PREPARATION  OF  FANCY  LEATHERS,  ETC. 
409 
agent,  which,  according  to  Berzelius,  is  chloride  of  aluminium 
resulting  from  the  action  of  the  chloride  of  sodium  on  the  alum. 
When  the  manufacturer  judges  that  the  skins  have  heen  suffi- 
ciently impregnated  with  the  above  mixture,  he  introduces  them 
into  a  bath  composed  of  alum  and  salt  in  the  same  proportions, 
but  to  which  is  added  20  lbs.  of  rye  flour  and  50  eggs  for  100 
skins.  After  remaining  a  few  hours  they  are  removed,  and 
allowed  to  dry  for  about  fifteen  days,  and  are  then  softened  by 
working  them  with  a  peculiar  iron  tool,  and  the  white  surface 
which  characterises  that  class  of  leather  is  communicated  to  them 
by  stretching  them  on  a  frame  and  rubbing  them  with  pumice- 
stone.  A  large  quantity  of  tawed  leathers  are  also  preserved 
retaining  their  hair,  which  is  done  by  simply  suppressing  the 
unhairing  and  rubbing  processes. 
Chamois,  Wash,  or  Oiled  Leather  This  class  of  leathers  are 
named  from  the  fact  that  formerly  they  were  exclusively  pro- 
duced from  the  skin  of  the  chamois,  but  at  the  present  day 
sheep,  calf,  and  deer  skins,  and  even  split  thin  hides,  are  man- 
ufactured into  this  kind  of  leather.  I  should  also  state  that 
the  employment  of  this  kind  of  leather  has  greatly  decreased  of 
late  years,  owing  to  the  general  substitution  of  woolen  fabrics 
in  articles  of  clothing.  You  will  see  by  the  following  descrip- 
tion that  the  preparation  of  this  class  of  leather  differs  entirely 
from  those  previously  detailed ;  the  conversion  of  skins  into 
leather,  or  from  a  substance  subject  to  putrefaction  to  one  free 
from  that  liability,  being  no  longer  effected  by  tannin,  as  in 
the  case  of  hides,  and  Morocco  and  Russia  leathers,  or  by  the 
use  of  mineral  salts,  as  in  the  case  of  tawed  leathers,  but  by 
that  of  fatty  matters,  especially  animal  oils,  such  as  sperm. 
The  skins  are  prepared  in  the  same  manner  as  for  tawed 
leathers,  and  then  submitted  to  what  is  called  the  prizing  op- 
eration, which  consists  in  rubbing  the  hair  side  of  the  skin  with 
pumice  stone  and  a  blunt  tool  or  knife,  until  the  whole  of  the 
rough  appearance  is  removed,  and  the  skin  has  acquired  a  uni- 
form thickness.  They  are  then  worked  on  the  peg  until  the 
great  excess  of  moisture  has  been  wrung  out,  and  plunged  into 
the  trough  of  a  fulling  mill,  to  the  action  of  the  wooden  ham- 
mers of  which  they  are  subjected  until  nearly  dry.  They  are 
then  placed  on  a  table  and  oiled,  and  several  of  them,  after 
being  rolled  together,  are  replaced  in  the  trough  of  the  fulling 
