w- 
 
Class 
 Book. 
 
 SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT 
 
?0 / O 
 
 ^3 
 
 TANNING LEATHER 
 FACILITATED, 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID H. KENNEDY'S 
 
 PROCESS. 
 

THE ART 
 
 TANNING LEATHER 
 
 A NEW AND IMPROVED SYSTEM 
 
 THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY 
 
 CONSIDEEED IN ALL ITS DETAILS. 
 
 Discovered, and Patented April 14th, 1857. 
 
 david h. Kennedy, 
 
 NEW ALEXANDRIA, PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Illustrated with Twenty-five Wood Engravings and a Portrait of the Author. 
 
 Efylxti fEtfftton, fottf) antittums. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 
 BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS, NO. 1 SPRUCE STREET. 
 185?. 
 
<*s 
 
 mr 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 
 DAVID H. KENNEDY, 
 
 the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 
LETTERS PATENT GRANTED 
 
 ENGLAND, IRELAND, WALES, THE CHANNEL ISLANDS 
 AND THE ISLE OF MAN, 
 
 On the 4th day of January, A. D. 1854. 
 
 FEANCE, 
 On the 20th day of February, A. D. 1854. 
 
 BELGIUM, 
 
 On the 27th day of April, A. D. 1854. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 On the 14th day of April, A. D. 1857. 
 
 RUSSIA AND SPAIN APPLIED FOR. 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID H. KENNEDY, 
 
 OF NEW ALEXANDRIA, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
These directions, when filled up, are not to be left 
 exposed to the examination of such as may desire to- 
 possess themselves of their secrets. But should, for the 
 benefit of the Patentee as well as the purchaser, be 
 strictly kept from the public eye. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface H 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Returns of the Census of A. D. 1852, showing 
 the condition of the Tanning interest 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The different kinds of Skins suitable for Tan- 
 ning — Buenos Ayres hides — Brazilian hides 
 — Cow-hides — American Ox-hides — Spanish 
 or South American dry hides — Calcutta 
 or Nagore hides — Calf-skins — Horse-hides — 
 Goat-skins — Sheep-skins — Deer-skins — and 
 the Mode of Salting hides 37 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Structure and Composition of the Skin — Fibrine 
 — Gelatine — Albumen — Animal Matter — 
 Tannic Acid uniting with Gelatine and 
 forming Leather 59 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Soaking. Softening, and Washing Hides — An 
 Illustration, with a Description of the Hide- 
 mill and Washing-machine 69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Composition No. 1. 
 
 For removing Hair, Wool, Grease, Mucus, and 
 other impurities from the Skins — An Illus- 
 tration, with a full description of the Beam- 
 house 81 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Bating. 
 
 Reducing the Skins to their Original Thick- 
 ness 91 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Properties of the Ingredients used in the 
 Composition for Tanning — Their effects upon 
 the Hides — The Places of Production — The 
 New York Prices 95 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Composition No. 2. 
 
 For Tanning — The proper proportions of In- 
 gredients, with full and clear Directions for 
 using them — A Description of the Bark- 
 ometer 109 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Example. 
 
 Tanning one hundred common-sized Calf-skins, 121 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Example. 
 
 Tanning thirty Ox-hides for the Manufacture 
 of Patent Leather — The Handling-house, 
 with Notes — Splitting-machine 133 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Example. 
 Tanning fifty sides of Sole-leather 149 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Currying and Finishing Leather — Shaving- 
 Harness Leather — Blacked Bridle — Russet 
 Bridle — Horse Leather — Wax Leather — 
 Grained Leather — Patent Leather 167 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Texture and Quality of Leather 185 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Remarks on Tanning — Illustration of Clinton 
 Tannery, with Notes 195 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Mechanics' True Position. 
 
 A Word of Cheer to the Hearty Tanner 217 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Tanners' Cheer. 
 
 Illustrated by a Party of Tanners Singing the 
 words to the tune of the Marseillaise Hymn, 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Copy of Patent granted, in the United States, 
 on the 14th day of April, 1857 249 
 
 CHAPTER XVHl, 
 Copy of Specification of Patent 253 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following directions have been 
 prepared expressly for information as to 
 the practical application of scientific 
 principles which characterize the pro- 
 gress of the improvement, and are 
 offered to that portion of the public 
 which is interested in the leather and 
 tanning business. 
 
 Like every other art, that of tanning 
 has lately made great progress towards 
 perfection. Ingenious and practical men 
 have devoted their energies to actual 
 experiments, and chemical agencies have 
 been employed with varied success, 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 until, at length, the desideratum seems 
 to have been attained, which affords a 
 new and complete substitute for -the 
 manufacturing of all kinds of leather. 
 This must soon give it a world-wide 
 celebrity, and entitle it to the attention 
 of all concerned in the leather business. 
 The Patentee, Mr. K., takes great pleas- 
 ure in giving a comprehensive descrip- 
 tion of the different preparations for 
 using the improvement ; and I subscribe 
 my hearty good wishes for the success of 
 the invention for the purpose of pro- 
 curing the desired information. Inqui- 
 ries have been directed to the consulta- 
 tion of Sir Humphrey Davy, Professors 
 Turner and Ure, and several other cele- 
 brated authors. In this way the author 
 has obtained the most accurate knowl- 
 edge of the chemistry of tanning, and 
 for giving a full and comprehensive 
 treatise on changing hides into leather. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The art of tanning is that by which 
 animal skins are converted into leather, 
 a product differing entirely from that 
 of the raw material, and adapting it 
 to the useful purpose for which it is 
 employed. The properties imparted are 
 of a physical nature, and vary with the 
 kind of skin employed and the modifica- 
 tions of the process which it undergoes. 
 Chemically considered, however, leather 
 is a definite compound of tannin and 
 gelatin. Tanning, as an art, dates as 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 far back as nine hundred years before 
 Christ. The methods resorted to in 
 early times consisted of little more 
 than merely cleansing and drying the 
 skins ; and, thus prepared, the latter 
 were used for clothing, &c. Leather 
 was largely in use among the ancient 
 Egyptians, and the workers of that 
 material were so numerous that the 
 Memnonian quarter, Thebes, was charac- 
 terized as their especial locality. Their 
 skill in fashioning it was so great that 
 ornaments of all shapes and devices 
 were made from it. Leather was made 
 by them into tapestry, and many of the 
 Egyptian tombs bear representations of 
 artificers in leather engaged in the 
 several branches of their vocation. 
 
 The principal steps in the manufac- 
 ture of leather are the washing and 
 soaking, for the purpose of cleaning and 
 softening the skins, and preparing them 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 for the removal of the hair. This is 
 effected by the use of lime, or other 
 substances which destroy, dissolve, or 
 soften the bulbous roots of the hair, 
 and thus facilitate its removal by 
 mere mechanical scraping with a blunt- 
 edged knife. During this part of the 
 process, another important end is gen- 
 erally accomplished in the swelling of 
 the tissues and their preparations for 
 the more complete and easy absorption 
 of the tanning principle. The primitive 
 mode of removing the hair was that of 
 shaving it off with a knife ; but the use 
 of lime was known even among the 
 early Egyptians. When the rationale 
 of depilation is better understood by 
 practical tanners, the slow and incon- 
 venient process of depilation by means 
 of lime must give place to more effective, 
 rapid, and economical methods. In 
 later times, these defects were remedied 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 by immersing the cleansed and de- 
 haired skin in an infusion of oak bark 
 or solution of alum, and thus, by effect- 
 ing a union between one or more con- 
 stituents of the liquor and a gelatinous 
 tissue of the skin, producing a new- 
 compound with desirable properties. 
 The principles governing this reaction 
 have been, in more recent days, devel- 
 oped by the investigations of Proust, 
 Deyeaux, McBride, and Sir Humphrey 
 Davy ; and it is owing to the researches 
 of these inquirers that the occupation of 
 the tanner has been elevated from the 
 condition of an empirical pursuit to that 
 of an art based upon scientific princi- 
 ples. Many improvements in the art 
 have been made by the aid of inge- 
 niously contrived machinery, and much 
 has been done to hasten the process of 
 tanning. 
 
 Tanning consists in the combination of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 the gelatinous tissue with tannin by im- 
 mersing the skins in an infusion of oak 
 bark or other substances containing 
 tannin. The tanning influence is proba- 
 bly not exerted solely by the tannin, 
 but also partly by the extractive matter, 
 more or less of which always exists in 
 the tanning material. 
 
 During the soaking, the epidermis of 
 the skins disappears, and the tissue of 
 the latter is gelatinized, and thus predis- 
 posed to chemical union with the tannin. 
 This gelatinization of the tissues is all- 
 essential, and is promoted by the gallic 
 acid fermentation of the tanning mate- 
 rial. This is the more probable science. 
 The same effect may be produced by 
 the use of a very dilute acetic, and 
 other operations intended to perfect the 
 quality and appearance of the leather. 
 Leather is employed for many useful 
 and ornamental purposes ; and numerous 
 
 2* 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are its applications to various branches 
 of industry. Besides its extensive use 
 for covering the head and feet, wearing 
 apparel, saddles, harness, carriages, and 
 the purposes of the book-binder, it is 
 largely employed for the embellishment 
 of objects of taste and ornament. In- 
 dependently of the direct importance 
 of the leather trade, it exerts a very 
 decided incidental influence in devel- 
 oping the resources of a country, by 
 giving value to certain materials used 
 in and resulting from its manufacture. 
 Besides the immense employment which 
 it gives to thousands of artisans, it has 
 built up colonies and towns, which owe 
 their origin and progress entirely to the 
 interests connected with it. Even the 
 waste materials of slaughter-houses, tan- 
 neries, curriers' shops and workers in 
 leather, have important applications — 
 the horns serving for the manufacture 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 of combs, buttons, and umbrella furni- 
 ture ; the hair for plastering ; the spent 
 lime for the farmer; the skin-clippings 
 for the glue-boiler ; and the leather 
 shavings for the manufacturer of prus- 
 siate of potash. The following state- 
 ments will give an idea of the vast 
 extent and rapid increase of the trade 
 in leather. 
 
 In France — a country eminent for the 
 quantity and quality of the leather 
 which it produces — the average number 
 of skins annually converted into leather 
 is about three millions of whole skins, 
 exclusive of sheep and calf skins. In 
 the United States, the manufacture of 
 leather is only beginning to be of much 
 importance. Since the early part of 
 the present century it has been rapidly 
 extended, until it has become, with its 
 allied and dependent arts, one of the 
 most prominent elements of national 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 prosperity. This improved system is 
 conducted in the most simple and primi- 
 tive manner. The expenditure both of 
 time and labor is now materially re- 
 duced by the different modes and 
 treatment of the process. The unpar- 
 alleled success which has attended the 
 introduction of the patent process set 
 forth in this work, and the nattering 
 encomiums bestowed upon the direc- 
 tions given in a former edition, induce 
 me to extend them a little farther, 
 hoping they will be understood by all 
 those who will avail themselves of this 
 improved system for the manufacture of 
 leather. 
 
 I have extended the information in 
 this, the third edition of directions, and 
 hope that my fellow-tanners will read 
 them with a generous allowance for the 
 imperfect style in which they are given ; 
 hoping, also, that they will keep in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 mind that they are not fiction, but sober 
 truths, intended expressly for the appli- 
 cation of the process. 
 
 For some time past my whole time 
 and attention have been given exclu- 
 sively to the introduction of this pro- 
 cess, believing from the first that its 
 merits would, in time, bring it into 
 general use, which is now acknowledged 
 to be a fixed fact by those most con- 
 versant with it. Its general adoption 
 is now only a question of time ; for as 
 fast as it becomes known it is adopted. 
 This being the case, I wish to give all 
 the information I can respecting the 
 manner and different methods of using 
 it. To those tanners who have adopted 
 and seen fit to recommend this new 
 process for tanning leather, I return my 
 sincere thanks, and assure them that 
 their kindness to me, and approbation 
 of the improvement, wi]l not be for- 
 gotten. 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 We append a statistical table, com- 
 piled from the returns of the seventh 
 census, showing the condition of the 
 tanning interest. 
 
