LEATHER MUfTJFACTUB 



LEATHER MAXfFACT 



farmed was 



between two vertical gridiron like frames or 

 l^T-^ from bulging at the tide^ and the 

 Mower * eootaed u> thin vertical stratum. The aqueoue portion 

 4 tl* lqiK>r peroolaud through the hidet ; and this penetration oi 

 tfco IstlhTT fairlli***' 1 by baiting th room so as to promote 



aawwfau similar pUn. oootrired by Mr. Cos, the hide* were tewed up 

 to the farm of beat, tod supported by a owing of canvas. In the 

 aroma of Mr. Chaplin, the bags wat laid in an inclined position, and 

 ^ ^i.^ii- i ....]; ik. u.ti.. n nl th tn In another nlan. 



a- fc 



the action of the Un. In another plan, 

 ral forma, the Unning liquid ie applied 



wticfc hsa 



to both sides of the hide*, which are pUced in an air tight vessel. and 

 It forced into their poree by hydrostatic preemre, the air being pre- 

 vionaly pumped out. The operation may be repeated ai often as 

 ajoeatsary. with infusions gradually increasing in strength ; air being 

 allowed to fill the pone of the hide between each immersion. Mr. 

 CagtweU's plan nnntitti in laying the hide* upon a quantity of sawdust, 

 HBtaJniJ mehaUow boxes, of which any required number may be 

 arranged in a suitable framework, about twelve inchea above one 

 wttMT. The hidee are not laid Oat, but have their edgee a little 

 ftsariil- to that their upper surfaces form shallow troughs capable of 

 jl^Ming , i*yer of the tinning solution, which must be repU-nished 

 from Ume to time a* it filter* through the hide and the sawdust, or 

 other toft pornue tvbstanoe upon which it is laid. The spent liquor 

 am UM bottom of the box or trough, which is somewhat 



loflfrom 



Intflniil for that porpuee, into a vessel or channel provided for it. 

 Messrs. Herepath ft Cox's prooeet is founded upon the principle of 

 ashing a sponge, by alternately allowing it to imbibe water, and then 

 forcibly expressing it. The weak infusion, or oze, is forced out of the 

 poree of UM hide before it is tubjtctod to stronger, so that the fresh 

 ooce may be at Je to act more efficiently. This is effected by connecting 

 a number of hide* together by strings, so as to form a continuous belt, 

 and passing them between rollers turned by steam or other power, 

 while they are being removed from one solution to another. In order 

 to produce a tolerably uniform belt or continuous sheet of hides, they 

 re etthm- placed alternately head to head and tail to tail ; or, if laid 

 across the belt, with the heads and tails towards each side alternately. 

 Tke lower roller is about thirty inches in diameter, and is covered 

 with hone) air cloth ; and the upper roller, which is preened against 

 the lower one with any determinate degree of force by means of 

 weighted levers, is only about eighteen inchea in diameter, and U 

 Oovtred with woollen cloth. By this process a strong hide may be 

 tanned more quickly than by the old method. Much attention has 

 lately been paid to Mr Preller'e process, by which leather in now made 

 at BermotMUey. The hides are first washed; then unhaired: then 

 partially dried ; and then covered uniformly with a paste or compo- 

 sition. This paste consists of starchy or glutinous matters, such as 

 barley meal, rice flour, or starch, combined with an oily matter, such as 

 butler, milk, oil, or grease. The paste is smeared on the flesh side of 

 the hide, which is then put into a cylinder or drum, and rotated for 

 some hours with steam occasionally admitted. The hides being taken 

 oat sad dried, thiy are pasted and rotated a second and even a third 

 tin*. At the end of this process they are found to be affected all 

 through by a kind of substitute for tanning. It is said that an ox- 

 hide may I* tanned in this way in two days and a half, and a calf skin 

 m sixteen hours. It n (inn to be generally admitted that the leather 

 thus made is light, pliable, strong, and durable; it is found useful 

 for certain special purposes, such as driving bands for machinery, picks 

 for loum, and for enamelling. A plan has been brought forward by 

 Mr. Clarluon for so applying a solution of chloride of soda and alumina, 

 and then one of Unnin, M to give a ntrfan of leather to the hide, suffi- 

 cisfit for many useful purposes. 



We might greatly lengthen this list of new processes, but these few 

 will ilhiHratr the whole ; especially, M the old operations of the tan- 

 pit have nut yet been very extensively departed from in practice. 

