208 ON THE TANNING MATERIALS AND 



oak), and is used, also, in the preparation of saddlery leather. The 

 leaves of the fustic tree, or Venetian sumach (Italian ocotano), are used, 

 like those of the common sumach, but almost exclusively in Umbria 

 and the Marches, where the tanning process is carried on in pits. 



The usage of leaves of the myrtle (niortella), especially of the Myrtus 

 communis, is very ancient in Italy. They are steeped in the water 

 which is used to impregnate the hides with tanning. This mode of 

 tanning, known as the Italian process, is very prevalent in Tuscany and 

 in some of the southern provinces, and is adoj)ted solely for tanning 

 the skins of animals. In Sardinia, for sheepskins, they use sumach, 

 mixed with myrtle and alum. The leaves of the lentisk tree (Tistacia 

 Lentiscus) are employed for the same purposes as the myrtle in the 

 Neapolitan provinces, Sardinia, and the Volterrano ; it is worth about 

 six francs the 100 kilogrammes. The leaves of the tamarisk are used 

 by the Sicilian tanners, and are valued at about five francs the 100 

 kilogrammes. The leaves of the arbutus (Arbutus unedo) were, in 

 former times, greatly used and esteemed for tanning purposes. 



The leaves of the Rhododendron ferrugineum, which are very plenti- 

 ful in the Alps which surround Piedmont, are used by some tanners 

 particularly at Bielle, where, under the name of "rate " they are niixecl 

 with oak, bark, and the produce of the Ccesalpinia Coriaria, or dividivi, 

 which are imported from abroad. Leather produced by this means is 

 used principally for soles. Various species of oak furnish very valuable 

 bark, and great quantities are still procured in spite of the gradual dis- 

 appearance of forests. The preference is given to those barks which are 

 obtained from the cork tree of Tuscany and Sardinia, in which a large 

 trade is carried on with England. In the forests belonging to the state 

 lands of Tuscany alone 900 tons are annually collected, and from those 

 which are the property of M. Maffei, at Volterra, 930 tons of different 

 barks. 



The bark of the Quercus Robur, that of the Quercus sessiliflora and 

 pedunculata are used, but chiefly in Southern Italy. At Turin the 

 species known as the " Turkey oak " which comes from Montserrat and 

 the Comba are much esteemed. 



The Quercus Cerris is found abundantly in the central provinces ; its 

 bark is used in the tanneries Mondovi, Cuneo, and Alexandria, for 

 thick leather. 



The holm oak (Quercus ilex) produces a bark which is almost exclu- 

 sively employed in the preparation of calf and goat skins, which are used 

 for saddlery and shoemeking. Sardinia and Tuscany import considerable 

 quantities of it. It is worth about ten or twelve shillings the 100 kilo- 

 grammes. 



The bark of the cork tree {Quercus suler) is used with very few 

 exceptions, for sole leather only. The bark of the Alnus glutinosa and 

 Alnus cordifolia is used in Piedmont and Sardinia sometimes alone, but 

 frequently mixed with other barks. 



