Oct. 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



ON MUSEUM ARRANGEMENT, ETC. 105 



tanning liquor for a considerable period ; and this necessary process, 

 beneficial to the wearer as well as to the producer, appears to me to be 

 that which offers the greatest impediment in the way of shortening the 

 period of tanning. The hides as they leave the tanning vat require 

 several operations before they are ready to be used for soles, or to be 

 curried for various commercial purposes. They are first slightly washed 

 and placed in a shed to partially dry, and are then rubbed with a brush 

 and rough stone on the face of the leather, or hair side, to remove any 

 loose tanning material that may remain on the surface ; but this rubbing 

 is not applied to the back, as buyers attach great importance to the 

 peculiar appearance called the bloom, which enables them to judge of 

 the goodness of the tanning. The tanned hides are again slightly dried 

 and oiled on the face, and then submitted to the pressure of a roller 

 passed over the surface, which has the effect of rendering the leather 

 more flexible and the surface perfectly uniform. These operations are 

 repeated two or three times, when the leather is ready for soles. Before 

 the tanned hides intended for shoe-soles are considered fit for that pur- 

 pose, they must be slightly compressed and softened, so as to again 

 diminish their permeability to water. This was formerly effected by 

 beating with a hammer called the mace, but of late years this slow pro- 

 cess has been superseded by compressing machines ; and I believe those 

 most appreciated in the trade were invented by Messrs. Cox and Welsh, 

 and Messrs. Iran and Schloss. 



ON MUSEUM ARRANGEMENT AND ACCLIMATISATION. 



BY DR. J. E. GRAY, F.R.S. 



The following forms a portion of the opening address of Dr. Gray 

 as President of the Zoological and Botanical Section of the British 

 Association, read at Bath :— In the first place I wish to say a few words 

 on the subject of public museums. It may be well imagined that 

 having, during the whole of my life, been intimately connected with 

 the management of what I believe to be, at the present day, the most 

 important zoological museum in the world, it is a subject that has long 

 and deeply occupied my thoughts ; and it will also be readily believed 

 that it is only after serious and prolonged consideration that I have come 

 to the conclusion that the plan hitherto pursued in the arrangement of 

 our museums has rendered them less useful to science, and less interest- 

 ing to the public at large, than they might have been made under a 

 different system. Let us consider the purposes for which such a museum 

 is established. These are twofold— 1st, for the diffusion of instruction 

 and rational amusement among the mass of the people ; 2ndly, for 

 giving to the scientific student every possible means of examining and 



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