 Really good leather is still very slowly made. One inventor hat gone 

 eo far to employ galvanic agency to drive the tan into the pores of the 

 but the result is uncorded. 



tctstt k-illrr. We have hitherto alluded chiefly to the prepara- 

 tion of the thick hides und for sole leather : but the thinner and 

 weaker bid**, at well as the kiu of naive* and other animals, are also 

 |nayaid for use at upper-leather* ; in which case it is necessary to 

 reduce their thickness by shaving or paring them down upon the flesh 

 W timer wit, before they are objected to the action of the tanning 

 infusion*. Such hide* or skins also require, after leaving the hands 

 of the tanner, to be rubbed, softened, tad dratted by the cum.-r, in 

 order to bring them to the necessary degree of flexibility and 

 neta. Hone-hide*, which are comparatively weak and thin, are some- 

 times dimsil on the grain side, under the name of rordut-un hides. 

 from the circumstance of such leather having been formerly mad* at 

 Cordova in Spate. Calf-skin, supply the kind of leather most gene- 

 rally preferred for the upper part of boott and shoes. 



If the thin skin* prepared for ornamental purpose*, many are 



I with a nbtUnea called mrnerA, prepared from a plant of the 

 me. The meet important kind U that called Mor.w. wl,u 1, i - 

 i flout gnat-skint. In the routine of operation*, the processes of 

 eleanttag the akin* from nVli} irnpmitii.*. and removing the hair, 4c.. 

 ' 1 variation from Uroae before described. During tbe*e 



proceatss. the lime employed to assist in the deflation enters the pores 

 of the akin to completely, that it would impede the action of the 



Fig. 2. Unbairing GoaUtkin. 



tanning liquid if allowed to remain. It is therefore removed by im- 

 mersion in an alkaline solution, which opens the pores in a way reeem- 

 blin^ the process of raising, described in a previous paragraph. The 

 tinning is then performed by sewing up each skin into the. form of a 

 bag, with the grain or hair-side outwards, and nearly filling it v. 

 strong solution of sumach in water. The bag in then fully distended 

 by blowing into it, and the aperture is tied up ; after which it is 

 thrown into a large shallow vessel filled with hot water containing a 

 little sumach. The distended bags float in this vessel, and are occa- 

 sionally moved about with a wooden instrument, until the solution 



Fig. 3. Tanning Goatskins with Sumach. 



which they contain has thoroughly penetrated their substance. Owing 

 to the thinness of the skins and the heat to which they are exposed, 

 this operation it performed iu a few hours. The process is expedited 

 by taking the bags out of the solution and piling them upon a per- 

 forated bench or rack at the side of the tub. so that their own weight 

 may force the confined liquid through the pores. When the tanning 

 is completed, the bags are opened to remove the sediment of the 

 sumach; the skint are washed, rubbed on a board, und .in.. I: after 

 which they are ready for dyeing and finishing with a ridged in. ini- 

 mi'iit, which imparts to the surface that peculiar grain by which 

 morocco leather U distinguiahed. An inferior kind of leather, known 

 as imitation morocco, is prepared in a similar manner from sheep-skins. 

 Towed leather Tan-ing is the name applied to the process by which 

 the skins of tbeep, lambs, and kid* arc converted into toft leather by 

 the action of Alum. Of thix kind of leather gloves are usually made. 

 Skins intended for tawing pass through a series of preliminary opera- 

 tions resembling those by which skins are nn-parcd lor tanning; but 

 they are then subjected to a solution of alum and salt, to which, for 

 the superior kinds of leather, flour and yolks of eggs are added, instead 

 of a vegetable astringent solution. Sometimes the skins are put into 

 a kind of barrel with the solution, and then the whole is made to 

 rotate rapidly, by which the skint are quickly penetrated and in 

 other caw the impregnation is effected in an open tub, the skins being 

 worked in the pasty liquid with the bands, or trampled upon by the 

 naked feet of a man, until the emulsion is thoroughly incorporated 

 with them. They subsequently require a good deal of stretching and 

 rubbing over a kind of blunt-edged knife, and some other finishing 

 operations, to give them the requisite smoothness and suppleness. 

 Many of the gloves sold as kid are really made of lamb-skins, of 

 which considerable numbers are imported from the chores of the 

 MediUrraue,u). These are brought with the wool on; and, at it 