 The National Intelligencer compiles, 
 from the census returns, the following 
 table of the tanneries in the United 
 States, in A. D. 1850 : 
 
 No. of establishments, . . 9,263 
 
 Capital invested, . . . $18,900,557 
 
 Value of raw material, . 19,613,237 
 
 Value of product, . . . 32,861,796 
 
 The number of hides is 6,128,070; 
 skins, 2,653,865; and about 6,000,000 
 sheep, goat, and other small skins tan- 
 ned and dressed annually, which are not 
 included in the number. The number 
 of hands employed is 20,909 males and 
 102 females. The monthly wages of 
 the males amount to $416,214 ; of the 
 females, $970. The number of sides of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 leather produced annually, is 12,557,940, 
 and of skins, 2 7 653,865. 
 
 The foregoing estimates were care- 
 fully compiled from the returns of the 
 seventh census, for the National Intel- 
 ligencer, and may be considered correct. 
 
 Leather forms one of the heaviest 
 items among the staples of American 
 merchandise, and the demands for it 
 are daily increasing, in addition to its 
 extensive employment for the embel- 
 lishment of objects of taste and orna- 
 ment. 
 
 If we take it for granted that the 
 leather trade has advanced in amount 
 at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum, 
 for the last seven years, the figures 
 should now stand thus : 
 
 Amount of capital in- 
 vested, .... $32,030,946 90 
 Value of raw material, 33,342,502 90 
 Value of product, . . 55,865,053 20 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 These calculations may fall short of, 
 but it is believed that they do not 
 exceed, the truth. They may at least 
 serve to indicate the vast extent and 
 rapid increase of the leather trade in 
 this country. But what must it be a 
 quarter of a century hence \ 
 
 At the present rate of increase, we 
 may fairly calculate that in twenty-five 
 years hence the tanning and currying 
 business will have teipled, thus placing 
 it almost in the van of all domestic 
 manufactures. A business of such ex- 
 tent and importance, well deserves the 
 attention of the manufacturer, for what- 
 ever abridges and facilitates the process, 
 adds to the value of the capital invested. 
 
 The claims of this Patent are reason- 
 able and philosophical. Tanning is 
 wholly a chemical process, converting 
 hides into leather. The perfection of 
 the results of this process, depends not 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 so much upon the energy and proper 
 combination of such astringent proper- 
 ties and chemicals as are employed to 
 effect it. The more rapid the action of 
 these agents, and the quicker their 
 work is done, the more perfect is the 
 article manufactured. This is the doc- 
 trine of the improvement set forth 
 in this work ; and its correctness, econ- 
 omy, and great utility, we are ready to 
 submit to the scrutiny of science and 
 the test of the most thorough experi- 
 ment. 
 
 The leather manufactured by this 
 process is of a finer texture, softer, sus- 
 ceptible of a higher finish, less porous, 
 more pliable, stronger, heavier, and more 
 durable than leather tanned in the ordi- 
 nary way. The quality of the material 
 itself — which any man may examine — 
 and its use and trial for years, authorize 
 these high claims. They are announced 
 
26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to the public with the most implicit 
 confidence in their accuracy and relia- 
 bility. 
 
 We respectfully invite particular at- 
 tention to the following statements : — ■ 
 
 The numerous and great advantages 
 of this improvement, both to the manu- 
 facturer and to the consumer, are mat- 
 ters on which the most satisfactory 
 information may be obtained. 
 
 The adoption of this process by every 
 tanner in the United States is practic- 
 able. It consists chiefly in the applica- 
 tion of a proper compound or combina- 
 tion of certain chemicals to the usual 
 bark, liquors or other astringent prop- 
 erties, possessing tannin, thereby caus- 
 ing a much more rapid advancement in 
 the tanning of leather than is or can be 
 produced by the ordinary process. It 
 requires no new fixtures or expensive 
 outlay. After the hides are tanned by 
 
INTRODUCTION. 2*7 
 
 this process, the scouring, stuffing, oil- 
 ing, blackening, and finishing are con- 
 ducted as they ever have been. 
 
 This improvement will be found of 
 great general economy and utility. A 
 correct knowledge of it must secure its 
 universal adoption. The following facts 
 sustain this conclusion:- — Many of the 
 most experienced, scientific, and enlight- 
 ened tanners and other artisans con- 
 nected with the manufacture or sale of 
 leather, have certified to the superior 
 excellence of the leather manufactured 
 by this process, as possessing all the es- 
 sential properties requisite for beauty 
 and utility. We believe a similar opin- 
 ion is entertained by all who have care- 
 fully examined the leather, and who are 
 competent to form a correct judgment 
 of the article manufactured. 
 
 To capitalists, and especially to those 
 who have invested large amounts of 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 money in the manufacture of leather, 
 the following estimates, showing the 
 difference in the expense of tanning, be- 
 tween the old method and this patent 
 process of tanning, will be interesting : — 
 
 ONE YEAE'S WOKK BY THE OLD METHOD. 
 
 To present this matter so as it may 
 be readily comprehended by those doing 
 a small business, we will exhibit it on a 
 a small scale. Under the old metiiod 
 of tanning with bark, two men will tan 
 and finish 4,000 sides of sole leather in 
 one year. Their wages, at $30 per 
 month, will be $720 ; the sides, in the 
 raw and dry state, will weigh on an 
 average, 11 lbs. per side, making 44,000 
 lbs. ; at 32 cents per lb., they will cost 
 $14,080 ; they will consume 270 cords 
 of oak bark, at $7 per cord, making 
 $1,890 ; rent of tan-yard, $150, interest 
 on hides, $844 80; interest on bark, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 $113 40; whole cost when finished, is 
 $17,798 20. The 4,000 sides of leather 
 will weigh on an average, 16 lbs. per 
 side, making 64,000 lbs. At 32 cents 
 per lb. they would bring $20,480, afford- 
 ing a net gain of $2,681 80 for one 
 year's tanning on the old system. 
 
 one year's work by this new 
 
 PROCESS. 
 
 Under this patented improved system 
 of tanning, one man will tan and finish 
 4,000 sides in one year. At $30 per 
 month, his wages will be $360 ; the sides 
 will weigh on an average in the raw 
 and dry state, 11 lbs. per side, making 
 44,000 lbs.; at 32 cents per lb. they 
 will cost $14,080 ; they will consume 
 135 cords of bark at $7 per cord, mak- 
 ing $945, and chemicals to the amount 
 of $600; rent of tan-yard, $150; the 
 interest on the hides for six months, will 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be $422 40 ; the interest on the chemi- 
 cals will be $18 ; the interest on the 
 bark will be $28 35 ; making the 
 whole cost of tanning 4,000 sides under 
 this system, only $16,243 75. The 
 weight of the 4,000 sides when finished, 
 will be, on an average, 17 lbs. per side, 
 making 68,000 lbs. of leather — a gain in 
 weight of 4,000 lbs. over those tanned 
 by the old method at 32 cents per lb. ; 
 —the whole would bring $21,760. The 
 net gain is $5,516 25. Showing an 
 advantage over the old method of tan- 
 ning in one year, even on this limited 
 scale, of $2,834 45 ; besides, the leather 
 tanned by this process has a brighter 
 color, more the appearance of oak-tan- 
 ned leather, and commands a higher 
 price in the market. 
 
 The above is a clear and accurate cal- 
 culation of the cost of tanning, both 
 with this process and the old method, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 and the result makes its own appeal to 
 the good sense of all who are anywise 
 interested in the profits arising from 
 leather. Tanners ! see yon not that if 
 so much can be saved by applying this 
 patent process to tanning on so diminu- 
 tive a scale, that the ratio of profit 
 would be vastly increased by employ- 
 ing it on a more extended plan ? You 
 are invited to investigate this matter. 
 If, on examination, you find that a sub- 
 stantial saving of even ten or fifteen per 
 cent, can be made on a year's business 
 by adopting this new process, you will 
 not fail to see where your interest leads 
 you ; for ten per cent, over and above 
 your accustomed profits would, in a few 
 years, secure for you an independent 
 fortune. 
 
 It is plain that the advantages of this 
 mode of tanning, even to one who tans 
 only sole leather on a small scale, are 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 very great ; and to those who find it 
 difficult to obtain the usual quantity of 
 bark, it will be invaluable. Where 
 bark is plenty and can be obtained at a 
 small cost, it also is valuable, for only 
 one-half the usual quantity of bark will 
 be found necessary. By adopting this 
 method then, the tanner who consumes 
 1,000 cords of bark per year, will re- 
 quire only 500 cords ; a saving at once 
 of from $1,600 to $2,000 on bark alone, 
 in one year. 
 
 A brief summary of the advantages 
 of this patent process of tanning, may be 
 stated thus : 
 
 Hides or skins can be tanned at much 
 less expense than by the usual method. 
 Common size calf, sheep, goat, deer, or 
 other similar skins, can be tanned in 
 from four to twelve days, at an expense 
 of from fifty cents to one dollar and 
 fifty cents per dozen. Heavier leather, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 33 
 
 such as kip, upper, bridle, skirting, 
 harness, and sole leather, can be tanned 
 in from twenty to ninety days, with a 
 proportionate increase of expense, ac- 
 cording to the thickness of the hide and 
 strength of liquors used. 
 
 The liquors used in this process are 
 in all cases applied to the hides or skins 
 only in a cold state, and the leather 
 manufactured by it has been found to 
 possess more pliability, greater strength 
 and durability, and a much larger in- 
 crease of weight. It forms a finer tex- 
 ture, and gives it a handsomer bloom, 
 and consequently finishes much better ; 
 thereby rendering it more impervious to 
 water than leather tanned by the old 
 method. 
 
 The whole process can be learned by 
 any tanner in a very short time. 
 
 The apparatus and the different stages 
 of the process of tanning, are the same 
 
34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 or similar to the usual method ; but 
 capable, in fitting a new establishment, 
 of being more compactly arranged, and 
 at much less expense. 
 
 It requires less room or space to 
 carry on the business. 
 
 Parties wishing to satisfy themselves 
 on any point named in this or any other 
 chapter of this work on which it is 
 proper to give general information, 
 are invited to call on the patentee 
 or his agent, and examine the sys- 
 tem in its practical operations, see the 
 leather manufactured, and witness ex- 
 periments which they are prepared to 
 make at any time, for the purpose of 
 illustrating and corroborating the claims 
 of this patent, for which letters were 
 granted on the 14th day of April, 1857. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE HIDES SUITABLE FOR TANNING. 
 
 The hides and skins retain their 
 original name nntil they have been sub- 
 jected to the treatment of the various 
 processes they have to undergo before 
 they become leather. The quality of 
 leather depends not only upon the 
 nature of the skin and the mode of 
 tanning it, but upon the result of 
 numerous minor details, which require 
 especial care and attention. Skins from 
 large cattle are best, provided they are 
 not thin and flabby, for such will make 
 
38 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 only inferior leather. Those from cattle 
 slaughtered in the colder months give 
 five per cent, more leather than hides 
 taken in summer. The nature of the 
 food and state of the animal's health, 
 also, 'have an influence upon the quality 
 of the hide. For the production of 
 forty pounds of leather, there are 
 required, on an average, twenty-five 
 pounds of dry hide, fifty-six pounds of 
 salted hide, or seventy pounds of 
 marked hide. 
 
 SPANISH, OR WILD BULLOCK. 
 
 Buenos Ayres hides are taken from 
 the wild cattle which are run down by 
 hunters. After being removed from 
 
FOR TANNING. 39 
 
 the carcass they are spread upon the 
 ground, with the flesh side uppermost, 
 and left exposed to the sun and air until 
 dry. To prevent shrinking, the hides 
 are kept stretched by means of wooden 
 pegs driven through the corners into 
 the earth. 
 
 One of these cattle, a Spanish bul- 
 lock of the largest size, is before repre- 
 sented ; and also the natives or hunters 
 in search of wild cattle are represented 
 by a wood engraving in front of this 
 chapter. 
 
 Brazilian hides are nearly all slaugh- 
 tered in the ordinary manner. It would 
 be greatly to the interest of the tanner, 
 and would save him much annoyance, if 
 all hides were imported in a green 
 state : that is, merely salted ; for, when 
 dry, it is very difficult even for the 
 most experienced to detect many de- 
 fects which would impair the quality of 
 
40 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 the leather into which they are to be 
 converted. The large ox hides are the 
 ones chiefly used for conversion into 
 sole leather; for cow skins, though of 
 denser structure, are rather too thin for 
 this purpose, and are, therefore, reserved 
 for making saddler's leather. This re- 
 mark applies only to the hides of old 
 cows that have repeatedly calved. 
 
