UTILIZATION OF THE SKINS OV AQUATIC ANIMALS. 351 



their tendency toward disintegration when put through that process. 

 If limed at all, it must be done very carefully in a weak solution. The 

 skins are then bated in bran water for eight or ten hours and washed 

 in lukewarm water. Next the}^ go into the tan liquor, consisting of 

 a solution of extract of bark, sumac, and alum. This liquor is made 

 somewhat weak at first, and the strength is increased from day to day 

 until the tanning is completed, usually at the end of ten or twelve days. 

 After drying in a flat shape, the skin is ready for use. 



Certain tribes of savages have used the horny cuticle of the gar-fish 

 in making breastplates which turn a knife or spear and even a hatchet, 

 although they are readily pierced by bullets. With such a breastplate 

 is usuall}^ worn a helmet of the skin of porcupine-fish, which is covered 

 with formidable spines. The helmet serves not only as a protection 

 to the head, but also as a weapon of offense in butting. 



FROG SKINS. 



The skins of frogs and toads are used to a limited extent for leather 

 purposes. Two or three factories in France pay much attention to 

 tanning them, obtaining the raw skins from northern Africa, Brazil, 

 and other tropical regions. Elsewhere than in France comparatively 

 few are tanned. Occasionally tanners in the vicinity of New York 

 City prepare a few frog skins on special orders, but no regular market 

 exists for them, and it would probably be diflScult to find 50 prepared 

 skins in all the tanneries and leather establishments of the country. 

 This leather is thin and very pliable. It possesses a delicate but not 

 especially attractive grain, and is used principally for cardcases and 

 other small fancy articles. 



MISCELLANEOUS FISH SKINS. 



Although fish-skin leather can not yet be considered a commercial 

 article, successful experiments have been made in the preparation of 

 good leather from the skins of the cod, cusk, salmon, and other spe- 

 cies. At Gloucester, Mass., shoes and gloves have been made from 

 cod and cusk skins. Some ver}^ serviceable gloves were made at Berlin 

 in 1880 from the skins of these fish sent from Gloucester. The skin 

 of the wolf -fish {Anarhichas) is especially adapted to leather-making, 

 and quantities of it have been placed on the market for cardcases, 

 shopping-bags, and the like. In Egypt fish skins from the Red Sea are 

 made into soles for shoes, and burbot skins have been used in Russia 

 and Siberia to trim dresses. Eel skins have been largel v used in Europe 

 for binding books, and to a considerable extent in making whips, and 

 have also been tanned and dyed and made into suspenders. In Tartary 

 the}^ are dried and oiled and used as a substitute for glass in windows. 



Along the Yukon River, the Amur River, and in other northern 

 regions as well, the skins of salmcm, cod, and other fish are utilized 

 for making various garments. They are taken from the fish in blanket 



