HIDES 



ANDISKINS THE LEATHER INDUSTRIES 



H. cannaMtius. Messrs. Ide & Christie, however, have valued samples 

 obtained from Cuba at about 18 to 20 per ton, and state that it might 

 even fetch more with better methods of preparation. 



Medicine. The mucilage from the FRUITS and SEEDS is used in medicine 'as a 



Vegetable. demulcent. The unripe fruit is a favourite vegetable, and the more 



mature fruit is sliced, then fried and eaten in curry. In European 



cookery its mucilaginous property is taken advantage of in the thickening 



of soups, etc. 



\Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., i., 210-2 ; Duncan, Dyes and Dyeing in Assam, 1896, 

 27 ; Agri. Ledg., 1896, No. 28, 276 ; 1898, No. 8, 287 ; Dodge, I.e. 194 ; Imp. Inst. 

 Journ., March 1898, 77 ; KewBull, 1898 (add. ser., ii.), 6; Blackmail, Fibres of 

 the Hawaiian Islands, 1903, 51.] 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 55-63, 

 458-61. 

 Hides and 

 Skins. 



Furs. 



Chief ^Konds. 



Trade. 



Stock. 



Annual 

 Supply. 

 Exports. 



Local 

 Trade. 



HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER and the Manufactures 

 therefrom. The term "Hides" denotes commercially the raw, 

 dressed or tanned skins of full-grown cows, bullocks, buffaloes and 

 horses, etc., while " Skins " is applied to those of calves, sheep, goats, 

 deer and other wild animals. The term " Fur " is used for ornamental 

 skins, with the hair or wool attached. 



It may, perhaps, be as well to dispose at once of the least important group, 

 namely, the " Furs." In addition to the skins of Deer and Antelopes, there 

 are returned under " Furs " (D.E.P., iii., 458) some 70 different fancy or orna- 

 mental skins that are occasionally met with in trade. The following are some 

 of the more important (mentioned in alphabetical sequence) : Ci/i?iio-iw 

 jHhuinH. the Hunting Leopard ; *vii* itni-dnH. the Leopard or Panther ; f. 

 Hyritt, the Tiger ; f. tint-in, the Snow Leopard ; Mnateia, two species, the 

 Martens ; i-nt,,, i* <,,,,,,. the Ermine or Stoat ; .SCH-*. the Squirrels ; 

 fiiiitfti, the Foxes ; and rr*u, the Bears ; etc. It would seem that in India 

 some of the smaller skins, such as dog-skins, snake and lizard skins, mole-skins, 

 frog-skins and the like are utterly neglected, a consequence very possibly of 

 the climate and the defective methods of curing presently practised. 



RAW HIDES AND SKINS.-Suppfr. Under Live Stock (pp. 732-52) 

 will be found mention of the chief wild and domestic species and races 

 of animals, the skins of which appear under Hides and Skins. It is 

 not necessary to enumerate these again, but it may be iiseful to state 

 once more that the live stock of India cannot be far short of a grand 

 total of 220 millions, of which perhaps 40 per cent, die or are slaughtered 

 annually. The annual average exports to foreign countries at all events 

 were, for the five years ending 1903-4, Hides (raw and tanned) 12| millions ; 

 Skins (raw and tanned) 37 millions, or 23 per cent, of the estimated 

 total stock. But these returns take no cognisance of the hides and skins 

 used up in India nor of the animals that die or are killed, but of which 

 the hides and skins are not preserved. 



Total Transactions. It would not be far from correct to affirm 

 that India's local manufactures in skins and leather are as valuable as her 

 foreign trade in these commodities (raw and manufactured). In 1876-7 

 the total of the declared values of the imports and exports, taken to- 

 gether, was Ks. 3,13,77,912 (or say 2,091,860) ; in 1902-3 the corre- 

 sponding figure was Ks. 9,27,48,853 (or say 6,183,257) ; and in 1903-4 

 the total traffic came (less the re-exports) to Us. 9,71,04,548 (or say 

 6,500,000). If the idea of the internal trade being approximately as 

 valuable as the foreign can be accepted as fairly correct, then during 1903-4 

 the total turnover of the industries here dealt with (exports plus con- 

 sumption) would have been close on a valuation of 13,000,000. And 

 later figures for 1906-7 show a considerable expansion, viz. to a total 



632 