 OLD COW. 
 
 These are weak and distended, but 
 often tan well, and make good harness 
 leather, and sometimes make a very 
 good quality of upper leather. The 
 
FOR TANNING. 41 
 
 hides of heifers, on the contrary, are 
 equal, if not superior, to those of 
 oxen. 
 
 Bull hides, on the other hand, are the 
 least esteemed for making good leather, 
 being thinner and more flabby than 
 those of either oxen or cows. 
 
 AMERICAN FAT WORKING OX. 
 
 A well-fed, moderately-worked ox, 
 when slaughtered in a healthy condi- 
 tion, will naturally yield a hide of 
 normal quality; but if sick, lean, or 
 deficient in hair at the time of being 
 killed, then the hide is not adapted for 
 making good leather. Should the ani- 
 mal die suddenly by accident, without 
 
42 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 being in a diseased condition, the 
 quality of the hide is not thereby 
 impaired. The hides from unhealthy 
 bullocks or horses present a decided 
 difference from those of the same ani- 
 mals slaughtered in a sound condition. 
 This difference is not distinguishable 
 by any very evident characteristic, 
 though it seldom escapes the sagacity 
 of an experienced tanner. There are 
 no definite rules for estimating the 
 quality of hides. If a skin is free from 
 any defects, and has sufficient strength 
 and thickness, with body and firmness, 
 then it may be presumed that it will 
 tan well and make good leather. 
 
 A skin presenting the opposite charac- 
 teristics — that is, flabby, soft, thin, weak, 
 and will not bear handling — should not 
 be considered reliable. These signs, how- 
 ever, are not always unerring, for anom- 
 alous cases frequently occur. Indeed. 
 
FOR TANNING. 
 
 43 
 
 it may sometimes happen that the hides 
 from a diseased carcass, differing in 
 appearance from the rest, will produce 
 excellent leather. 
 
 As the skins could not be kept any 
 length of time in a fresh state without 
 being injured by putrefaction ; and as it 
 would be impossible to transfer them as 
 soon as slaughtered to the tan vats, they 
 are preserved unaltered by salting or 
 drying them. The country butchers 
 stretch them out in drying-lofts or in 
 the shade, while those in the city gen- 
 erally salt them. In the sale of unsalted 
 green hides there are certain reprehensi- 
 ble frauds which it is difficult to pro- 
 vide against. For instance^ not only 
 are the horns, ears, and other less valua- 
 ble parts left upon the skin, but some 
 butchers, in order still further to 
 increase its weight, beds the animal 
 before slaughtering in filth and mire, 
 
44 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 and then, after skinning it, trail the 
 hide on the dusty ground. 
 
 Domestic, slaughtered, and heavy 
 hides are converted into sole, belt, and 
 harness leather. The very largest are 
 selected and enameled for carriage tops. 
 The smaller and lighter ones are used 
 for skirting and bridle leather. In the 
 old method they have to undergo a 
 bleaching process, termed fair finish, 
 which is avoided in this process of 
 tanning. The smaller hides are some- 
 times converted into upper, and also for 
 enameling and japanning, termed patent 
 leather, when intended for shoes. The 
 hides from the northern latitudes are 
 preferable to those from the south. 
 Hides from the extreme south are par- 
 ticularly objectionable for conversion 
 into leather. Those from California, 
 when free from the defects caused by 
 unskillful skinning, are of good quality. 
 
FOR TANNING. 45 
 
 and will tan well and make good 
 leather. 
 
 SPANISH BULLOCK. 
 
 Spanish or South American dry hides 
 are generally converted into sole leather 
 and occasionally into "belt leather. 
 Those imported in the green and salted 
 state are sometimes made into upper 
 leather, which is of fair quality. 
 
 African hides from the west coast 
 make good uppers ; but they are largely 
 used in their raw state for covering hair 
 trunks. Madagascar hides are good 
 when perfect, which is rarely the case, 
 as they are liable to injury during 
 curing transit. 
 
 The hides of the neat yearlings go 
 into calf skins. Of these latter, there 
 
46 
 
 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 are "patna" kips, and common calf for 
 bookbinders. The patna' kips are very 
 inferior, though frequently sold as " Cal- 
 cutta kips." 
 
 CALCUTTA, OR NAGORE BULLOCK. 
 
 Calcutta or Nag ore Cattle. — These 
 cattle grow to a very large size, and are 
 used in India by the higher orders to 
 draw their state carriages, and are much 
 valued for their size, speed, and endur- 
 ance, and sell at very high prices. They 
 will travel, with a rider on their back, 
 fifteen or sixteen hours a day, at the 
 rate of six miles an hour. Their action 
 is particularly fine. The Nagore cattle 
 
FOR TANNING. 47 
 
 bring their hind legs under them in as 
 straight a line as the horse. They are 
 very active, and can clear a five-barred 
 gate with the greatest ease. 
 
 Hides from Calcutta or Nagore cattle 
 have the distinctive property of greater 
 weight, and, when perfectly tanned, 
 make a superior quality of leather. 
 Tanners have undertaken to tan them, 
 but failed in the experiment and pro- 
 nounced the hides worthless. 
 
 I, at one time, for an experiment, 
 tanned six dozen of Calcutta kip skins, 
 in the space of fourteen days, by this 
 process of tanning ; and the leather pro- 
 duced was of a very handsome quality. 
 They were pronounced to be a superior 
 article of leather by some of the best 
 judges and most experienced leather 
 manufacturers. One dozen of those 
 skins were taken to the State fair in 
 Pennsylvania, and were awarded the 
 
48 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 first premium for being the best leather 
 on exhibition. These kips sold at an 
 advance price of fifteen per cent, in the 
 Philadelphia market. 
 
 Hides from the largest of these cattle 
 are best suited for making good leather, 
 being strong and heavy, provided they 
 have not undergone any injury during 
 the importation. 
 
 A few kips come from South Amer- 
 ica, and some from England and Ireland. 
 The supplies of the tanneries are mostly 
 domestic skins. 
 
 CALF READY FOR SLAUGHTERING. 
 
 Calf Skins are valued in proportion 
 to their strength and size, and, when 
 properly tanned, make excellent leather 
 
FOR TANNING. 49 
 
 for boots and shoes, and also make supe- 
 rior patent japanned (termed patent 
 calf skin) leather for fine wear. The 
 skins of young calves are sometimes 
 converted into parchment. The French 
 tanners, who are renowned for the 
 excellence of their calf leather, use the 
 skins taken from animals of Hve or six 
 months of age. Those from calves of 
 less than two months old are very infe- 
 rior, and only suitable for the manufac- 
 ture of parchment. 
 
 Calf skins tanned by this process 
 have superior advantages over those 
 tanned by the old method. I have fre- 
 quently heard gentlemen say they wore 
 a pair of calf-skin boots on their feet 
 which were manufactured from leather 
 tanned by this process, and that they 
 have worn them every day for a period 
 of four months, without overshoes, and 
 their feet have not been damp once, 
 
50 
 
 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 though they have repeatedly walked in 
 the snow and sleet; and at present 
 there is not the slightest appearance of 
 cracking in the uppers, and the soles are 
 apparently as good as the first day they 
 put them on their feet. Calf-skins 
 tanned by this process possess more 
 strength, have a finer texture, and pro- 
 duce a handsomer grain ; are more 
 pliable and durable, and more impervi- 
 ous to moisture, than when tanned by 
 the old method. 
 
 MUSTANG, OR WILD HORSE. 
 
FOR TANNING. 51 
 
 Hoese Hides are tanned for uppers, 
 and make good leather. They are also 
 tanned for thongs, for sewing belts, &c, 
 and are the best material for that pur- 
 pose. Horse hides make good leather 
 for japanning and enameling purposes ; 
 when well tanned and properly finished, 
 make a superior leather for shoes and 
 fancy mountings for ornaments of taste. 
 
 Goat Skins, when tanned and curried, 
 are used for the uppers of ladies' shoes. 
 Tanned in a particular manner and 
 dyed with fancy colors, they constitute 
 
52 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 Morocco or Turkey leather. The best 
 goat skins come from Mexico, and are 
 known in commerce as Tampico skins. 
 The sound skins from the Cape of Good 
 Hope are very large, and far superior to 
 those from Madras and the Cape de 
 Verds. Goat skins, when properly 
 tanned and manufactured into good 
 Morocco, make a superior leather for 
 ladies' and gentlemen's wear, which is 
 soft and pliable to the feet. 
 
 SHEEP AND LAMB. 
 
 Sheep Skins, when tanned in the old 
 way, make a spongy, weak leather, used 
 principally for lining and trunk trim- 
 mings. Saddlers and bookbinders also 
 
FOR TANNING. 53 
 
 use them largely. "When tanned by 
 this process, they can be curried and 
 blackened the same as calf skins ; and 
 they will make a very good leather for 
 light shoes. 
 
 I have frequently tanned sheep skins 
 by this process, and finished them in the 
 same manner as true Morocco. The 
 results of the many experiments prove 
 to our fullest satisfaction, that sheep 
 skins, when tanned and finished in this 
 way, have many advantages over the 
 old method of tanning leather: they 
 are finer, more pliable and durable, and 
 more impervious to moisture ; and, when 
 manufactured into boots and shoes for 
 summer wear, they give full satisfaction 
 to all who will give them a fair trial. 
 
54 HIDES SUITABLE 
 
 Deer Skins, when tanned and fin- 
 ished in a proper manner, are nsed for 
 the uppers of shoes ; and, when finished 
 in a particular way, make a superior 
 leather for many purposes. By tawing, 
 they are converted into chamois or wash 
 leather, which is also made from goat 
 skin. 
 
 Leather is differently designated in 
 commerce, according to the use for 
 which it is intended. For example: 
 harness leather is blackened on the 
 grain ; russet is fair finished leather ; 
 wax leather is blackened on the flesh 
 
FOR TANNING. 55 
 
 side; and buff is that with the grain 
 divided by careful shaving, and black- 
 ened on the grain side. There are vari- 
 ous methods of manufacturing patent 
 leather which I will not describe mi- 
 nutely. 
 
 Mode of Salting Hides. — This meth- 
 od consists in laying open the hide 
 upon the ground and sprinkling the 
 flesh sides with salt, more liberally at 
 the edges and spinal portions than on 
 other parts. They are then folded or 
 doubled lengthwise down the center ; 
 the remaining folds are made over each 
 other, commencing with the shank, then 
 the peak of the belly upon the back, 
 afterward the head upon the tail part, 
 •and the tail part upon the head; and 
 lastly, by doubling the whole with a 
 final fold and forming a square of one 
 or two feet. This being done, they are 
 then piled three and three together, and 
 
 5* 
 
56 HIDES SUITABLE FOR TANNING. 
 
 left until the salt has dissolved and 
 penetrated their tissue, which generally 
 requires two or three days. Thus pre- 
 pared, they are sent to market. Skins 
 may be dried, even after having been 
 salted, by stretching them upon poles, 
 with the flesh side uppermost, and ex- 
 posing them to dry air in a shady place. 
 Ten pounds of salt in summer, and some- 
 what less in winter, are requisite for 
 each skin of ordinary size. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 COMPOSITION OF THE SKIN. 
 
 The skin of animals consists of an ex- 
 terior covering, the epidermis, or cuticle, 
 under which is a thin stratum of a pe- 
 culiar substance, called by anatomists, 
 rete mucosum, which lies immediately 
 upon the cutis corium dermis, or true 
 skin. The epidermis varies in thickness 
 on different parts of the body; it is 
 little prone to decomposition, insoluble 
 in water, in alcohol, and dilute acids. 
 Concentrated nitric and sulphuric acids 
 soften and ultimately dissolve it. The 
 
60 COMPOSITION OF 
 
 caustic fixed alkalies dissolve it even 
 when considerably diluted, but not the 
 carbonated alkalies. It is stained by 
 several substances, so far indelibly 
 that the color remains till the cuticle 
 peels off. It does not combine with 
 tannin. Corns, and similar induration, 
 resemble the epidermis in their general 
 chemical characters ; and horn, hoof, 
 calves' feet, cows' heels, sheep's trotters, 
 pigs' petitoes, nails, claws, tortoise shell, 
 hair, wool, feathers, and scales may be 
 regarded as modifications of it. All 
 these substances partake more or less of 
 the character of dry albumen, and 
 Hatchett's researches have shown that 
 the analogies between them are, in many 
 cases, only broken by the presence of 
 foreign substances. The general color 
 of the surface of the body resides in the 
 rete mucosum, the tint of which is much 
 dependent upon the influence of light. 
 
