CUR 
rencester, and composed of iron and steel : 
the edge is given to them by rubbing them 
on a flat stone of a sharp gritty substance 
till it comes to a kind of wire ; this wire is 
taken off by a fine stone, and the edge is 
then turned to a kind of groove wire by a 
piece of steel in form of a bodkin, which 
steel is used to renew the edge in the ope- 
ration. 
After the leather is properly shaved, it is 
thrown into the water again, and scower- 
ed upon a board or stone commonly appro- 
priated to that use. Scowering is perform- 
ed by rubbing the grain or hair side with a 
piece of pumice-stone, or with some other 
stone of a good grit, not unlike in tliickness 
and shape to the slate with which some 
houses are covered. These stones force out 
of the leather a white sort of substance, call- 
ed the bloom, produced by the oak bark 
in tanning. The hide or skin is then con- 
veyed to the shade or drying place, where 
the oily substances are applied, termed stuf- 
fing or dubbing. The oil used for this pur- 
pose is prepared by the oil leather driers, 
by boiling sheep skins or doe skins iffxod 
oil. This is put on both sides of the lea- 
ther, but in greater and thicker quantity on 
the flesh than on the grain or hair side. 
Thus we have pursued the currying of 
leather in its wet state, and through its first 
stage, commonly called getting out. 
Wlien it is thoroughly dry, an instrmnent, 
with teeth on the under side, called a grain- 
ing-board, is first applied to the flesli-side, 
which is called graining ; then to the grain- 
side called bruising. The whole of this 
operation is intended to Soften the leather 
to which it is applied. Whitening, or pair- 
ing, succeeds, which is performed with a 
fine edge to the knife already described, 
and used in taking off the grease from the 
flesh. It is then boarded up, or grained 
again, by applying the graining-board first 
to the grain and then to the flesh. 
It is now fit for waxing, which is per- 
formed first by colouring. This is perform- 
ed by rubbing with a brush, dipped in a 
composition of oil and lamp black, on the 
flesh till it be thoroughly black ; it is then 
sized, called black sizing, with a brush or 
spunge, dried, tallowed with a woollen 
cloth, and slicked upon the flesh with a 
small smooth piece of glass; sized a^in 
with a sponge ; and when diy, this sort of 
leather, called waxed, or black on the flesh, 
is curried. 
Currying leather on the hair or grain 
side, called black on the grain, is the same 
VOL. II. 
CUR 
in the first operation with that dressed on 
the flesh, till it is scowered. Then the first 
black is applied to it while wet; which 
black is a solution of the sulphate of iron, 
called copperas, in fair water, or in the 
water in which the skins as they come from 
the tanner have been soaked : this is first 
put upon the grain after it has been rubbed 
with a stone: then rubbed over with a 
brush dipped in stale urine; slicked out 
with an iron slicker, in order to make the 
grain come out as fine as possible, and then 
stuffed in the manner already described 
among the first operations of currying ; and 
when dry it is seasoned, i. e. rubbed over 
with a brush dipped in copperas water on 
the grain till it is perfectly black; then 
slicked with a stone of a good grit, to take 
out the wrinkles as much as possible : after 
this the grain is raised with a fine graining- 
board, by turning the skin or piece of lea- 
ther in various directions ; and when a little 
dried, it is bruised, in order to soften it. 
When it is thoroughly dry it is whitened, 
bruised again, and grained in two or three 
different ways, and when oiled upon the 
grain with a mixture of oil and tallow it is 
finished. 
Bull and cow hides are sometimes cur- 
ried for the use of sadlers and collar-makers ; 
but the principal operations are much the 
same as those we have already described- 
It should, however, be observed, that only 
a small portion of flesh is taken off from 
hides designed for these purposes. Hides 
for the roofs of coaches, &c. are shaved 
nearly as thin as shoe hides, and blacked 
on the grain side. 
The oil used in the first operation of 
stuffing, or dubbing, is called spent oil, and 
contains a portion of alkali. It has latterly 
been made up expressly for the curriers. A 
fact worthy of remark is, that it is imbibed 
more uniformly and effectually by wet than 
by dry leather ; and this no doubt arises 
from the gradual evaporation of the water, 
which gives place to the introduction of the 
oil by capillary attraction, whereas the air, 
if interspersed in the pores, would resist it. 
CURSITOR, a clerk belonging to the 
Court of Chancery, whose business it is to 
make out original writs. In the statute 
18 Edward III. they are called clerks of 
com-se, and are twenty-four in number, 
making a corporation of themselves. To 
each of them is allowed a division of cer- 
tain counties, into which they issue out the 
original writs required by the subject. 
CURSOR, in mathematical instruments, 
Ff 
