Jan. 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



FURS AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 265 



rat is dyed to imitate mink ; also to imitate the German fitch. Opossum 

 is likewise thus dyed. Sable fur is frequently dyed to improve its 

 shade. 



The furs of the gray fox and of the wolf are difficult to dye. 



An objection to the fur of the Norwegian and Lapland dog is a 

 peculiar odour that always attends it. 



The skins of hares and rabbits are used, in common with beaver and 

 many other skins, for felting purposes. And this branch of the manu- 

 facture of furs is a very interesting one. 



The introduction of silk plush for hats, as a substitute for beaver, has 

 brought about some curious changes in the fur market ; for example, in 

 1827, 1828, and 1829 mink skins were worth in New York from 37 

 cents to 40 cents each. Now these skins are worth from 8 dols. to 9 

 dols. Musk-rat skins were then worth 50 cents each and are now worth 

 about the same. 



The first process in dressing furs for use belongs to the hunter, who, 

 on capturing the animal, strips off the skin and hangs it up to dry in 

 the open air without fire. If it is well dried, and carefully packed, it 

 reaches its destination, however distant, in good condition ; but, if any 

 moisture be left, or, if it be packed with others imperfectly dried, so 

 that the slightest putrefaction takes place, then it is unfit for use, so far 

 as the furrier is concerned. A minute examination of the skin is, 

 therefore, his first business. The next step is to cleanse them from 

 greasiness. This is accomplished by the use of water, bran, alum, and 

 salt. 



This process is not, however, employed by any practical workman ; 

 farmers and Indians use it when they do not understand any other. A 

 man cannot put what is called a " leather " on a skin by the use of salt 

 and alum ; for when it is damp weather the fur will be soft, and in 

 dry weather it will be hard and stiff. 



A kind of oil which is found in the fur itself is not wholly removed 

 by the first treatment, so that it is necessary to afterwards wash it with 

 a solution of soda and soap. Finally, the skin is well washed in clean 

 water and dried; the previous treatment having converted the skin into 

 a kind oi leather. 



The process that has been used these last thirty years, both in 

 Germany and England, is as follows. : — 



When the furs come from the hunter, in the raw state, to the furriers, 

 they are sorted over and then prepared for tanning ; the term used is 

 a leathering." They are greased with common grease, on the fleshy 

 side, and then put into a tub large enough for a man to get into and 

 work easily at them. A cloth is then bound around the man's waist, 

 so as to keep the steam in the tub, and the skins are worked by the feet 

 until warm, which takes an hour or more ; they are afterward taken out 

 and greased again ; when the skin and grease are worked again a few 

 handfuls of mahogany sawdust are thrown in and worked to leather. 