THE SKIN. 61 
 
 The black skin of the African, the 
 brown of the Asiatic and American, 
 and the pinkish-white of the European, 
 derive their color from this peculiar 
 secretion deposited between the cutis 
 and cuticle. The nature of this sub- 
 stance has not been chemically investi- 
 gated, but it has been ascertained, in 
 regard to the black of the negro, that it 
 admits of being bleached by chlorine. 
 The cutis or true skin is of a fibrous 
 texture, and, when boiled in water, is to 
 a great extent soluble, leaving the vas- 
 cular and nervous filaments which per- 
 vade it. The solution, when slowly 
 evaporated, leaves gelatine, which is the 
 principal and characteristic component 
 of the cutis. The skins of animals con- 
 sist of fibrine, gelatine, and small por- 
 tions of albumen and fatty matter. The 
 first two form, as it were, the basis or 
 net-work of the whole tissue, a portion 
 
62 COMPOSITION OF 
 
 of which, if boiled with water, yields 
 its gelatine, while the fibrine remains. 
 The epidermis of the skin does not com- 
 bine with tannin. The properties of 
 these substances, which j)lay such an 
 important part in tanning, are as fol- 
 lows : Fibrine is one of the immediate 
 and most abundant principles in animals. 
 It exists in the chyle and blood, and is 
 the basis of muscle ; it is a white, taste- 
 less, inodorous solid, heavier than water, 
 soft, slightly elastic, and without action 
 upon litmus. Fibrine loses four fifths of 
 its weight by drying, and becomes yel- 
 lowish, hard, and brittle, but regains 
 much of its original appearance by soak- 
 ing in water. It is insoluble in cold 
 water, and hardens without dissolving 
 in hot water, but is modified in its com- 
 position and properties. When left in 
 contact with cold water for several days, 
 decomposition, accompanied by a cheesey 
 
THE SKIN. 63 
 
 appearance, ensues. Dilute sulphuric 
 acid shrivels flesh fibrine, and ultimately 
 combines with it, forming a jelly soluble 
 in water. Dry fibrine is changed by 
 strong acid into a yellow, gelatinous 
 mass, without being dissolved. If the 
 acid be very dilute, the fibrine swells 
 and becomes gelatinous. Concentrated 
 acetic acid rapidly gelatinizes fibrine 
 and renders it soluble in hot water. 
 Tannin precipitates it from both its acid 
 and alkaline solutions, and, when fresh 
 fibrine is immersed in a solution of tan- 
 nin, it becomes, on drying, tough, hard, 
 and imputrescible. Gluten is the prin- 
 cipal component of glue, and prepared 
 in a pure state by soaking the latter 
 repeatedly in quantities of fresh water 
 until all soluble matters are removed, 
 and by then boiling and straining the 
 residue. Gelatine is colorless, or yellow- 
 ish, transparent, tasteless, and inodorous. 
 
64 COMPOSITION OF 
 
 It does not lose its transparency by dry- 
 ing, but becomes hard, brittle, and 
 horny. It softens and swells, and very 
 slightly dissolves in cold water, but is 
 very soluble in hot water, from which 
 alcohol precipitates it. Repeated and 
 successive boiling and cooling of its 
 aqueous solution impairs its gelatinizing 
 property. The characteristic property 
 of gelatine is that of combining with 
 tannin and forming a grayish, glutinous, 
 elastic compound, which, upon drying, 
 becomes unalterable and imputrescible 
 in water, and forms the basis of leather. 
 The mutual affinity of these two sub- 
 stances is so strong that the latter will 
 precipitate the former from a solution 
 containing as little as one part in five 
 thousand parts of water. Gelatine does 
 not exist exactly as such in skins, and 
 therefore leather, (a compound of gela- 
 tinous tissue and tannin,) though very 
 
THE SKIN. 65 
 
 analogous to, is not strictly identical 
 with, this elastic precipitate of tanno- 
 gelatine, which is slightly soluble in 
 water, and becomes brittle on drying. 
 
 Mulder, who has examined the sub- 
 ject, says there are two definite com- 
 pounds of tannin with gelatine. For 
 example, when a solution of pure gela- 
 tine is mixed with one containing a great 
 excess of tannin, the resulting precip- 
 itate, which is white and curdy, and 
 becomes reddish-brown, hard, and brit- 
 tle on drying, consists of one equivalent 
 of tannic acid and one of gelatine. This 
 is the neutral compound. If, however, 
 the tannin be not added in excess, then 
 the compound will contain three equiva- 
 lents of gelatine and two of tannic acid. 
 Earthy and metallic salts, throw down 
 double compounds, one with acid and 
 another with metallic oxide, the latter 
 of which is wholly insoluble while the 
 
66 COMPOSITION OF THE SKIN. 
 
 former is not entirely so. Tannin pre- 
 cipitates albuminous solutions, but the 
 resulting compound is not softened by 
 heat, like the tanno-gelatine. 
 
 Tannic acid combines with animal 
 gelatine, forming an insoluble curdy 
 precipitate. A piece of prepared skin 
 introduced into a solution of tannic acid 
 absorbs the acid and is converted into 
 leather. A hide is composed of gluten. 
 Leather and gluten are two very dif- 
 ferent and distinct substances. Leather 
 is formed by a chemical action. The 
 affinity of tannin and gluten is very 
 great, and by the combination of these 
 two substances we produce leather. 
 This apparently compact mass of gluten, 
 called green hide, is composed of mil- 
 lions of minute cellular fibres, inter- 
 woven and running in every conceivable 
 direction, forming a strong network. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 WASHING AND SOAKING THE HIDES. 
 
 In order to prepare the raw hides for 
 the action of the tanning materials, it is 
 necessary to subject them to several pre- 
 liminary operations. These consist in 
 washing and soaking, liming or unhair- 
 
 Hide Mill or Fulling Stocks, and Washing Machine. — 
 These machines are employed for the purpose of softening 
 and washing the filthy matter from the hides, and thus, 
 by bringing them as nearly as possible to the fresh state 
 of the skins when first taken from the carcass, to facilitate 
 the after process of depilation and tanning. The hides, 
 with the hair on, are first soaked in cold water for twenty- 
 four hours, or longer if necessary, and are then subjected 
 to the action of the hide mill for an hour, which time is 
 generally sufficient to render them pliable. Eight or 
 
70 WASHING AND SOAKING 
 
 ing, and bating. Washing and soaking 
 the hides is the first operation they must 
 undergo, and it is therefore a great con- 
 venience to have the tannery located 
 upon or near to a stream or running 
 spring, with an abundance of water. 
 The skins are taken in a green, dry, or 
 salted state. The green hides are 
 those from recently slaughtered animals. 
 They are placed in the pool of water 
 and left to soak for half a day, or longer 
 if necessary, for the removal of blood 
 and adhering dirt. If the skins are not 
 very dirty, an hour is sufficient. If it 
 should be necessary to soak them for a 
 
 twelve skins, according to their size and thickness, are 
 generally put in the machine at once. A small stream of 
 clean water is allowed to run into the apparatus upon the 
 hides ; and the washings, or dirty, filthy matter contained 
 in them, is allowed to drain off at the bottom of the ma- 
 chine. This method of preparing the skins for the liming 
 and tanning processes dispenses with the laborious mani- 
 pulations to which they are commouly subjected, and 
 preserves their quality — not injured as they were in the 
 old way by the hands of the workmeD. It also presents 
 
THE HIDES. 71 
 
 longer time, they must be handled or 
 moved about at frequent intervals. Dry 
 hides necessarily require a longer soak- 
 ing, and, to expedite the operation, it is 
 necessary to remove them from the 
 water and subject them to the fulling 
 stocks or mill frequently. If there is no 
 hide mill in the tannery, they must be 
 stretched upon the wooden horse and 
 scraped downwards with a fleshing knife. 
 The fleshing should be repeated once or 
 twice. The washing and scraping must 
 be continued until all the slimy and 
 other animal matters which are prone to 
 putrefaction are removed. No definite 
 
 the additional advantage of not requiring a long exposure 
 to the action of lime, which is so apt to injure their tissue. 
 After the hides remain a sufficient length of time in the 
 lime, the hair is removed by the workmen, and then sub- 
 jected to the washing machine for the purpose of washing 
 out the lime, which is accomplished in a very short space 
 of time. The skins are then taken to the wooden horse 
 and fleshed by the workmen. They are then placed in the 
 hide mill and beaten in the same manner as before for an 
 hour or so, washed and rinsed in a pool of clean water, 
 6* 
 
72 WASHING AND SOAKING 
 
 length of time can be prescribed for the 
 soaking of the skins ; they are to re- 
 main in the water until they have 
 become supple, and the intelligence of 
 the workman must determine when this 
 point is attained. If this work is done 
 by the aid of a fulling, or hide mill, as 
 it is termed, it can be accomplished in 
 one-tenth of both time and labor. If 
 the soaking should be prolonged, the 
 hides will acquire a tendency to putrefy. 
 When the skins have been all soaked 
 and washed as above directed, and are 
 sufficiently supple, they are returned to 
 and left in the water for a short time. 
 
 and then placed upon a truck car and conveyed to the tan 
 pits, and there deposited in a weak solution of tannin 
 liquor. A description of this machine, for the fulling of 
 both small and large skins, is represented on the left end 
 of the engraving in front of this chapter, giving an angle 
 elevation. The trough in which the skins are placed is 
 six feet long, three wide, and two deep in the clear, with 
 a concave bottom. The end presents a quarter circle, 
 against which the hides are beaten. The mallets or ham- 
 mers are two and a half feet long on the under side, and 
 
THE HIDES. IS 
 
 (five or six hours.) Some attention 
 must always be given to the nature of 
 the water, the size of the hides, and tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere. It must 
 be remembered that a too long contin- 
 ued soaking in the same water exposes 
 the skins to the danger of putrefaction ; 
 and the rapidity of this decomposition 
 is proportional to the amount of filthy, 
 foreign matter contained in the water. 
 
 If the hides are subjected to the 
 fulling stocks, or hide mill, as it is 
 termed, and worked for a short time 
 with judicious care, and having a small 
 stream of clean soft water running in at 
 
 one and a half on the top side, one and a half feet deep, 
 and one and a half thick, with grooved cast-iron plates 
 fastened to each end of the mallets, supported by Wo 
 upright levers ten feet long, the lower end mortised in the 
 center of the hammers, and fastened at the top of the 
 frame by a bolt of iron and wedges, so as to make the 
 hammers perform their work correctly and prevent them 
 from swaying out of place. The whole frame and size of 
 the machine is twelve feet long, four feet wide, and ten 
 feet high. The hide mill can be driven by water or steam 
 
74 WASHING AND SOAKING 
 
 one end of the mill on the skins, while 
 the dirty, filthy matter contained in 
 them is washed out at the other end, 
 skins thus treated can be softened and 
 washed out completely in a very short 
 time. This operation of treating the 
 hides is represented by a wood engrav- 
 ing in front of this chapter. By this 
 method, one man can cleanse a thousand 
 hides in the short space of twelve hours. 
 The hides which have been well 
 salted, but not dried, can be cleansed in 
 a very short time in the same way as 
 aforesaid. These manipulations are ne- 
 cessary not only for removing salt and 
 
 power. There are two pitments — the end of one being 
 attached to the upright levers, about three feet from the 
 bottom, and the other end attached to a cast-iron crank, 
 each arm of the crank being ten inches in length, the two 
 cranks forming a circle of about twenty inches in diam- 
 eter, giving the mallets about a thirty-inch stroke upon 
 the hides, driven at the rate of about eighty or one hun- 
 dred strokes to the minute. A band or cog-wheel is 
 attached to one end of the shaft when driven by power. 
 
THE HIDES. 
 
 dirt, but also for rendering them soft 
 and supple. When they are taken from 
 the water for the last time, the rinsing 
 must be vigorous and thorough. 
 
