LEATHER FROM CACTI 



lOI 



circumferential cut, the length of the sheet, of course, is also 

 governed by the thickness of the sheet. If it is a half-inch 

 cut a good sized sahuaro will give over twenty feet In 

 length of fiber. By making the sheet one-quarter inch thick, 

 close on to fifty feet of film may be obtained, according to 

 the diameter of the cactus. 



FIG. 3.— Articles made from cacti. F. and G, leather from the 

 parenchyma of the- bisnaga (Echinocactus) : H, belt of parenchyma of 

 the sahuaro (Cereus giganteus): Flattened longtitudinal section of sahuaro 

 including several ribs held togetlier by a tanned layer of parenchyma; N. 

 pincushion made from a cross section of a sahuaro stem: shallow vessel 

 with a bottom of tanned parenchyma and sides of short portions of 

 attached ribs of the sahuaro. 



Immediately after cutting the fiber is placed direct in 

 the tanning bath. The tanning process requires from two 

 to three hours, according to the thickness of the fiber. After 

 removal from the bath the fiber is limp and has great 

 weight. Large pieces must be handled with some care lest 

 they be torn. However by cutting and tanning the fiber in 

 a thin sheet and reinforcing with cloth of some other suitable 



