4®4 On several indigenous Plants which may 
A discovery has been made last summer, which will 
contribute to the preservation of the trees, and to the con* 
tinuation and even to the increase of the tanneries. Eight 
new sorts of leather have been prepared and tanned with* 
out any bark at all, and with materials of which we shall 
give a detailed account, By using these articles, there 
is a saving, not only of bark, but likewise of several fo~ 
reign drugs, which are generally used in tanning. It is 
surprising that the experiments on which this discovery 
is founded have not been made sooner, as they are ex* 
ceedingly easy, and the various methods practised by 
other nations, and even by the most savage ones, for 
making leather, pointed out the way to them. In fact, 
be it owing to the want of bark, or to old practice, it is 
usual in several countries to tan leather with leaves, 
roots, fruits, and juices. We shall not enter now into 
all the historical details of which the subject is sus- 
ceptible ; but it is proper, however, to give a sketch of 
them. 
Some of the Calmuc Tartars, that rove about towards 
the great wall of China, tan the skins of their horses 
with sour mares’ milk. In Persia, Egypt, and some 
countries bordering on Africa, goats’ skins are tanned 
with the astringent and leguminous fruit of the true aca- 
cia, which is gathered before it is ripe. In several parts 
of the Turkish empire the same skins are made into Mo* 
rocco leather by the means of galls. The green nuts of 
the turpentine tree, and, according to some, even the 
leaves, as likewise those of the lentisk tree, serve for 
the same purpose in many parts of the Levant. The 
smak , or bundles of the leaves and young branches of 
sumach, is very well known, and is used in all countries 
for the making of Cordovan leather. It is also well 
known that in several provinces of Italy, Spain, and 
France there are actually used several plants, which 
