506 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



way, by destroying the vitality of the spores of the fungus, 

 since a microscopic examination of wine known to contain 

 these germs, within a few weeks after being treated with the 

 tannin, has failed to detect the slightest trace. Indeed, wine 

 which has already begun to change and become turbid can 

 be restored to its primitive clearness, and with a great im- 

 provement in its taste. Care must be taken, however, to use 

 only tannin which has been prepared from the constituents 

 of the grape, since the slightest proportion of the extract of 

 nut-gall, although accomplishing the general object of de- 

 stroying the fungus, will impart a peculiar taste which never 

 disappears. 5 C\ xxv., 199. 



CARBOLIC ACID IN TANNING. 



A patent was not long since taken out in Paris for the ap- 

 plication of carbolic acid as a preventive of putrefaction in 

 the different branches of leather manufacture, a few thou- 

 sandth parts of carbolic acid added to the liquids used in tan- 

 ning preventing the rotting of the skin, it is said, during the 

 process of preparation. November 18,1870,1578. 



USE OF CARBONIC ACID IN TANNING. 



In the new tanning process of Mr. Polefroy, carbonic acid is 

 employed for the purpose of facilitating the penetration of 

 the tannin into the interior of the skins, and thus accelerating 

 the working of the leather without deteriorating the qual- 

 ity of the product. After the removal of the hair, the skins 

 are plunged into a bath of lime, the consequence being that, 

 upon contact with the oak-bark, tannate of lime is formed, 

 and the tannin penetrates as deeply as the lime has attacked ; 

 carbonic acid is then made to operate upon the lime, and an 

 insoluble carbonate is the result, the precipitate being thrown 

 down in the state of mud. The skin is then finished in an- 

 other pit, and the whole process is completed much more 

 quickly than usual. SA,Jiify, 129. 



LARGEST LEATHER BAND. 



According to the Mechanics' Magazine, the largest leather 

 machine bands made in England have just been manufac- 

 tured for use in a mill in which a 40-horse power engine is 

 employed. These bands are 120 feet long and 24 inches wide, 



