764 Transactions of the American Institute. 



The remark was made by Mr. Schultz that no country in the 

 world produced better leather, either sole; upper, or calfskins than 

 the United States, and Prof. Joy, of Columbia College, stated that 

 he had for many years made periodical visits to Europe, and had 

 purchased his boots and shoes there. He had within a year or two 

 investigated the subject, and satisfied himself that this wa.s only a 

 fashionable fallacy, and that shoes were made at home, of our own 

 tannage of leather, fully equal to the French. The Professor 

 doubted the fact of bark extract coming into general use, for it 

 was the tannin which coagulated the gelatine, and tannic acid, when 

 liberated from the bark, is liable to decomposition. He stated that 

 the coloring matter in bark liquor is injurious to leather. 



Dr. Wetherbee said that the tendency of hemlock bark liquor to 

 change into gallic acid by exposure to the air, is very much less 

 than that of oak bark liquor, therefore the argument is in favor of 

 the former. 



Dr. Parmelee, who is connected with the chemical works at Hun- 

 ter's Point, said it had been stated, that if some one would render 

 the tannin extracted from hemlock bark colorless, but retaining its 

 properties, it would be a valuable discovery. This could be done 

 now by filtration thi'ough charcoal. The only object was to make 

 hemlock leather to imitate that tanned with oak bark, and this 

 could be done to some extent by the addition of sumac or other 

 yellowish coloring matter. An objection which had been made by 

 a previous speaker, that hemlock leather colored the stockings, 

 could be obviated by wearing silk socks of the same color. 



Mr. Schultz stated that he had that day seen a tannery torn up 

 in this- city (referring to the Bryson tannery), which was laid down 

 over fifty years ago. Some pieces of bark which had lain there 

 during the entire period, were found to contain nearly as large an 

 amount of tannin as though the bark had been freshly peeled. He 

 then stated that he had, some time since, proposed to test the rela- 

 tive strength of oak and hemlock leather, by splitting a given 

 quantity of hides, and tanning half in each kind of bark; then 

 putting the leather in alternate strips in a band, and subjecting it 

 to practical use or tension. He would back up his opinion to the 

 amount of at least enough to pay for the experiment, that the hem- 

 lock portion of the baud would not give out first. 



The difierent subjects were ably handled, and the whole discus- 

 sion was interesting and practical. Adjourned. 