 Some manufacturers contend that the 
 quality of the leather is improved in 
 proportion to the duration of the time 
 of soaking the skin. It is still undenia- 
 ble that, when it exceeds a certain time, 
 the skin acquires a tendency to decompo- 
 sition, and the quality of the leather is 
 thus impaired. It is a mooted point 
 whether the nature of the water used 
 for soaking has any influence upon the 
 quality of the leather. From a 
 
 Washing Machine. — This machine is represented on the 
 right end of the engraving. Its form and size are in the 
 shape of a drum, five feet in diameter and six feet long, 
 closed up at each end, with a trap-door in the front end 
 for the purpose of passing the skins in and out. A pipe 
 is so arranged in the center of the washer as to allow a 
 small stream of clean water to pass in upon the hides, and 
 small holes are made around the edge of the front end to 
 let the dirty water pass out, with plugs to stop the holes 
 
76 WASHING AND SOAKING 
 
 practical knowledge on this point, we 
 will not take the affirmative side of the 
 question. It is undeniable that the 
 leather known as calf skin, upper, <fcc., 
 and which, by its very nature and des- 
 tined use, should be soft and supple, 
 requires a soft, fresh, running water, 
 and, consequently, that it will be diffi- 
 cult to make them so with hard water. 
 Rain water is the purest, but all drinka- 
 ble waters are applicable for tanning 
 purposes. Tanneries that cannot obtain 
 soft water can have the softness im- 
 parted to it by infiltrating it through 
 spent tan. For this purpose there is a 
 
 and make the washer perfectly water-tight. The inside 
 surface of the machine is set full of small wooden pins, 
 one inch thick, about four inches long, and about four 
 inches apart, for the purpose of catching the skins, raising 
 them up, and, in falling, changes them in various positions. 
 A six-inch wooden shaft placed through the center of the 
 washer, set upon a frame erected for that purpose, with a 
 cog-wheel and other gearing attached to it, so as to run 
 the machine at the rate of twenty revolutions to the min- 
 
THE HIDES. 77 
 
 series of three vats charged similarly 
 with spent tan, and, as the water which 
 is poured into the first vat is drawn 
 through a cock at the bottom, it is trans- 
 ferred to the second, and, ultimately, to 
 the third vat. In this manner all kinds 
 of water may be rendered available for 
 tanning, as, thus rectified, it contains a 
 little tannin derived from the spent tan, 
 which renders it particularly adapted 
 for the early part of the tanning opera- 
 tion. Experience certainly proves the 
 superiority of some waters over others 
 for tanning purposes, but on what par- 
 ticular quality of the water this superi- 
 
 ute. If the washer is allowed to run any faster it will 
 not do the work so well. When skins are tanned suffi- 
 ciently to be skived, they are taken from the tan liquor 
 and subjected to the machine for a short time, which 
 washes them out completely. After skiving, they are 
 again placed in the washer for a short time, which much 
 facilitates and hastens the process of tanning. 
 
 Either of these machines will perform work much more 
 rapidly and satisfactorily than any other machine now in 
 
78 WASHING AND SOAKING THE HIDES. 
 
 ority depends I have not yet been able 
 to determine. The safest course is to 
 prefer those waters which contain the 
 least soluble matter, particularly earthy 
 matters, for they certainly reduce the 
 tanning power of the ooze by combining 
 with some of its constituents. 
 
 existence, or than it was formerly done by the tedious and 
 laborious processes practised in early days. The expense 
 of building these machines is about thirty dollars each. 
 
 In the foreground of the engraving is the representation 
 of a railroad and truck car loaded with hides. This road 
 and car is for the purpose of conveying stock through to 
 the different parts and places in the tannery. This, how- 
 ever, will be more fully explained hereafter. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 The second process to which hides 
 are to be subjected is termed unhairing, 
 and is that by which the pores are dis- 
 tended, the fibres swollen, and the hair 
 loosened. These results are effected by 
 means of alkaline or acid solutions, and 
 by fermentation. Milk of lime is the 
 
 Beam House. — This room comes next to the apartment 
 for washing and soaking the hides. The beam house is the 
 grand starting point for the manufacture of good leather. 
 It depends entirely upon this operation for facilitating and 
 hastening the process of tanning. To secure this desirable 
 result they must be perfectly cleaned, scraped, and rinsed 
 7 
 
82 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 alkaline liquor generally employed. 
 Lime water has been proposed as a sub- 
 stitute, but it is less permanent in its 
 action and requires frequent renewal in 
 order to insure the perfect cleansing of 
 the hides. After the hides have been 
 sufficiently soaked, or, in other words, 
 sufficiently prepared to receive limes or 
 to be unhaired, I then introduce Compo- 
 sition No. 1 for the purpose of remov- 
 ing hair or wool, or for the purpose of 
 liming, as it is called, instead of using 
 lime as in the old way. 
 
 Lime has been used alone for the pur- 
 pose of removing hair, wool, grease, 
 mucus, and other impurities from the 
 skins. Lime alone requires several 
 
 before being allowed to enter the handling house for the 
 action of the tanning liquor. My tannery is two hundred 
 and forty feet in length and forty feet in width, with a 
 railroad running through the center from one end to the 
 other. The room or apartment occupied for soaking, 
 softening, and washing the hides comes first, and the next 
 
COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 83 
 
 days, and, in cold weather, weeks to 
 effect these several objects ; so that the 
 muscular fibre of the hides is always 
 more or less injured. When the compo- 
 sition is combined in proper proportions 
 it modifies the action of the alkalies and 
 protects the skins, so that the process of 
 unhairing and liming are both rendered 
 more expeditious, the hides are made 
 much softer than by the old method of 
 liming, their texture is uninjured, and, 
 consequently, the leather is much 
 stronger. The skins may be prepared 
 for the bating and tanning processes 
 after the usual method ; but I prefer 
 and use the following ingredients, which 
 I shall denominate — 
 
 is the unhairing apartment. This latter operation and the 
 apartment are represented by a wood engraving in front 
 of this chapter. The center of the engraving represents 
 a railroad, on which a truck car is coming in from the 
 wash and soak room loaded with hides ready to receive 
 the action of the lime. On the right end of the engraving 
 
84 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 Composition No. 1. 
 1st, 
 2d, 
 3d, 
 
 This composition (No. 1) must be 
 mixed in about the consistency of white- 
 wash, with a sufficient quantity of water 
 in the vat to immerse the number of 
 hides proposed to be unhaired. The 
 lime vats are placed along one side of 
 the beam-house, each vat containing a 
 paddle-wheel operating on the upper 
 portion of the unhairing liquor, while 
 the hides being handled are entirely 
 loose and free in the vat, and move in 
 
 is represented five lime vats, with paddle-wheels for the 
 purpose of handling the hides and agitating the unhairing 
 liquor. The first wheel is represented as being in full 
 motion, stirring up the liquor in place of the old tedious 
 method of handling by hand. These lime pits are eight 
 feet long, five feet wide, and six feet deep, with a concave 
 
COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 00 
 
 an opposite direction to that of the 
 wheel. A gentle and yet effectual mo- 
 tion is given to the skins and liquor by 
 means of the wheel. When the compo- 
 sition is prepared in the vat, the hides 
 are thrown in and kept agitated at fre- 
 quent intervals by running the wheels a 
 few minutes at a time, say once every 
 half hour, or once every two or three 
 hours, as the case may require. This 
 operation of unhairing the hides, and 
 also the vats containing the wheels, are 
 represented by a wood engraving in 
 front of this chapter. 
 
 Although the management of process 
 No. 1 is the same as the usual method, 
 the skins must be handled or agitated, 
 
 bottom, for the purpose of making an easy revolution of 
 the hides and liquor by the action of the wheels. These 
 wheels are made in the form of the paddle-wheel used by 
 steamboats, and are four and a half feet long, and five feet 
 in diameter, or fifteen feet in circumference, each being 
 geared independent of the other, with three cog-wheels, 
 7* 
 
86 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 and closely attended to, as has been be- 
 fore observed. This composition for 
 unhairing may be conducted at a tem- 
 perature of summer heat, and the object 
 may be accomplished much sooner than 
 by any other process. One bushel of 
 No. 1 mixture is about equivalent to 
 one and a half bushels of good fresh- 
 slacked lime. 
 
 The second ingredient may be substi- 
 tuted by eight pounds of 
 
 .., which will answer the 
 
 same purpose. No. 1 process must be 
 conducted with the greatest care and 
 judgment, and should be kept at a mild 
 temperature, and in a very short time 
 the hides will be ready to unhair with- 
 
 two large wheels, and one small one. The small wheel is 
 attached to an iron shaft running over the top of the pad- 
 dle-wheels, with an iron lever attached to the small wheel 
 for the purpose of sliding a clutch, by which the workman 
 can run any of the wheels at the same time. On the left 
 end of the engraving are four workmen represented at 
 
COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 8T 
 
 out the least injury to the skins. After 
 the hair is completely removed, the 
 hides are put in the mill and milled a 
 short time for the purpose of washing 
 or cleaning them, which gives the skins 
 thorough rinsing, and leaves them in a 
 fine condition for the "bate or the tanning 
 process. I will add, according to my 
 experience in unhairing and tanning, 
 there are certain drawbacks in the 
 liming process, when limed in the old 
 way, which are worthy of. enumeration. 
 Firstly, The contact of caustic lime 
 alters, more or less, the texture of the 
 hide, and permits it to penetrate the 
 pores, and remain in them in the state of 
 caustic lime or lime soap. 
 
 work, depriving the hides of their hair, standing upon a 
 platform extending from the wall half over the pool, the 
 whole platform being about ten feet wide, with the back 
 end two feet higher than the front side, giving sufficient 
 fall for the dirty water discharged from the skins to run 
 off. The workman stands with his back to the pool, and 
 
88 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 Secondly, The repeated rinsings in 
 water and workings only partially re- 
 move the lime, which is a serious imped- 
 iment to perfect tanning. 
 
 Thirdly, It hinders the ready pene- 
 tration of the tanning liquor, and the 
 perfect combination of tannin with the 
 skin, and so obstinately resists removal 
 during all the manipulation that a por- 
 tion of it is found even in the best of 
 leather. Notwithstanding that my ex- 
 perience is so opposed to the use of lime, 
 the careful and elaborate experiments of 
 Dr. Davy, chemist, show that its action 
 upon animal textures generally is rather 
 antiseptic than destructive. The disad- 
 vantages of the use of lime have led to 
 
 operates facing the light. la this position he can draw a 
 hide from the pool and place it on the wooden horse, 
 ready to be operated on, without moving from his truck, 
 thus avoiding the old method of walking around the horse 
 and drawing the hides up, which gives the workman double 
 labor. After this manipulation is completed, the skins are 
 
COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 89' 
 
 the substitution of less objectionable 
 agents, which are set forth in this chap- 
 ter. The advantages derived to hides 
 by these substitutions for unhairing are 
 superior to any other process, according 
 to my judgment, and is acknowledged 
 to be a fixed fact by all those who have 
 used it. The skins immersed in this 
 liquor swell out considerably, and are 
 ready to be scraped in a very short time. 
 Moreover, the alkali forming soluble 
 soap, with the fatty portions, facilitates 
 the cleansing and produces a smoother 
 grained side than is done in the common 
 way. Hides thus prepared will imbibe 
 the tanning liquor more rapidly, and the 
 entire processes can be accomplished in 
 one-third of the usual time. After this 
 
 thrown upon the truck and taken to the fulling stocks and 
 washer, and exposed to the action of those two machines 
 for a short time. When thoroughly cleansed, they are- 
 again placed upon the truck and carried to the handling- 
 house for the action of the tanning ooze. 
 
90 COMPOSITION FOR UNHAIRING. 
 
 mode of preparing the skins, they may- 
 be subjected to the tanning without addi- 
 tional process of bating, and there will 
 be a firm, solid article produced. If the 
 tanner wishes to make a soft, mild, and 
 pliable leather, it must be subjected to 
 the bate for a few hours, which will be 
 set forth in the succeeding chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 BATING. 
 
 REDUCING THE HIDE TO ITS ORIGINAL THICKNESS. 
 
 These leading manipulations are mod- 
 ified to suit certain kinds of skins ; and 
 some undergo an additional treatment, 
 termed bating, to remove lime and 
 otherwise promote the thorough union 
 of the tan material and gelatinous 
 structure. The bate consists of a liquor 
 made from the dung of domestic fowls ; 
 and immersions in this mixture remove 
 the lime and reduce the skins to their 
 original thickness. It acts by means of 
 muriate of ammonia, which it contains. 
 
