Fresh dead bone has a yellowish-white color; when macerated or boiled
and bleached, it is white. The specific gravity of fresh compact bone is
a little over 1.93. It is very hard and resistant to pressure; a
5-millimeter cube of compact bone of the ox will resist pressure up to
852 pounds, if the pressure be applied in the line of the lamellæ
(Rauber). Its tensile strength is estimated to be nearly twice that of
oak.