TAN 



40 



TAN 



dressed in the latter way, under the name oi cnnloeat 

 hides, from tin- circumstance of such leather having been 

 form. - -\ins Mipph 



the tjuality of leather most generally preferred for tin 



i )>art of IxHita and shoes. 



Of the thin -km* prepared fur ornamental purpose* 

 many are tanned with a substance ealled sumach, i>reparc< 

 from a plant of the same name. [Km-s.vol. xix.. p.484/ 

 At the establishment aho\ c referreil to, which is common!) 

 known as the Neckingci Mills, sumach leather is exteiisiv clx 

 prepared: the most important kind beinir that callcc 

 DCOO,' which iMiiade from goat-skins. In the routini 

 ed ill the paper from which wo quote, 

 thi- pruees-.es of cleansing the skins from fleshy impurities 

 and removing the hair. Jce., present no material \ariation 

 i those before described. During these processes, tin 

 lime employed to assist in the depilation enters the pores 

 of the skin so completely, that it would impede the action 

 of the tanning liquid if allowed to remain. It is there- 

 fore removed by immersion in an alkaline solution, which 

 opens the pores in a way resembling the pro, 

 ' raisin;:.' described in a previous column. The tanning 

 is then performed by sewing up each skin into the form ol 

 a bag. with the grain or hair-side outwards, and nearly 

 filling it with :. iution of sumach in water. The 



bag is 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 

 ionally moved about with a wooden instrument, 

 until the solution which they contain has thoroughly pene- 

 trated their substance. Owing to the thinness of the 

 skins and the heat to which they are exposed, this opera- 

 lion is performed in a few hours. The process is expe- 

 dited by taking the bags out of the solution and piling 

 them upon a perforated bench or rack at the side of the 

 tub, so that their own weight may force the confined 

 liquid through the pores. \Vhen the tanning is completed, 

 the bags are opened to remove the sediment of the su- 

 mach ; the skins are washed, rubbed on a board, and dried ; 

 after which they are ready for dyeing and finishing with a 

 ridged instrument, which imparts to the surface that pe- 

 culiar grain by which morocco leather is distinguished. 

 An inferior kind of leather, known as ' imitation morocco,' 

 is prepared in a similar manner from sheep-skins. The 

 wool is removed from these skins by the fellmonger; 

 after which they are subjected to great pressure in a hy- 

 drostatic press, in order to remove the oleaginous or greasy 

 matter which they contain in a much larger quantity than 

 goat-skins. Surprising as it may appear, these, as well as 

 larger and thicker skins, are often divided or split by a 

 machine into two thicknesses, each of which maybe made 

 into leather suitable for some of the purposes to which it 

 is applied, as the covering or lining of books, work-boxes, 

 hats, .K:c. 



'/'nririg is the name applied to the process by which 

 the skins of sheep, lambs, and kid.s are converted into soft 

 leather by the action of alum. Of this kind of leather 

 gloves are usually made. Skins intended for tawing pass 

 through a series of operations resembling those by which 

 .skins are prepared for 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 lapidly, by which the skins are 

 quickly penetrated : and in other cases the impregnation 

 is effected in an open tub, the skins being worked in the 

 pasty liquid with the hands, or trampled upon by Hie 

 naked feel of a man. until the emulsion is thoroughly in- 

 corporated with them. They subsequently require :i 

 deal of stretching and nibbing over a kina of blunt . 

 knife, and some oilier finishing operations, to give them 

 the requisite smoothness and suppleness. Many of the 

 gloves sold ax kid are really made of lamb-skins, of which 

 considerable numbers are imported from the shores of the 

 Mediterranean. These are brought with the wool on; 

 and, as it would l>c injured ti\ tlie action of lime, it is 

 loosened by inducing fermentation or incipient putielar- 

 lion in subterranean vaults or cellars ; an Operation which 

 require* great nicely, since the pelt would be injured by 

 allowing the fvrmentation to proceed too far. After the ! 

 wool luw been removed, and the skins have been btraped ] 



to free them from a slimy substance which i \udus from 

 the pores, the | -,-d in lime-watc 



nove the grea.se which \. in them. 



The subsequent operations of r< , ing. 