D2 BATING. 
 
 This salt is decomposed by the unhairing 
 process, which drives off its base, the 
 ammonia, and, taking up with the mu- 
 riatic acid, then becomes soluble muriate 
 of lime, and passes off with the rinse 
 water. When limed in the old way 
 with lime alone, it carries with it at the 
 same time a portion of the gelatine, ren- 
 dered soluble by putrefaction of the 
 organic matter of the bate, which un- 
 doubtedly occurs. If the hides are 
 unhaired by the aid of composition 
 No. 1, there will be no loss of gelatine in 
 the application of the process ; for, by 
 bating, it will be entirely preserved 
 from all putrefaction. The bating pro- 
 cess can be conducted at the temperature 
 of summer heat. This, however, must 
 be attended to with the greatest care 
 and judgment on the part of the work- 
 man, and will render the hides highly 
 susceptible of being quickly tanned. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PROPERTIES OF THE INGREDIENTS EM- 
 PLOYED IN THE COMPOSITION 
 
 FOR TANNING. 
 
 Chemistry is that branch of natural 
 knowledge which teaches us the proper- 
 ties of the elementary substances, and 
 of their mutual combinations. It in- 
 quires into the laws which affect and 
 into the powers which preside over their 
 union ; it examines the proportions in 
 which they combine and the modes of 
 separating them when combined, and 
 endeavors to apply such knowledge to 
 the explication of natural phenomena 
 
96 INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 and to useful purposes in the different 
 arts of life. 
 
 It is my intention, in this introductory 
 chapter, to make a brief allusion to the 
 style of these ingredients, used in this 
 process for the manufacture of leather, 
 when they are duly prepared in the 
 proper proportions. The union of these 
 ingredients with tannin facilitates the 
 process of tanning, and produces the 
 desired effect upon the article manu- 
 factured. There are many vegetable 
 substances containing a principle which 
 confers upon them an astringent taste, 
 and which has the property of forming 
 a superior tanning liquor. 
 
 Chemistry is that science which treats 
 of those events or changes in natural 
 bodies which are not accompanied by 
 sensible motions. Most of the sub- 
 stances belonging to our globe are con- 
 stantly undergoing alterations in sensible 
 
INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 97 
 
 qualities, and one variety of matter 
 becomes, as it were, transmuted into 
 another. Such changes, whether nat- 
 ural or artificial, whether slowly or 
 rapidly performed, are called chemical. 
 Thus, the gradual and almost impercepti- 
 ble decay of the leaves and branches of 
 a fallen tree exposed to the atmosphere, 
 and the rapid combustion of wood in 
 our fires, are both chemical operations. 
 The object of chemical philosophy is to 
 ascertain the causes of all phenomena of 
 this kind, and to discover the laws by 
 which they are governed. As induc- 
 tion from experiment is exclusively the 
 basis of chemical science, little progress 
 could be made in it till the futility of 
 the ancient philosophical systems had 
 been shown and their influence annihi- 
 lated, till the true end of science was 
 rightly defined and the road to it ren- 
 dered straight and passable, till the 
 
98 INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 necessity of well-digested experiment 
 had been established, which first pro- 
 cures the light, then shows the way by 
 its means. The conversion of hides into 
 leather is wholly a chemical process. 
 Hides and skins may be converted into 
 leather more perfectly by the combina- 
 tion of those different chemicals, ingre- 
 dients, and tanning liquors manufactured 
 from oak barks. By this combination a 
 greater amount of tannin is concentrated 
 in a smaller quantity of materials, and 
 much less labor is required than in the 
 old method. These ingredients, when 
 combined in proper proportions, make a 
 superior tanning agent for the manufac- 
 ture of all kinds of leather. This com- 
 position consists of five different, distinct 
 substances. In the succeeding chapter 
 will be given a correct description of and 
 the proper proportions for manufacturing 
 and applying this composition to the 
 
INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 99 
 
 hides. In the first place, as far as my 
 knowledge will permit, I will endeavor 
 to give the properties of the ingredients 
 adapted to Composition No. 2, chapter 
 viii., and their effects upon the hides and 
 skins, and the purposes used for making 
 the different kinds of leather. The tan- 
 ner will observe that the ingredients are 
 not all applied at the same time ; but let 
 him use them as directed, and he will not 
 fail to produce the desired article of 
 leather. Those ingredients are employ ed 
 at different intervals and at different 
 stages of the process of tanning : 
 
 Firstly, I use the first ingredient for 
 the tanning properties it possesses. The 
 tannin can be obtained from different 
 sources. Its properties, however, differ 
 materially in some of their character- 
 istics. The tannin possessed by this 
 article has superior tanning properties : 
 one pound of it is equivalent to ten 
 
 8* 
 
100 INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 pounds of either oak or hemlock bark r 
 besides containing pure tannin, and a 
 small quantity of gallic acid and modified 
 tannin, in the state which is generally 
 designated by the name Extractive; 
 and, lastly, a combination of tannin 
 which is soluble in cold water, and more 
 particularly in hot water, and produces 
 a stronger liquor with the combination 
 of chemicals, which unites dissimilar 
 bodies into a uniform compound and 
 makes a tanning liquor that cannot be 
 surpassed. This article can be procured 
 in abundance at the small price of from 
 two to five dollars per one hundred 
 pounds. 
 
 Secondly, I used the second article for 
 
INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 101 
 
 its brightening qualities. I do not, there- 
 fore, use it for any tanning properties, 
 for it contains no tannin. It gives the 
 leather that very bright hue which we 
 term bloom, which makes a very hand- 
 some, durable, and saleable color. This 
 ingredient is prepared on a large scale 
 for calico printers. It has a cooling y 
 saline, and bitter taste. When recently 
 prepared it is beautifully transparent, 
 but by exposure to the air it effloresces 
 and the crystals become covered with an 
 opaque white powder. By long ex- 
 posure it undergoes complete efflores- 
 cence, and falls to powder with the loss 
 of more than one-half its weight. It is 
 soluble in three times its weight of cold 
 water, and in its own weight of boiling 
 water, but insoluble in alcohol ; sub- 
 jected to heat, it dissolves in its water of 
 crystallization, then dries, and afterward, 
 by the application of a red heat, melts, 
 
102 INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 with the loss of fifty-five and a half per 
 cent, of its weight. It has no injurious 
 or offensive properties, for it was for- 
 merly used as a medicine. At the pres- 
 ent time, immense quantities of this 
 article are manufactured in all parts of 
 the world, and can be procured at the 
 small cost of one cent per pound. 
 
 Thirdly, I use the third article for 
 the purpose herein set forth : it induces 
 a more rapid action of the tannin upon 
 the skin. This ingredient, when used in 
 proper proportions, unites more forcibly, 
 and adds materially to the quality of the 
 leather, and makes it more pliant and 
 durable, which is the great object in 
 tanning. 
 
 This article is largely manufactured in 
 all parts of the world, and is used for 
 various purposes. Its cost is about six 
 cents per pound, and it dissolves readily 
 in boiling water. 
 
INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 103 
 
 JUST ARRIVED, A CARGO OF TANNING MATERIALS. 
 
 Fourthly, The fourth ingredient is 
 used for softening the hides, and expe- 
 diting the process of unh airing, and 
 rendering them more supple for the 
 tanning process, and also for keeping the 
 skins in a fine condition while the tanning 
 is going on, by keeping the pores open 
 for the tannin to penetrate through the 
 network of the hide, thus forming leather 
 more perfectly and expeditiously. If 
 the skins are hard and harsh, the harsh- 
 ness can "be removed by the use of this 
 article. It may be used freely without 
 injuring the hides, as I have found it of 
 
104 INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 
 
 essential use in raising the skins in the 
 tanning process, and preparing them 
 without injury for speedy and safe 
 tanning. This article is manufactured 
 on a very large scale both in Europe 
 and America, and is used for various 
 purposes. It has no injurious or offens- 
 ive properties, and can be procured in 
 abundance at one and three-quarter 
 cents per pound, and dissolves readily in 
 boiling water. 
 
 Fifthly, The fifth ingredient pos- 
 sesses a small portion of tannin, and 
 also possesses a sweetish, astringent 
 taste. Care must be taken and not use 
 too much at a time. When used too 
 freely it gives the leather an olive hue, 
 which is not a very desirable color. 
 Its expanding properties are very great, 
 and act freely upon the pores of the 
 skin; therefore the proper proportions 
 must be strictly observed, or the effects 
 
INGREDIENTS FOR TANNING. 105 
 
 will undoubtedly be injurious to the 
 leather. It dissolves in fourteen times 
 its weight in cold water, and in its 
 own weight of boiling water. It is 
 manufactured in almost all parts of the 
 world, and is used for various purposes, 
 and can be obtained at two and a half 
 cents per pound. 
 
 There are many other ingredients of 
 similar properties that will answer very 
 nearly the same purpose ; but, upon 
 experimenting with various kinds of 
 chemicals, I could not find any that 
 would answer for the tanning of leather 
 but those I have adopted, and they 
 answer the purpose in every respect. 
 The reader will observe that the names 
 of the ingredients are not given in this 
 chapter, but they will be designated by 
 being numbered in this and also in the 
 succeeding chapters. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 This process is applicable to the tan- 
 ning of all kinds of hides, and to making 
 the different kinds of leather. 
 
 The proper proportions of the ingre- 
 dients must be strictly observed in all 
 cases. In preparing the following ma- 
 terials, the operator should use scales, 
 and weigh them out correctly, as repre- 
 sented by the wood engraving in front 
 of this chapter. Caution should always 
 be observed to have the proper prep- 
 arations. I will here give the correct 
 
110 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 proportions of the materials for the tan- 
 ning of one hundred common-sized calf- 
 skins, or any other like skins. The 
 example of tanning the above skins will 
 be given hereafter. In mixing these 
 articles, the operator must be careful 
 that he has the correct proportions, as it 
 will depend entirely upon the manage- 
 ment and skill of the workman in pre- 
 paring these ingredients to produce a 
 superior quality of leather, which will, 
 undoubtedly, be the case when the pro- 
 cess is correctly managed. 
 
 Composition No. 2. 
 1st, lbs. 
 
 2d, lbs. 
 
 3d, lbs. 
 
 4th, lbs. 
 
 5th, lbs. 
 
COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. Ill 
 
 The ingredients of number one nmst 
 be dissolved, separately, in hot water; 
 or, hot bark-liquor is preferable. After 
 they are dissolved, put them into a vat 
 or tub, or whatever it may be. If the 
 liquor is not sufficient to cover the 
 amount of skins proposed to be tanned, 
 bark liquor may be used to fill up the 
 vat or tub, to make the liquor cover the 
 hides. There should, in all cases, be suf- 
 ficient in, but not so as to lie crowded or 
 in a compact state. The skins must have 
 a sufficient quantity of liquor on them, so 
 as to lie loose, and let the tannin have a 
 chance to search through the network and 
 fibres of the skins, which is one of the 
 most important parts of tanning. When 
 they are once plumped, we ought, at 
 least, to keep them in that state, and 
 allow them to come in contact with the 
 tannin gradually, as they are frequently 
 handled or agitated in the liquor. The 
 
112 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 spent liquor or water that remains in the 
 pores of the hides, which has caused 
 them to plump, by filling up every pore 
 and cavity among the fibres of the 
 skins, will retain its place, and will keep 
 them in fine condition, just as they 
 should be, until it is forced to give way 
 to the tannin, which takes the place of 
 the spent liquor, and gradually unites 
 with the gelatin and forms leather. 
 Hides should be handled in cold, weak 
 liquor, particularly the first application 
 of the skin to the liquor, for a day or 
 two. The effects of the first application 
 of liquor that is too strong, and too 
 warm, to green hides is very injurious. 
 It contracts the surface fibres of the 
 skin, tanning at once the external layers 
 so dead as to shut up the pores and pre- 
 vent the tannin from penetrating the 
 interior portions of the hide. This ren- 
 ders the leather harsh and brittle. The 
 
COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 113 
 
 liquor should also be kept as cool as 
 possible, with certain limits, but ought 
 never to exceed a temperature of eighty 
 degrees ; in fact, a much lower tempera- 
 ture is the maximum point, if the liquor 
 is very strong ; too high a heat with a 
 liquor too strongly charged with the 
 tanning principle, being invariably in- 
 jurious to the life and color of the 
 leather. The first application of the 
 liquor should not exceed, in strength, 
 
