177 



- drenches. A very fair description of leather is the result. This pro- 

 cess might (if improved) answer very well for hides intended for buff 

 leather, because time is saved and the hide is rendered thicker for the 

 splitting operation. 



In tanning we have noticed the method of reducing the hide or 

 skin employed by the Egyptian, the Arab, as also J>y the Indian of 

 this country. The antiquity of the mode or method is beyond a ques- 

 tion, as we find the process of smoking the hide resorted to by all ' 

 of them as the final process, and this brings to my mind carbolic 

 acid, since the creosote of smoke has the property of tanning the 

 hide, and the two are so similar that it seems surprising any one 

 should consider the use of carbolic acid in the light of a new discov- 

 ery. I remember some years since, while experimenting on some 

 sheepskins, my surprise at finding that picric acid had completely 

 tanned some of them, upon which it (a diluted solution) had acciden- 

 tally fallen. If I had known -then as much as I afterwards learned in 

 relation to picric or carbozotic acid, there would have been no occa- 

 sion for surprise, since the formula for it is with little difference the 

 formula of carbolic acid. 



There is no doubt but that carbolic acid, if used in conjunction 

 with a preparation similar to that adopted by the Egyptian, the 

 Arab, arid also the Indian of this country, would make an excellent 

 description of soft leather, but it is decidedly injurious if used in 

 combination with tannic acid. Indeed the French calfskins owe their 

 peculiar softness to the method and the material employed, being 

 somewhat similar in their character and effect upon the skin to that 

 produced by the formula I have just mentioned ; and here I would 

 make a few remarks upon French tanning. The French tanners in 

 general produce a very poor description of stock; true it is that in 

 the neighborhood of Strasbourg, Nantes, Tours and Bordeaux, as also. 

 Paris, a superior article is produced, but until within a few years past 

 the art of producing stock, known in this country as French calf, was 

 confined to only a few men. In fact, so late as 1824, the art was 

 entirely unknown to the French, they having been taught the mys- 

 tery by some enterprising Irishmen 'who found their way there 

 about that time. Before I leave the tanning department I would 

 state that in sole leather too great care cannot be taken in properly 

 semi-drying and oiling before rolling. Oil and water, together with 

 a little rosin, should be mixed together and lightly spread over the 

 surface of the hide before it is placed under the roller; this will give 

 a better polish, a higher color, and at the same time tend to obviate 

 the objectionable property of cracking, which I am sorry to see some 

 sole leather possesses. 



And now we will enter the 



