TANNING. 



cleanse it from the dirt, &c. which being done, the 

 hide is again spread ,on the wooden beam, and the 

 grease, loose flesh, extraneous filth, &c. carefully 

 scrubbed out or taken off; the hides are then put 

 into a pit of strong liquor, called ooze, prepared in 

 pits kept for the purpose, by infusing ground bark 

 in water; this is termed colouring; after which 

 they are removed into another pit called a scower- 

 ing, which consists of water strongly impregnated 

 with vitriolic acid, or with a vegetable acid, prepared 

 from rye or barley. This operation (which is called 

 raising), by distending the pores of the hides, occa- 

 sions them more readily to imbibe the ooze, the ef- 

 fect of which is to combine with the gelatinous part 

 of the skin, and form with it leather. The hides are 

 then taken out of the scowering, and spread smooth 

 in a pit commonly filled with water, called a binder, 

 with a quantity of ground bark strewed between 

 each, After laying a month or six weeks, they are 

 taken up ; and the decayed bark and liquor being 

 drawn out of the pit, it is filled again with strong 

 ooze, when they are put in as before, with bark 

 between each hide. They now lie two or three 

 months, at the expiration of which the same oper- 

 ation is repeated ; N they then remain four or five 

 months, when they again undergo the same process, 

 and after being three months in the last pit, are com- 

 pletely tanned ; unless the hides are so remarkably 

 stout as to want an additional pit or layer. The 

 whole process requires from eleven to eighteen 

 months, and sometimes two years, according to the 

 substance of the hide, and discretion of the tanner. 

 When taken out of the pit to be dried, they are 

 hung on poles, and after being compressed by a 

 steel pin, and beat out smooth by wooden hammers, 

 called baits, the operation is complete ; and when 



