DRESSING AND SOFTENING SKINS AS LEATHER. 195 



a " dolly " * in a tub lialf full of bran or bard-wood sawdust ; 

 finally covering tlieni witb plaster of Paris, or powdered 

 wbiting, to absorb tbe grease ; scraping off tlie old plaster or 

 wbiting, and adding fresb from time to time, until the skin is 

 freed of fat and perfectly pliant. To afterwards clean the 

 fur, dress it down with a " scratch-card " (to be procured of 

 any ironmonger) — steel wire woven on cloth in such a manner 

 that short ends protrude like a wire brush. 



Yery fat skins, such as dogs' skins, may, if perfectly fresh, be 

 nailed out and gone over with a saturated solution of borax, or a 

 solution of one part borax to one-eighth part saltpetre, and left 

 to dry in the shade for three months, after which they may be 

 scraped, and their natural fat will, after all superfluity has been 

 removed with plaster, &c., be found to have sufficiently imbued 

 the under or proper skin to render the final greasing unnecessary. 



The two foregoing processes seem to have been modified with 

 some success by Mr. R. Backhouse, of Stockton-on-Tees, whose 

 process is spoken of in the Field of June 3rd, 1882, as follows : 



" The skin, which should be removed from the animal as soon 

 as possible after it has been killed, is stretched and tacked on 

 to a board, the flesh side being outwards. This is at once 

 covered with lard carefully spread over the entire surface, no 

 portion being allowed to escape. As the moisture dries out of 

 the skin, the lard enters the pores and supplies its place, and in 

 about a week's time (the lard being carefully renewed when 

 requisite) the skin will have altered its character, in consequence 

 of being penetrated by the grease. It is then removed and 

 washed thoroughly in warm water and soap until the external 

 grease is removed. During the drying it is necessary to pull 

 and stretch the skin in all directions, so that its texture opens, 

 and it becomes white, owing to the admission of air into the 

 pores ; this stretching is accompanied, or rather preceded, by 

 careful scraping or currying with a sharp knife or razor, to 

 remove the fleshy matters and render the skin thinner. With 

 the larger number of skins the process is successful ; but some 

 few go bad, apparently from not absorbing the lard with suffi- 

 cient rapidity." 



* Professional -workmen often knead the lard into skins by the medium of their feet an<i 

 hands— not too clean an operation ! 



