NELSON] SKIN DRESSING 117 



clothing, it is soaked thoroughly in urine to remove the fat, then 

 stretched, scraped, and dried in the manner described. 



The beautifully white, parchment-like leather used for boots and 

 ornamental work is made from small sealskins from which the hair has 

 been removed. The skin is then soaked in urine to free it from the oil, 

 stretched upon the drying frame and exposed in the open air during 

 the coldest mouths of winter; the intense cold and the beating of the 

 dry snow upon the surface of the skin bleaches it to a satiny whiteness. 

 A finer quality of white leather is obtained from the gullets of large 

 seals and walrus treated in the same manner. The russet colored seal 

 skin, used for ornamental work, is made by washing the surface of this 

 white, parchment-like leather with dye obtained from alder bark. 



The skin of the wolf- fish (Annarrichas lupus), called Ita-chu-hluk by 

 the Eskimo, when stretched and dried makes a thin, blackish, parchment- 

 like material, which is cut into narrow strips and frequently welted into 

 the seams of boots and other articles of clothing, or used for other 

 ornamental purposes. The white woolly skin of the new-born fur seal, 

 after being tanned, is dyed a rich brown by an infusion of alder bark 

 and cut into narrow strips for borders to 

 garments or for making tassels for boots 

 and frocks. 



To tan reindeer skin with the hair on, 

 the fleshy side of the skin is wetted with 

 urine; it is then rolled into a compact 

 bundle, with the hair side outward, and 

 permitted to remain a few hours in the 

 warm kashim, after which it is unrolled 



FIG. 33 Method of folding sealskin. 



and any remaining fragments of sinew or 



flesh are removed with a scraper. It is then dried and again thor 

 oughly scraped and hung up open in the kashim while a fire is 

 burning, and dried until it becomes hard and almost as brittle as 

 pasteboard, when it is taken down and scraped carefully and lightly 

 on the inner side. This breaks the grain of the leather and covers 

 the epidermis at the roots of the hair with numberless little cracks, 

 rendering the skin very pliable. After this treatment the skin is 

 scraped again more thoroughly, and boiled fish eggs, while still warm, ( 

 are rubbed on the inner surface. It is then rolled up and permitted to 

 lie for a few hours, after which it is unrolled and worked and rubbed 

 between the hands until it becomes dry and soft; a final scraping then 

 removes any remaining roughness or adherent matter and completes 

 the process of tanning. Reindeer skins tanned in this manner are 

 beautifully white on the inside and the leather is as soft and pliable as 

 chamois skin. 



Small skins are soaked in urine to remove the fat. after which they 

 are stretched and worked with the hands and finally rubbed with 

 pieces of pumice until dry. Urine is so much used in tanning and for 



