.unt MANI-KACT; 



I i:\TIIKH MANUFACTURE. 





catted by UM f i ilim Ihecnselrm ><*. u usually dyed red with the 

 ' n-wood. and U celebrated for being free from mould 



. loaw. and not only bring proof against insects, but 



> them by its odour. so M to present book* in the binding of 

 1 is used. TV akin* an freed from the bur or fleece by 



limn in u> ash-lye, then riaaed, fulled, and fermented in a 



proper sU*j.. after baring been waabed in hot-water, for a week or 

 more, to nw*. or opan their pores. They arc then cleaned, by working 

 than upon the horee. on both aids*. They are next aoaked for forty- 

 right hours in a bath composed of water mixed with a paste of rye- 

 .Hir. The skins, whan taken out of the bath, are left in tubs for 

 t flora day, and than waahed. Being thus prepared for the action of 

 the astringent or tanning juices, they are immersed in a boiler con- 

 tamtaf a hot decoction of willow hark, in which they are handled and 

 nani> for half an hour. ThU manipulation u repeated twice a day 

 for a weak, after which the tanning infuaion u renewed, and the 

 process M repeated on the same akini for another week. The skin* 

 art then exposed to the air to dry, dyed, and curried with the 

 empyreumatic oil of the bark of the birch-tree. Shagreen is a peculiar 

 kind of leather, or rather of prepared akin, formerly much uaed for 

 the corera of watch-cases, mathematical-instrument cues, &c. The 

 akin, after being aoaked in water and scraped to remove the hair, 

 is stretched upon a frame, and the grain-side is strewed with the 

 hard round seeds of the alabula, or goose-foot A felt being laid 

 orer these, they are trodden deeply into the soft yielding skin ; after 

 which UM frames are so placed in the shade as to allow the skins 

 to dry slowly, when the seed* may be shaken out without violence, 

 leaving the skin in a hard homy state, covered with deep indentations. 

 The surface is then rasped or rubbed down with iron tools, nearly to 

 the bottom of the hole* or indentations, the skin during this opera- 

 tion being laid upon a block covered with wool The skins are next 

 softened, first with water, and then with a warm alkaline ley, and are 

 heaped, while warm and wet. upon each other ; and by this softening 

 the depressed parts of the skin rise to their former elevation, forming 

 prominent points wherever depressions had been made by the seeds. 

 The skins are then salted and dyed, after which they are finished with 

 oil or suet 



Great difficulties present themselves in the way of any application of 

 machinery to the dressing of leather, in consequence of the varying 

 hardness, thickness, and texture, not only of different skins, but of 

 different parta of the same skin ; yet the great amount of time and 

 manual labour involved in the polishing and graining of morocco and 

 other ornamental leathers has led to some ingenious contrivances for 

 this purpusw. Hebert contrived a machine consisting essentially of a 

 stiff circular frame or wheel, eight feet in diameter, revolving hori- 

 zontally upon a vertical axis, and carrying, on the underside of its peri- 

 phery, a sales of circular polishers or grainers ; but it was not brought 

 much into use. Leather- splitting machines, by which even very thin 



Flf. . Lemlber Splitting Machine. 



akin* may he divided into two thicknesses, each capable of being dressed 

 as a perfect akin, have called forth much ingenuity of contrivance. 

 Before such machines were introduced, the reduction of thickness 

 necessary to bring many of the finer kind* of leather to the requisite 

 tenuity was eflected solely, as it still is partially, by paring or shaving 

 UM flesh aide with a knife worked by hand, an operation occupying 

 much time, and requiring great nicety to prevent cutting through the 

 *' J '"I* 1 ""i |J ~' ""I " oe riI 7 '" """I' Pieces, was 



' " Peces, was 



only available for the making of glue. By the use of a machine 

 Uwever, the bert portion of the leather, that with the gnun side, b 

 cut of a much more uniform thickness, and with lees risk of injury : 

 UK. removed portion is taken off in a more useful form ; and the whole 

 nptraUon is conducted mure rapidly. One such machine is so 

 accurately constructed, that it has been made to split sheep-skins into 



(few equal parts; one of which, Jhat on the grain-aide, might be used 

 as leather, the middle portion converted into parchment, and the slice 

 on the flesh aide, being inn 'pi.il in thickness, and therefore un 

 any betteruse, being used for glue-making. In this machin- . :, 

 is drawn between two revolving rollers, and is presented, as it emerges 

 from their grasp, to the edge of a long and very sharp knife, which is 

 iitinuolly moving a little backwards and forwards with great 

 velocity. As a akin of unequal thickness could not be grasped in 

 |r manner between two jwrfectly true and rigid rollers, the 

 HpiK-r roller, instead of being solid, is composed of a number of circular 

 discs or rings of metal, about half an inch thick, slipped on to 

 an axis; by this contrivance the upper roller is enabled to adapt 

 its surface to that of the skin, which is everywhere pressed with an 

 equal force, due to the weight of the discs of which the upper roller 

 is composed. This machine will split a sheep-skin of the ordinary size 

 in about two minutes, during which time the knife makes from two to 

 three thousand vibratory motions to and fro. 



