UTILIZATION OF THE SKINS OK A(iUATIC ANIMALS. 827 



AQUATIC LEATHERS. 



GENERAL REVIEW. 



The crude skins and hides of :iquatic as well as of hmd animals are 

 easily putrescible when left in a jjfreen state, and if dried the}' lack 

 suppleness, and are hard, unpliable, and almost impermeal)le to air. 

 Leather, on the contrary, is one of the most imperishable of animal 

 products, and is supple and |X)rous to a greater or less extent accord- 

 ing to the process of manufacture. To transform the crude skins 

 into leather is the business of the tanner and the currier; the former 

 removes the tendency to putrefaction and incidentally increases its 

 strength, durability, and imperviousness to water, and the currier 

 renders it soft and pliable and at the same time imparts to it such finish 

 and coloring- as suit the special purposes for which it is intended. 



Leather is made from the skins of jiractically all the aquatic mam- 

 mals and of some species of fishes; but at the present time, except 

 among primitive people whose stock of raw materials is limited, these 

 products rank among- novelty or fancy leathers. Ordinarilv the sup- 

 ply of aquatic animals yielding- skins suitable for tanning- is so small 

 or so difficult to obtain, compared with the enormous quantities of 

 domestic animals available, that the leather made from the former can 

 not compete in price with that from the latter. The nearest approach 

 to coniDetition is in the case of seal leather, of which large quantities 

 are produced each year, the value of the annual product averaging 

 §1,500,000; but the durability and choice grain of this article secures 

 for it a much higher price than is obtainable for a good quality of 

 calfskin. The hide of the beluga, or white whale, is one of the best 

 of all skins for leather purposes on account of its durability, strength, 

 and pliability; it is sold as porpoise leather, and probably $200,000 

 worth of tanned hides are marketed annually. Alligator skins are 

 also obtained in large quantities, and, owing to the peculiarit}^ of 

 their markings, are used entirely as fanc}^ leather; the total value of 

 the output amounts to about $500,000 annualh'. Tanned walrus hides, 

 and especially the thick ones, are in great demand for polishing 

 wheels and other mechanical purposes, and probably $100,000 worth are 

 sold annually. These are the only aquatic leathers which at present 

 have an established position and a fairly constant price in the markets, 

 but they are not the only aquatic leathers obtainable, the writer having 

 collected 31 other varieties, although these are used in such small quan- 

 tities that no constant market exists for them. Among those used to a 

 less extent may be mentioned sea-lion, porpoise, sea-elephant, manatee 

 or dugong, water moccasin, frog, otter, beaver, beaver tail, muskrat, 

 and a variety of fish skins. 



The art of the tanner has been so developed that the preparation of 

 certain skins in imitation of othci-s is ))y no means a difficult process. 