 Hydrometer. — A Hydrometer is a conven- 
 ient apparatus for ascertaining readily the 
 density or strength of liquors. That refer- 
 red to above has been styled by its maker 
 (W. Pike, of the city of New York), a Bark- 
 ometer, because it is specially adapted to 
 testing the strength of bark liquors. Its form 
 and the manner of using it are represented 
 by a small wood-engraving on this page ; and 
 it is made wholly of glass; a, d, being the 
 stem, inclosing a graduated paper scale ; B, 
 a spherical bubble ; and C, a small bubble 
 at its base, containing quicksilver or shot, 
 which serves as ballast to retain the instru- 
 ment in a vertical position in the liquid. 
 The scale on the stem is equally divided into 
 
114 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 more than one or two per cent, by W. 
 Pike's Barkometer, which is specially 
 adapted to testing the strength of bark 
 liquors. Strong liquor must invariably 
 be avoided in the first application. On 
 the other hand, a too weak solution, in 
 the latter stage of tanning, must be 
 avoided. In the latter stage, the liquor 
 may be used as strong as it can be made, 
 without injury to the leather. I have 
 used it as high as fifty per cent. The 
 weight, in leather, is made by keeping it 
 in good strong liquor, and giving it 
 close attention. In order to produce 
 heavy weights, the hides should not be 
 reduced too low in the beam-house, and 
 should be tanned quickly, with good 
 
 five or ten wide spaces, and each of these again subdivided 
 into ten narrow spaces; the zero point of the scale is 
 made by plunging the instrument into distilled water, at 
 58 degrees F., and adding mercury to the bubble until it 
 sinks to nearly the top of the stem a. A solution of ten 
 parts of bark in ninety parts of distilled water having 
 
COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 115 
 
 strong liquors, particularly in the latter 
 stage of the operation ; green hides in 
 particular. Nothing can "be more in- 
 jurious than to suffer them to remain 
 too long in weak liquors. It will, from 
 this, be seen that in the question of the 
 proper strength of liquors alone, there is 
 room for the exercise of the greatest 
 judgment and the most extensive experi- 
 ence. In very many cases, nothing can 
 be depended upon but the judgment of 
 the practical tanner. In softening hides 
 and preparing them for the process of 
 tanning, a great deal also depends upon 
 the judgment of the person superintend- 
 ing this operation; inasmuch as the 
 diversities in the qualities and charac- 
 
 been made, the hydrometer is then plunged in the liquor, 
 and the point to which it sinks therein, say 6, is cai etully 
 and accurately marked upon the scale, and rated as 10 
 compared with the zero point. Each of the grand divi- 
 sions, consequently, represents ten per cent, of bark, and 
 each of the smaller ones, or subdivisions, corresponds with 
 
116 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 teristics of the hides render it impossi- 
 ble to subject them to anything more 
 than a general mode of treatment. As 
 a general rule, the milder the process of 
 preparing the hides for the liquor the 
 better. Unnecessarily severe or pro- 
 longed treatment is inevitably attended 
 with a loss of gelatin, and, consequently, 
 with a loss of weight and strength in 
 the leather. Skins should be handled 
 in weak liquor at first ; then increase 
 the strength of the tanning liquor, and 
 keep up the strength of it, and handle 
 regularly, and of course the hides re- 
 quire less and less handling, as the pro- 
 cess of tanning progresses — for the more 
 they become tanned, the slower will 
 
 one per cent, of bark. It is very easj, therefore, after 
 having determined the length of the stem from zero, which 
 sinks in a normal solution of bark, to apportion the rest of 
 it with the aid of a pair of dividers; so that every inter- 
 val thus apportioned, shall be equal to that fixed by ex- 
 periment. When, therefore, this instrument sinks into a 
 
COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 117 
 
 they receive the liquor ; the hides that 
 are intended for sole leather, when han- 
 dled a short time, in weak liquor, should 
 be laid down alternately in the vat, with 
 layers of bark between each and every 
 hide. (For example, see Chapter XI.) 
 
 When sole leather has been laid away 
 for ten or fifteen days, the liquor should 
 be let off, and a good strong liquor pre- 
 pared and poured into the vat, without 
 moving the hides, and let it remain until 
 exhausted. The liquor should be renewed 
 in like manner until the stock is com- 
 pletely tanned. The first liquor can be 
 applied to a succeeding pack, and so on 
 until the strength of the liquor is en- 
 tirely exhausted. 
 
 bark liquor to twenty degrees, thirty, or any other de- 
 gree, the number indicates the percentage of tanning 
 force. It is necessary to observe that this instrument is 
 applicable only to freshly-made liquors ; for otherwise, 
 confusion and want of confidence might ensue upon find- 
 ing that it sinks, sometimes, to a corresponding degree in 
 
118 COMPOSITION FOR TANNING. 
 
 The light stock, such as calf, sheep, 
 and other like skins, need not be laid 
 away. (For example, see Chap. IX.) 
 
 After the tannery "becomes thoroughly 
 impregnated with chemicals, it can be 
 kept up with half the expense and 
 trouble, and the tanner will see a great 
 change in his leather, both in time and 
 quality. No tanner should do without 
 this process, if he looks to his own inter- 
 est, which every tanner should do. If 
 the stock is to be tanned out in a given 
 time, it must be accomplished by man- 
 agement, care, attention, and strength of 
 the liquor. It is my opinion that no 
 practical tanner can fail in his appointed 
 time for the completion of the work, if 
 he closely follows the direction. 
 
 spent liquor. This is owing to the fact that the alterations 
 which tanning liquors undergo during use and exposure, 
 may not diminish their density, though they impair and 
 destroy their tanning power. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EXAMPLE OF TANNING ONE HUNDRED 
 COMMON-SIZED CALF SKINS. 
 
 The tanning of calf-skins is conducted 
 about the same way as small cow-hides, 
 or any other kind of hides. In the first 
 place, the skins are subjected to a 
 preparation liquor for the purpose of 
 giving them a clear, bright color, and a 
 good grain, and also for opening their 
 pores and preparing them for the tannin. 
 By this preparation mixture the skins 
 can be colored and grained beautifully 
 in the space of three hours. This mix- 
 ture, however, need not be used in 
 
122 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 tanning regularly ; only when you wish 
 to color and grain the stock in a short 
 time. It is more adapted to experiment- 
 ing than regular tanning, although it is 
 useful in tanning; but many tanners 
 would think it rather troublesome to 
 prepare. I procured one hundred com- 
 mon-sized calf-skins from the bate, un- 
 haired and free of lime, and prepared 
 a coloring and graining liquor of the 
 following ingredients, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Preparation Liquor for Coloring and 
 Graining the Skins. 
 
 1st, lbs. __ 
 
 2d, lbs. ..... 
 
 3d, lbs 
 
 4th, lbs 
 
 5th, lbs. .-- 
 
 I dissolve the first, second, and third 
 
TANNING CALF-SKINS. 123 
 
 ingredients in hot water ; then put the 
 fifth ingredient in an earthen vessel — a 
 crock — and put a little hot water in it ; 
 and then put the fourth ingredient in 
 the latter vessel, and let them remain 
 together until all were dissolved. After 
 they were dissolved, which did not take 
 more than ten minutes, I poured all the 
 dissolved ingredients together into a 
 vat, and put in a sufficient quantity of 
 weak bark liquor to cover the amount 
 of skins proposed to be tanned, then 
 threw the skins into the preparation 
 mixture. I handled them frequently for 
 six hours. The same work has been 
 accomplished in my tannery in the short' 
 period of three hours. At the expira- 
 tion of the sixth hour the skins were 
 removed out of the preparation mixture, 
 completely colored and very handsomely 
 grained. I then made a tanning liquor 
 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 10 
 
124 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 (The ingredients in the following com- 
 positions will be recognized by numbers 
 corresponding with those in Composition 
 No. 2, Chapter VIII.)— 
 
 Composition No. 1. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 I dissolved these ingredients in hot 
 water. After they were dissolved, 
 (which took about ten minutes,) I 
 poured them into a vat, and run in a 
 small quantity of bark liquor, enough 
 to make it cover the skins, and then 
 threw the skins in, and let them remain 
 in this Composition number one for 
 twenty-four hours. The wheel was run 
 about five minutes every half hour 
 during the first day. At the expiration 
 of the twenty-four hours, the skins were 
 
TANNING CALF-SKINS. 125 
 
 removed from Composition number one, 
 and a new liquor prepared of the fol- 
 lowing ingredients, which I shall denom- 
 inate — 
 
 Composition No. 2. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 These ingredients were dissolved the 
 same as member one / and I added this 
 Composition number two to number one, 
 and strengthened it up. The liquor was 
 well plunged up ; then the skins were 
 put in this composition for twenty-four 
 hours ; the wheel was run once every 
 hour during the second day, about five 
 minutes at a time. They may be 
 handled by hand in the same way that 
 many tanners handle their stock, which 
 will answer a very good purpose for 
 
126 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 this process ; but I prefer and use the 
 wheel in all my handlings. In many tan 
 neries they handle all their stock by 
 hand, which is undoubtedly tedious, 
 laborious, and very expensive; and, 
 according to my judgment and expe- 
 rience, the leather is not as good and 
 pliable as when handled by the wheels. 
 The representation of tanning the afore- 
 said one hundred skins is shown by the 
 wood engraving in front of this chapter. 
 After the expiration of the second 
 twenty-four hours, the skins were re- 
 moved, and a new liquor made, which I 
 shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 3. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
TANNING CALF-SKINS. 127 
 
 These ingredients I dissolved in hot 
 bark liquor, then threw them all into 
 the vat, as usual, and put in a sufficient 
 quantity of middling good bark liquor 
 to make it cover the skins. The liquor 
 was well plunged up; the skins were 
 thrown in and left remaining in Compo- 
 sition number three for forty-eight hours. 
 The wheel was run about five minutes- 
 every two hours during the two days. 
 At the expiration of that time I made a 
 new liquor, and added it to number 
 three, which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 4. 
 
 _.. lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 - lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 I dissolved these ingredients in the 
 same way as number three. The skins 
 
 10* 
 
128 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 were removed out of number three, and 
 Composition number four added to num- 
 ber three, and plunged well up together ; 
 then the skins were put in, and kept in 
 this liquor for two days. They were 
 handled about three or four times each 
 day during that time. At the end of 
 the second day I had the skins taken out 
 and green-shaved, which prepared them 
 for the reception of the tan more freely 
 than before; after which I prepared a 
 new liquor of the following ingredients, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 5. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 These ingredients I dissolved as usual, 
 and put them in the vat, and added a 
 sufficient quantity of good strong bark 
 
TANNING CALF-SKINS. 
 
 129 
 
 liquor, and plunged it well together; 
 then put the skins in and let them 
 remain in this liquor two days. They 
 were handled about three or four times 
 each day during that period. At the 
 expiration of the two days, I had the 
 skins removed and the liquor cast away. 
 I then prepared a new liquor, which I 
 shall denominate— 
 
 Composition No. 6. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient, 
 
 ._ _ lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 I dissolved these ingredients as usual ; 
 then threw them all together into the 
 vat, and run in a sufficient quantity of 
 good strong bark liquor, plunged it up 
 well, and then put the skins in, and let 
 them remain in this composition three 
 
130 EXAMPLE OF TANNING CALF-SKINS. 
 
 days. They were handled about twice 
 each day during that period. At the 
 expiration of the three days, the skins 
 were taken out perfectly tanned. The 
 oiling, stuffing, blackening, and finishing 
 is conducted in the same manner as 
 when tanned in the old way. The skins 
 tanned by this process possess different 
 advantages over those tanned by the 
 old method. They are finer, more plia- 
 ble and durable, and more impervious 
 to moisture, and, when handsomely fin- 
 ished, are equal to French calf-leather. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 EXAMPLE OF TANNING OX-HIDES FOR 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF PATENT 
 
 LEATHER. 
 
