DYE-STUFFS USED IN ITALY. 207 



and those of the last-mentioned town produce the greatest amount. In 

 the province of Cremona there are three, and six in that of Pavia. In 

 the, Neapolitan provinces there are about 20 tanneries, besides 300 

 which are on a very small scale, and in which the leaves of the myrtle 

 (inortella) are used. 



There are also numerous other towns which carry on this trade, and 

 together work about 8,000,000 francs worth of skins, two-thirds of 

 which are imported. The island of Sicily possesses a certain number 

 of tanneries, which are found chiefly at Catania and at Messina. In the 

 latter town the works of the Brothers Ollavermi alone employ 100 

 workmen ; and the total amount of leather produced by the various 

 tanneries is 193,000 kilogrammes, of the value of 33,160?. In various 

 other Italian 1 ocalities are found 547 tanneries, in which 10,000 workmen 

 are employed, and which produce about 2,2OO,O0OZ. worth of leather. 



There is great difficulty in ascertaining the exact amount of tanneries 

 in Tuscany, they are so numerous, and, at the same time, many of 

 them on a very small scale. In Venice the number is computed at 

 about 80, some of which are very large, and produce more than 200,000 

 kilogrammes, the value of which would amount to almost a million of 

 francs. At Florence there are about 20 tanneries, employing about 

 380 workmen. 



We will now proceed to glance at some of the principal substances 

 used in the preparation of leather. In the collection which I have 

 exhibited in Class IV. of the Italian department are to be found the 

 most important of the mineral, animal, and vegetable substances that 

 are used for tanning purposes ; and employed with success, not only to 

 enable the skins of different animals to resist the effects of putrefaction, 

 but also to make them supple and elastic. 



The word sumach (sommaco) is generally applied to various sjDecies 

 of Rhus, and especially to the Rhus Coriaria, the Rhus typhina (Vir- 

 ginian sumach), Rhus pentaphylla (sumach from Tezera), Rhus Cotina, 

 Rhus glabra, and others, the leaves of which are often mixed with 

 those of the lentiscus, the myrtle, the myrtillia, the tamarisk, and the 

 arbutus. That which comes from Sicily is considered the best, and 

 sumach is one of the principal articles which that province exports. 

 Two houses alone (those of M. Florio and M. Vetrano) in Palermo 

 produce annually 6,000,000 kilogrammes, valued at about 4,000Z. M. 

 Majorana, of Catania, and Burgarella, of Trapani, produce pretty much 

 the same quantity. The annual exportation of sumach from Sicily is 

 valued at about 400,000Z. The countries which receive it are England 

 and France, as well as the other Italian provinces. Sardinia, also, 

 produces and exports sumach, but only in small quantities, and the 

 article itself is considered inferior to that obtained from Sicily. Sumach 

 is principally used in the tanning of goat and sheepskins that are 

 intended to take darkish colours, such as green or red (for lighter 

 colours it is necessary to combine the sumach with the bark of holm 



