310 UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



economic products. Leather, horn, fat, &c. &c., are, of course, 

 derived from both tame and wild animals, and this must be kept in 

 mind here. The importance of leather and horn will be realized 

 by reading the following extracts from Simmonds (in Aiunial 

 Products): — "The leather manufacture is one of our most an- 

 cient and important industries. . . . The old adage that there 

 is nothing like leather is certainly verified in the multifarious 

 uses to which leather has been or is now put. We make 

 coverings of it in articles of personal use, for a man may be 

 clothed in leather garments from the head to the foot. In 

 saddlery and harness its use is universal, and nothing can sup- 

 plant it for durability. In articles for household or domestic 

 use, we have leather hangings and coverings for furniture, 

 buckets and bottles, cups and hose. . . . For travelling we have 

 portmanteaus, valises, and hand-bags, pocket-books, purses, and 

 cigar-cases. . . . We write on leather, and we cover our books 

 with it, and it has even been used by photographers to take 

 likenesses on. It is the packing and baling material in many 

 countries from its cheapness and durability. Hammocks, boats, 

 and even cannon have been made of it, whilst the leather apron is 

 the most durable and serviceable protection for many an artisan. 

 Leather shields were and are still in use in many countries. It 

 serves for the grip-handle of swords, and for the sheaths of 

 knives. We use leather in balls for cricket and football, and we 

 cover musical instruments with it, as well as telescopes and many 

 philosophical instruments, for protection. It is the most ancient, 

 useful, and generally applied animal substance for an infinite 

 variety of purposes. And, moreover, leather can be made of 

 the skin or hide of almost every quadruped, and of many fishes, 

 serpents, and reptiles. Human skin has even been tanned, but 

 it is too thin for any serviceable use." In the following remarks 

 about horn it will be remembered that the antlers of deer are 

 of bony nature: — "The rights and privileges of the 'horn- 

 workers ' and ' horn-pressers ' in former times occupied the pro- 

 minent attention of the Legislature. But there is no fear in the 

 present day ' of the trade being ruined, and the business lost to 

 the nation ', as was the cry when the statutes 6 Edward IV, 

 c. I, and 7 James I, c. 14 were passed, forbidding the sale of 

 horns to foreigners, and prohibiting the export of our wrought 

 horns. The invention of horn lanterns has been by some ascribed 



