Tart IV.] Puran Singh : Preparation of Tannin Extracts. 35 
number yearly increasing, which are reported to consume 450,000 metric 
Ions of chestnut wood. Taking 40 trees to an acre, yielding 150 tons 
of wood, it has been calculated that the consumption of chestnut wood 
by the above-mentioned factories represents the disappearance of 3,000 
acres of chestnut trees annually. In fact at certain places the supply 
of raw materials is already running short. For instance, it is stated 
that Corsican disafforestation will before long compel certain tannin 
factories to engage in the sugar industries (which, it may be noted, can 
be carried on by the same machinery as is employed for the prepara¬ 
tion of tannin extracts), and already beetroot experiments have been 
organised near Bastia. 
The forests of India, the Straits Settlements and other tropical 
# countries are, as it is well known, extremely rich in tanning materials. 
If they are judiciously worked by a system of rotation so as to permit of 
a sustained yield, these forests may be said to be capable of yielding a 
practically inexhaustible supply. The exploitation of tanning materials 
in Burma and India consequently opens up vast possibilities. 
In conclusion, it may be pointed out that in this industry Europe 
and America cannot be said to be so far ahead of India as they are in 
other chemical and mechanical industries. 
It is doubtful whether the chemistry of tannin has yet been properly 
investigated or understood, and with its large supplies of raw material, 
and with an extended knowledge resulting from experimental work for 
which there is much scope, India and the East may well be regarded as 
the land of promise for the manufacture of tannin extracts. 
APPENDIX B. 
The following firms may be consulted for tannin extract machinery:_ 
(1) Blair, Campbell & McLean, Ltd., Govan, Glasgow. 
(2) Buffaud & Co., Lyons, France. 
(3) Messrs. John Miller, Glasgow. 
(4) Messrs. Huxum and Browns of Exeter, England. 
(5) W. J. Fraser & Co., Ltd., London. 
(6) 181, Queen Victoria Street, London, for Kestner Evaporators. 
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