&c., are similar to those required for other skins. In 

 tawing sheep-skins with the wool on. |,, , and 



similar articles, the wool side is carefully folded in 

 to protect it from the tawing liquid or paste, wlr 

 then applied to the flesh side only. Other skii: 

 sionally converted into leather "without rein. 

 wool or hair. 



The only other kind of leather to be here noticed is that 

 in which oil or i , ced into the pores ol' the 



to take the place of the animal matter, which would tend 

 to its decomposition by putrefaction. This kind 



:ts name from a'tine soil leather prepared from the 

 skin of the chamois goat : and the procc-s bV which 

 made is called shamo\iug or shannnying. Such leather 

 was formerly very much used a- an "aid liing, 



especially by soldiers; and it is still applied ' 

 useful purposes, for which its pecuh and plia- 



bility renders it valuable. Wash-leather may i 

 a common example of this kind of pn 



of deer, goats, sheep. Jic. are dressed in this way: and 

 much shamovcd leather is made from the infen. 

 regular portion of split skins, in cases whci, 



en taken oft' carefully of a uniform thicku 

 partition in a different way! In general, when wlrole skii^ 

 are shamoyed, the grain surface is icmovc.i 

 rubbing with pumice-stone. Alter the usiiaf preparation 

 with lime-water, and subsequent washing in a sour im 

 of bran or some similar liquor, to remove the hmc and 

 open the ]Kires. the skins are made as di . le by 



wringing or pressing them. and. in the pi-oce-s prr. 

 at the Ncckingcr Mills, are then exposed to the action of 

 fulling-stocks, which consist of hea\y wooden ham; 

 faced with copper, and set in motion by connection with a 

 revolving shaft. A wheel revolves near the head of each 

 hammer, of which two are mounted together in one li. 

 work ; and this wheel is made, during its revolution, alter- 

 nately to raise the hammer about a foot, and to let r 

 into a trough fitted to receive its head. The lca:lu-r. or 

 rather a roll of the skins which are tobe made into leather, 

 is placed in this trough, and beaten by the hammers until 

 f is perfectly dry. Cod-oil is then poured upon the skins, 

 and forced into their pores by the action of tfie hammers 

 >r stocks : the form of the trough being such that the skins 

 gradually turn themselves over and over during the opera- 

 tion, to render the heating uniform. When the oil is tho- 

 roughly beaten in, the skins are hung up to (ivy, after 

 which they are returned to the trough to receive 'a 

 supply of oil and a repetition of the beating. Ti 

 repeated eight or nine times, until two or three gallons of 

 oil have been imbibed by one hundred skin.- : and when 

 hc\ are sufficiently impregnated with it, they are placed 

 n large tubs, or bung up in e 1 chambci 



which they undergo a kind of fermentation, by which the 

 wres are distended, and the action of the oil upon the 

 ibres is completed : and finally they are imnie.sed in a 

 weak solution of potash, which removes whatever CM - 

 )il may have remained in the leather, forming with it a 

 saponaceous mixture. They are then hung up in the open 

 lir to dry. 



(Dr. Ore's l)i< ti<uinry of Arts, &c., art. 'Leather;' EII- 

 !/,/:, ;,<fi/id UriliiMiiii-ii, seventh edit., art. 'Tanning;' 

 lebei 1 ' ..'j'r'.v Kiicyrlojiffiliti, art. 



J.cat iii M:i^i:;inr, No. (i.VJ. 



TAXSI'I.1.0. i.riCI. born of a noble family at \,,la. 

 n the kingdom of Naples, about the year 1.11(1. w:ote in 



.!h a licentious poem, entitled 'II VendemniKi' 



>r ' the Vintager.' wherein he deals largely in the obscene 



ml scurrilities in which the peasantry of his country 



ing the vintage season, something after the 



nanner of the antient Saturnalia. This poem, which the 



intbor did not intend for the press, wits published by some 



riend through an abuse of confidence. In older to make 



mends. Tansillo wrote a pious poem, entitled I.e I.agrime 



i San 1'ietro.' of which a part oulj was published I, cfi.ro 



1th. A more complete edition of it was published 



n llXMi. Malherbe mad.' a translation, or rather wrote an 



imitation ol I ' Lea Larmes de St. itcVs 



dn Tansillr. an Km Henri III..' 1.1S7. Tansillo re, i. led 



chiefly at Naples, at the court of the Spanish viceroy 



