76 



the tannin extracted by boiling, and established a tannery, 

 and successfully carried it on for some time after the war. 

 He was so fully satisfied of the value of the mesquite as a 

 tanning material, that he took out a patent for his discov- 

 ery. The points established by the experiments made with 

 the mesquite are the following, viz : 



1st. It is rich in tannin. 



2d. It is cheap, and of inexhaustible abundance. 



3d. By suitable machinery, it may be readUy reduced 

 into a form favorable for the extraction of the tannin by 

 boiling or steaming. 



4th. It is prompt and effective as a tanning agent in 

 precipitating the gellatin of the hide and converting it into 

 leather. It forms good leather in a shorter time than the 

 tannin of the oak barks. 



5th. The quality of the leather is superior. 



6th. Its operation is such, from some peculiarity of ;the 

 tannic acid it yields, that it prevents the decomposition of 

 the hide, so that the tanning process may be successfully 

 carried on during our hot season as well as during the 

 winter. 



The difficulty of tanning successfully in this climate 

 during the hot months, with the ordinary tanning mate- 

 rials, is the liability of the hide to decompose or spoil in 

 the centre before the tannin*, which is a powerful anti- 

 septic, can reach it so as to preserve it. , With other mate- 

 rials the tanning process begins, on the external surfaces of 

 the hides, and gradually progresses toward the centre. 

 Hence the liability of the hide to decompose in the middle 

 and become spoiled before it is tanned. The operation of 

 the tannin from the mesquite is different. When a hide is 

 examined, by cutting it after it has been subjected for a 

 sufficient time to the action of the mesquite ooze, it is found 

 that the tannin has penetrated through and through it, 

 and the tanning process has affected its centre as well as 

 its surface. The whole body of the hide is thus preserved, 

 so that there need be no loss from this cause, no matter 

 how hot the weather is. Western Texas has in the mes- 

 quite an agent which will exert a very important influence 

 on her future— a source of exhaustless wealth which will 

 enable her to manufacture all her millions of hides into the 

 best of leather — a material in sufficient quantity to manu- 

 facture leather for the whole country. Let tanneries, then, 

 spring up. It is a business, properly conducted, highly 



