associated with this legend, for the lady leads
off the subdued dragon in a leash, and the very abject crawl of
the creature is depicted with much humour.

Mediaeval ivory carving practically commenced with the fourth century;
in speaking of the tools employed, it is safe to say that they
corresponded to those used by sculptors in wood. It is generally
believed by authorities that there was some method by which ivory
could be taken from the whole rounded surface of the tusk, and then,
by soaking, or other treatment, rendered sufficiently malleable to
be bent out into a large flat sheet: for some of the large mediaeval
ivories are much wider than the diameter of any known possible tusk.
There are recipes in the early treatises which tell how to soften
the ivory that it may be more easily sculptured: in the Mappae
Clavicula, in the twelfth century, directions are given for preparing
a bath in which to steep ivory, in order to make it soft. In the
Sloane MS. occurs another recipe for the same purpose.

Ahab's "ivory house which he made" must have been either covered
with a very thin veneer, or else the ivory was used as inlay, which
was often the case, in connection with ebony. Ezekiel alludes to
this combination. Ivory and gold were used by the Greeks in their
famous Chryselephantine statues, in which cases thin plates of
ivory formed the face, hands, and exposed parts, the rest being
overlaid with gold, This art originated with the brothers Dipoenus
and Scillis, about 570 B. C., in Crete.

"In sculpturing ivory," says Theophilus, "first form a tablet of
the magnitude you may wish, and superposing chalk, portray with
a lead the figures according to your pleasure, and with a pointed
instrument mark the lines that they may appear: then carve the
grounds as deeply as you wish with different instruments, and sculp
the figures or other things you please, according to your invention
and skill." He tells how to make a knife handle with open work
carvings, through which a gold ground is visible: and extremely
handsome would such a knife be when completed, according to Theophilus'
directions. He also tells how to redden ivory. "There is likewise
an herb called 'rubrica,' the root of which is long, slender, and
of a red colour; this being dug up is dried in the sun and is pounded
in a mortar with the pestle, and so being scraped into a pot, and a
lye poured over it, is then