814 



TANNING TAYLOR. 



shaving is given after this period, to bring it to the 

 required thickness. The hides are now firm, yet 

 flexible, neat, and clean. The chemical action that 

 takes place between tanning and iron is brought 

 into play finally to black the hides, which is done 

 on the flesh or outer side. The grain side is left 

 always unbroken from first to last. These black- 

 ened cow-hides, then, are now fit for making 

 shoes, of the strongest kind, such as are worn by 

 tradesmen who work at coarse work. The name 

 given to these dressed cow-hides is neat's leather, 

 from the word neat, which is applied to cattle 

 sometimes. 



A considerable quantity of the shoes made for 

 the middle classes of society are formed neither of 

 neat's leather nor calf, but of the hides of cattle 

 between the cow and calf in age. This kind of 

 leather is called kip, and is between the two 

 others in quality, being neither so clean and fine 

 as the calf, nor so coarse and strong as the neat hide. 



Horse-hides are extremely little used for the 

 manufacture of leather, in comparison with cow 

 and calf-hides, and in truth, the hides of horses 

 cannot be procured in such numbers. But if they 

 could, they would still be less used, for the hide of 

 the horse is comparatively very weak. The hair 

 is limed off, as already described, and the tanning 

 gone through much in the same way as with cow- 

 hides, much less time, however, being required. 

 When the currier gets the tanned horse-hides into 

 his hands, and has shaved them to the proper extent, 

 and softened them with grease, he blackens the 

 grain, and not the flesh side, as in the previous in- 

 stances. When the currier has finished them, they 

 are called cordovan hides, from having been first 

 dressed in this way in the famous city of Cordova. 

 Long ago, a great quantity of light shoes were 

 made of ctrdovan, but this kind of leather is much 

 less used in this way now-a-days, calf being pre- 

 ferred for all purposes. The coloured kind of 

 leather, generally known by the name of Morocco, 

 is composed of the dressed skins of young goats or 

 kids. 



Calf-skins, and the skins of other animals in- 

 tended for dressing-leather, are first put into a pit 

 of water to get out the blood, and they are then 

 placed in the lime-water to remove the hair, after 

 which they are steeped in a solution of the excre- 

 ment of pigeons, in pits called "grainers," to ren- 

 der them soft and to cleanse them from the lime. 

 They remain in these a day or two, and are worked 

 over with a working-knife of the same kind as 

 that used to remove the hair, the object of this 

 being to remove all the small hairs and the filth 

 called the "scud," which is the technical term for 

 the colouring matter of the hair, that of red calves 

 being red; of black ones, black, and the like. 

 When the skins are sufficiently soft and clean they 

 are immersed in the woozes, where they remain 

 three months, more or less, according to the judg- 

 ment of the manufacturer. Skins are more slowly 

 and carefully dried than hides ; and they are pulled 

 out by hand as they dry, to prevent their shrink- 

 ing, and, when nearly dry, they are doubled up and 

 beaten upon a pin-block by a man holding the skin 

 in his hand and striking it against the pins. The 

 pin-block is four feet in length and two in width. 

 The pins, which are of wood, are four inches in 

 height and an inch in diameter; they are fixed 

 upright on the block, and are placed in rows of 

 eight by eighteen, being 144 in all. The leathers 

 are sorted and put into half dozens, so as to make 



the weight of each bundle nearly equal. They arc 

 sold .to the currier, who dresses and blacks them 

 for the upper-leather of shoes and boots, and many 

 other purposes. 



Previously to the year 1830 there was an excise 

 duty on leather, but that duty was taken off by 

 an act of parliament passed on the '29th of May in 

 that year. Leather imported into this kingdom is, 

 by a statute 3rd and 4th year of William IVth. 

 (c. 56), made liable to a duty of 30 per cent, 

 on the value, except in certain cases, which are 

 otherwise specified ; and skins which are not dressed 

 are made liable to a duty of 20 per cent, on 

 the value, except the species enumerated in the 

 statue, which are for a tiger-skin, 2s Gd. ; a 

 lynx-skin, Gd. ; chinchilla-skin, 3d. ; elk-skin, Is.; 

 &c. 



TAVISTOCK.; a town 01 England, in the 

 county of Dsvon, situated on the river Tavy, 206 

 miles W. S. W. from London, and 33 S. W. from 

 Exeter. It dates its origin from the erection of an 

 abbey of black monks, commenced by Orger, Earl 

 of Devonshire, 961, and completed by his son Or- 

 dulph, in 981 : it was burnt to the ground by the 

 Danes, but was soon after rebuilt and considerably 

 enlarged, and the establishment became more 

 flourishing. From Henry I. it received the juris- 

 diction of the entire hundred of Tuvistock, and 

 the privilege of a weekly market and fair; and 

 Richard Barham, the thirty-fifth abbot, procured 

 from Henry VIII. the right of sitting in the House 

 of Peers, which continued till 1539, when John 

 Peryn, the last abbot, surrendered it to the king. 

 The possessions of the abbey, with the borough 

 and town of Tavistock, were then given to John, 

 lord Russel, ancestor of the present noble proprie- 

 tor, the duke of Bedford. Various fragments of 

 this venerable structure still remain, but are mostly 

 incorporated with other buildings ; these consist of 

 the gatehouse and several complete buildings near 

 it: the refectory is now used as an assembly-room, 

 the boundary-walls may still be traced, and near 

 the canal bridge is an entire gateway. The mon- 

 astery is remarkable for having contained an insti- 

 tution for the study of Saxon literature at a very 

 early period, and also an ancient printing-press. 

 Here are also some remains of Old Morwell house, 

 formerly the hunting-seat of the abbots of Tavis- 

 tock. 



The manufactures of Tavistock consist chiefly 

 of coarse woollens, but many of the inhabitants 

 are employed in the neighbouring mines, which 

 produce copper, lead, tin, and manganese. A large 

 iron-foundry and tin-smelting establishment are in 

 the town. The Tavy works the machinery of 

 some mills. The Tavistock canal, opened in 1817, 

 forms a junction with the Tamer about five miles 

 distant. This borough has sent two members to 

 parliament ever since the reign of Edward I. 

 Population in 1841, 7697. 



TAYLOR, THOMAS, usually called the Plalon- 

 ist, was born in London, in the year 1758. At an 

 early age he was sent to St Paul's school, where 

 he acquired the rudiments of classical learning. 

 The elements of science were then, as now, ab- 

 surdly excluded from the routine of education ; but 

 following the bent of his mind to speculative pur- 

 suits, he acquired, by private study, a sound know- 

 ledge of the theories of arithmetic, algebra, and 

 geometry. He was next placed under the care of 

 the Rev. Mr Worthington, of Salters' Hall Meet- 

 inghouse, to be qualified for the office of a Dis 



