Glue, 
415 
ing than i-he former. My last ex}3€riment was steeping the 
leat 'ier with a certain quantity of fuller’s-earth ; this, of 
all the other substances which I tried, seemed to produce 
the best effect. In length of time the tan appeared to be 
entirely taken out, and the leather seemed as soft and had 
nearly the same feel as when taken from the animal ; but 
when I reverted to the boiling, although the appearances 
were much more favourable, the desired effect was by no 
means produced : what effect longer perseverance might 
have had, I cannot determine, for I now began to tire. 
My curiosity was next directed towards fish ; I tried va» 
rious experiments on almost every kind caught on these 
shores, arid the result of all was nearly the same. I soon 
found that the skins and fins of fish are not difficult to boil 
into a kind of glue, and the substance was of a most adhe- 
sive and tenacious quality, but appeared to be too suscep^ 
tible of the least damp, and soon became soft. The 
bones, if boiled for a considerable length of time, became 
so soft as easily to rub into a very fine rvhitc powder, but 
the fish itself exhibited the most curious appearances. I 
have often examined it with a glass of great magnifying 
powers, and the appearance is beautiful ; the whole ap-r 
pears one pure lucid pulpy substance, I w^as, at first, con- 
fident, that the whole would, with ease, dissolve into a 
soapy substance, if not into glue, but how different was 
the result ? after boiling a very long time, the whole dis- 
solves into a thready substance, and although continued 
for several days, there was not the smallest difference, on« 
ly the quantity reduced from its original bulk, yet the wa- 
ter never appeared in the least thickened, and when suf- 
fered to stand at rest, the whole settled to the bottom with- 
out shewing the smallest tendency to incorporate with the 
water. If a solution of either pot or pearl-ashes is used^ 
the fish will easily melt down into a soft soapy substance, 
and the solution is made pretty strong,, the dissolved sub- 