Various kinds of imrtp/ire leather have engaged the ingenuity of 

 manufacturers. One, patented many years ago, consists of an elastic 

 coating or varnish of glue-size, boiled linseed-oil, lampblack, white 

 lead, and pipeclay, varying in proportions according to the degree of 

 elasticity required, and spread upon cotton, linen, woollen cloth, or 

 felt. Hancock's substitute for leatln i a felted fabric of flax, 



cotton, or other material, covered with several coats of liquid caout- 

 chouc. Gunby's substitute U chiefly intended for the manufacture of 

 patten-ties, but is suitable also for covering coach-tops, and for some 

 other purposes. Crockett's leather cloth, and other kinds made in the 

 United States, are very useful products. A clever imitation of 

 Morocco leather U produced by applying a layer of India-rubber or 

 gutta-percha to a surface of cotton-cloth ; the surface is corrugated, 

 stained, and varnished ; it U elastic and durable, costs only one-third 

 of Morocco leather, and cuts to advantage through being made in great 

 widths. Messrs. Spill & Co., of Stepney, are now manufacturing a 

 remarkable substance under the name of reyetable leather. It resembles 

 leather-cloth in being an application of caoutchouc to a woven ground- 

 work or back ; but naphtha also takes part in its preparation, and it has 

 other peculiarities. It U producible in pieces 50 yards long by 1 4 yards 

 wide, thereby being rendered applicable to many purposes for which 

 hides or skins of real leather would be too small. Its thickness may 

 be varied to any degree by varying the number of cemented layers. 

 Many of the good qualities of leather are presented by it, at one-third 

 the cost. The vegetable leather is used in making carriage and horse 

 aprons, soldiers' belts, buckets, harness, book covers, and other articles. 



Various modes of decorating leather are adopted, of wliich three or 

 four may be briefly noticed. East's embuued leather is prepared with 

 the flesh side outwards, instead of the grain side, as in ordinary leather. 

 Sumached sheep-skin is found to be best ; it requires many processes, 

 but when completed, the leather presents a very smooth surface, which 

 will receive an embossing by means of heated engraved rollers. Pegg's 

 corrugated leather consists of two thin pieces of leather cemented to 

 strips of vulcanised caoutchouc placed between them, then pasted 

 between heated grooved or fluted rollers, and finally rendered soft and 

 pliable by soaking in warm water. Wood's metalled leather has a 

 metallic ornamental device applied, either by printing with a paste or 

 ink formed by mixing metal powder with starch, bees'-wax, and water, 

 or by printing with a glaire or varnish, and sprinkling with metal 

 powder while the surface is wet. In either case the leather is dried by 

 (team-heated cylinders, and the brilliancy of the metal brought out 

 by passing the leather between calendering-rollers. Leake's relievo 

 leather is produced by pressing the leather while moist into moulds. 

 Some of the specimens almost equal wood carving or plaster casts in 

 the fineness of detail of the flowers, foliage, fruits, &c., imitated. 

 Relievo medallions have been produced with n relief of more than two 

 inches, and much undercut. The saloon of the Queen's state steamer 

 ' Victoria and Albert ' is decorated with this relievo leather. We may 

 here state that the stamped leather, formerly much used for hangings, 

 was made by moistening the leather, laying it on or in a mould, and 

 pressing it into all the minute parts of the devices of the mould by 

 means of small wooden tools ; when dry, the leather was coated with 

 silver-leaf, or varnished with lacquer to produce the colour of gold. 

 Afti-r this, the proper colouring was laid on by hand, and certain 

 parts of the leather were stamped by a hand-punch to produce various 

 small devices. The French revived this art about twenty years ago, 

 iiipl.iyiiig hydraulic pressure in stamping. The production of leather 

 ornaments has recently been made a sort of industrial pastime for ladies. 



Leather Trade. The leather manufacture is one of great importance 

 in this kingdom, giving employment in all its various branches to a 

 very great number of persons. The Census of 1851 showed that, 

 t iking into the account tanners, curriers, leather dressers, shoemakers, 

 glove-makers, harness-makers, saddlers, and other branches of the leather 

 manufacture, there were 350,000 persons professedly employed in those 

 trades, besides those who were indirectly supported thereby. (Mir 

 tanners, besides using up nearly all our own oak bark, require annually 

 from abroad 250,000 cwts. of oak bark, 1*20,000 cwte. of other bark, 

 and 760,000 cwts. of terra japonica, sumach, cutch, valonia, and other 

 substances containing tannic acid. It has been computed that the 

 manufactured articles ore worth from three to four times as much 

 as the leather itself, and that the total annual value must be at least 