 The tanning of hides foi; the manu- 
 facture of patent leather is conducted in 
 the same way as the tanning of other 
 
 Handling-House. — The handling-house is the next place 
 of operating upon the hides after they have been suffi- 
 ciently prepared in the beam-house ; for the manufacture 
 of good leather a great deal depends upon the manipula- 
 tion of preparing the hides in the. beam-house. They 
 should be well prepared before they are permitted to enter 
 the handling-room for the action of the tanning principles. 
 After the hides are deprived of their hair, and properly 
 softened and rinsed in the beam-house, they are piled upon 
 a truck car, and conveyed to the handling-house, and sub- 
 jected to a weak solution of tanning liquor in vats, that 
 are furnished with paddle-wheels for handling the hides 
 
134 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 kinds of leather, with a little exception 
 in the management of the tanning. This 
 leather, known in commerce as patent 
 leather, is very largely used for dress 
 boots and shoes, and for fancy mount- 
 ings. There are various methods of 
 manufacturing it. I will here give an 
 example of tanning thirty large ox-hides 
 for japanning and enameling purposes. 
 After they are unhaired and free of 
 lime, or, in other words, well prepared 
 for the tanner, we will subject the hides 
 to the following composition, which I 
 
 and agitating the tanning liquors. The handling-house, 
 as it is in Clinton tannery, is represented by a wood 
 engraving in front of this chapter. A full view of this 
 room is given by the illustration. The handling depart- 
 ment occupies 26 feet in length by 40 in width ; the 
 right end of the engraving represents 5 vats, which are 8 
 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet deep — equivalent to 
 960 cubic feet of tanning room. Each of the vats is 
 furnished with a revolving paddle-wheel ; the wheels are 
 3 feet and 10 inches in length, and 5| feet in diameter, or 
 17 feet in circumference; each wheel contains 11 pad- 
 dles, 1 inch thick and 15 inches wide, and placed over the 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 135 
 
 shall denominate (see corresponding 
 number, in Composition number two, 
 Chapter VIII.)— 
 
 Composition No. 1. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients in' hot 
 water or hot bark liquor, whichever is 
 the most convenient. After they are 
 
 center of the vat, so that the wheel dips 13 inches in the 
 liquor ; and the gearing is arranged to run the wheel at 
 the rate of 18 revolutions to the minute. The center 
 wheel is represented as in full motion: if they are permitted 
 to run any faster they will not perform the work so well. 
 The left end of the engraving represents 3 vats, which are 
 8 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 6 feet in depth — equivalent to 
 1008 cubic feet of tanning room; each vat is furnished 
 with a handling-wheel, 6 feet 10 inches in length and 5| 
 feet in diameter, and placed on the vat the same as stated 
 before. The first wheel is represented as being in motion. 
 The illustration shows that each wheel is geared inde- 
 
136 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 dissolved, pour them all together into 
 the vat, and run in a sufficient quantity 
 of weak bark liquor. Plunge it well 
 up, and then throw in the hides. If the 
 vat has a wheel in it, it should be run 
 about five minutes every half-hour for 
 the first day. I would let them remain 
 in this liquor twenty-four hours. If the 
 handler has no wheel in it, the hides 
 must be handled up frequently the first 
 day. At the expiration of the twenty- 
 four hours, the stock must be removed, 
 
 pendent of each other by 3 cog-wheels, 1 small cog-wheel 
 attached to an iron shaft running parallel over the top of 
 the handling-wheels, with a pulley attached to the one 
 end of it, and is forced around by a belt from the main 
 shaft, running over head through the center of the tan- 
 nery. By this main shaft all the works in the tannery are 
 run. You will observe that a belt, running from this 
 main shaft, is attached to a pulley connected with the 
 pumps. The pump on the left side supplies the tannery 
 with new liquors. The liquor is let off in the leaches, 
 and runs unto this junk, to be pumped into the tan pits 
 when required. The pump on the right side is used for 
 pumping the old. liquors up into the third story, and run 
 into the leaches ; it is first let off in the tan pit, and car- 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 137 
 
 and a new liquor prepared, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 2. 
 
 _ lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 ., lbs. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual, 
 and pour them all together into the vat, 
 and run in a sufficient quantity of bark 
 liquor to cover the hides. Plunge it 
 
 ried into the junks by pipes or conductors, and then 
 pumped into other vats or into the leaches for the manu- 
 facture of new liquors. The center of the engraving 
 represents several workmen operating, and one man 
 fetching a load of hides in, upon a truck-car, from the 
 beam-house, ready for the action of the tanning ooze. 
 The first application of the hides should be to a weak 
 solution of tannin. No definite length of time can be 
 fixed upon for running the wheels. If the hides are sub- 
 jected to a liquor containing one percent, of tannin, they 
 should be run often at first ; if the liquor is weak, they 
 need not be run so often. The wheels should never be 
 11 
 
138 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 well, and then throw in the stock and 
 let it remain in this composition two 
 days, and handle frequently each day. 
 At the end of the two days, remove the 
 hides and prepare a new liquor of the 
 following proportions, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 3. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 allowed to run longer than 5 minutes at a time (less will 
 do) ; they should be run once every half-hour, or once 
 every 1 or 2 hours, as the case may require. The wheel 
 must be geared for the face of it to move at the rate 
 of 18 revolutions to the minute. Cog gearing has a de- 
 cided advantage over belting, as the motion required is so 
 slow that belts are often found troublesome. The motion 
 wanted is slow and steady, which can be best had with 
 gearing. It will be observed that a belt drives the shaft 
 running lengthwise over the top of the paddle-wheels; 
 and that each wheel is furnished with a pair of cog-wheels, 
 and a pinion on the shaft above (which is loose), and is 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 139 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients the same as 
 in the preceding compositions. After 
 they are dissolved, pour them all 
 together into the handler, and run in 
 a sufficient quantity of bark liquor ; 
 plunge it well together, and throw in 
 the stock, and let it remain in this 
 liquor two days. Keep it well handled 
 during that time. At the expiration 
 of the two days, remove the hides 
 and prepare a new liquor, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 caught with a clutch, forced in or out with a small iron 
 lever. These wheels are, of course, independent of each 
 other. The pair of iron pulleys on the end of this shaft 
 should be 24 inches diameter, and 6-inch turned face ; the 
 cog-wheels 24 to 26 inches diameter, 2|-inch face of cog, 
 with pinion one-fourth the size. The shaft is, therefore, 
 moving 4 times as fast as the paddle-wheels. It is seldom 
 necessary to run more than 1 or 2 wheels at the same 
 time ; therefore a large number of wheels may be thus 
 geared to the same driving shaft, and with but one belt 
 for the whole number. It will also be observed that they 
 are plain paddle-wheels, operating on the upper portion 
 
140 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 Composition No. 4. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual,, 
 and pour them into the handler, and run 
 in a sufficient quantity of bark liquor ; 
 plunge it well, and then throw in the 
 stock, and let it remain in this composi- 
 tion two days. If well fed and properly 
 
 of the liquor, while the stock being handled is in the vats, 
 entirely loose and free, and moves in an opposite direction 
 to that of the wheels. A gentle and yet effectual motion 
 is given to the stock and liquor by means of the wheel, 
 and a semi-circular (or semi-elliptical lengthwise) false 
 bottom placed in the vats. This false bottom should be 
 made with slats of inch-boards, 5 or 6 inches wide, an 
 placed across the vats horizontally, and left about half an 
 inch apart, so that the liquor under the slats, in the cor- 
 ners of the vats, will circulate among the hides, and so 
 that the liquor may be drawn off while the stock remains 
 in the vat. The wheel is placed across and over the cen- 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 141 
 
 managed, by this time it will be ready 
 for splittiDg. 
 
 SPLITTING MACHINE. 
 
 The leather is sometimes prepared for 
 splitting by being only partially dried. 
 Hides that are intended for japanning 
 and enameling purposes are generally 
 split before they are wholly tanned, as 
 
 ter of the vat, and, when put in motion, will cause the 
 stock to move up in front, pass under the wheel, and down 
 on the back end of the vat, by the action of the floats of 
 the handler; and a portion of the liquor urged by the 
 motion against the slats at one end of the vat, finds its 
 way between them and rises again between the slats of 
 the opposite end, thus maintaining a constant circulation 
 of the liquor throughout the vat. These handlers may 
 be advantageously used for liming and bating, as well as 
 tanning. The serai-cylindrical false bottom of slats, rest- 
 ing on the bottom of the vat, is an inch thick and 18 inches 
 wide, the center of which is in the center of the vat, 
 11* 
 
142 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 the quality of the leather is thought to 
 be improved by finishing the tanning 
 after they have been thinned or divided 
 by the machine. 
 
 After the hides are split, I would sub- 
 ject them to the following composition, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 5. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 ..lbs. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual, 
 
 planed on the upper side, and nailed to the vat ; another 
 piece is prepared with feather-edge slats, and nailed to the 
 end of the vat, about half the wa} T between the bottom 
 and the top. The remainder of the false bottom is made 
 in two parts, with slats placed half an inch apart, and with 
 a space of about half an inch between each end and the 
 sides of the vat. The lower part is fastened to the board 
 with leather hinges, the upper part fastened to the end 
 with a button. This arrangement is made that the vat 
 may be cleaned when required. Care must be taken to 
 have the false bottom, when in the vat, level. The vats 
 may be three-fourths, or less, as deep as they are long, — 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 143 
 
 and pour them into the vat all together, 
 and run in a sufficient quantity of bark 
 liquor to cover the stock ; plunge it well 
 up, and then throw in the splits, and let 
 them remain in this composition two or 
 three days. Handle them often during 
 that time. 
 
 If a soft, mild substance of leather is 
 wanted, use the fifth ingredient freely. 
 The second and fourth ingredients must 
 not be used in this part of the tanning. 
 At the expiration of the above time the 
 
 the lower part of the semi-cylinder, or false bottom of the 
 slats, resting on or near the bottom of the vat. The false 
 bottom should be made a half-circle, or a half-ellipsis: 
 lengthwise, and formed with slats of inch boards, about & 
 inches wide, and placed in the vats horizontally, half an 
 inch apart. The wheel should be two-thirds as large in 
 diameter as is the diameter of the cylindrical bottom or 
 the length- of the vat. A vat 8 feet long may be 6 feet, or 
 less, deep ; and the wheel 5 feet 4 inches diameter ; the 
 diameter of the half-circle in the vat being 8 feet. A 
 wheel of this size should have 10 paddles, as they should 
 be about 18 inches apart on the outside of the wheel. Let 
 the wheel be placed directly over the center of the vat, and 
 
144 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 stock must be removed, and a new liquor 
 prepared, which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 6. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual, 
 and pour them into the handler all 
 together, and run in a sufficient quantity 
 of bark liquor ; plunge it well, and then 
 throw in the stock. Let it remain in 
 
 the ends of the wheel must work within three-quarters of 
 an inch of the side. The paddles should be made as wide 
 as the wheel is intended to work in the vat; that will be 
 about 2 inches wider than they are intended to be in the 
 liquor. The wheel must dip down 2 inches more than one- 
 fifth part of the depth of the vat after the false bottom is 
 in. It is the most simple, effectual, and scientific mode of 
 moving the leather in the liquor, and does away entirely 
 with the necessity of handling by hand, facilitates the pro- 
 cess of tanning to an astonishing degree, saves a great 
 amount of labor, forms a handsome grain, and in all 
 respects improves the quality and texture of the leather. 
 
TANNING OX-HIDES. 145 
 
 this composition until it is tanned ; or, if 
 this is not sufficient to tan it out, give 
 them another liquor of the same kind, 
 and tan them out. Leather tanned by 
 this process, for japanning and enameling 
 purposes, need not be subjected to the 
 additional process of sumaching. The 
 stock tanned by this process is whiter 
 and brighter than any other tannage, 
 and is more beautiful, finer, and more 
 pliable. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 EXAMPLE OF TANNING FIFTY SIDES OF 
 SOLE-LEATHER. 
 
 The tanning of sole-leather by this 
 process is conducted nearly in the same 
 way as tanning with Spanish oak bark : 
 only the tanning can be perfected in 
 about one-fourth of the usual time, and 
 at about half the expense, compared 
 with the old method of tanning. Take 
 twenty-five hides and prepare them for 
 the tannin. In preparing, they are split 
 or cut in half along the back, in a line 
 from the head to the tail, making fifty 
 sides. After having been well prepared 
 
150 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 for the tannin, I would subject them to 
 the following composition, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 (N. B. — The ingredients are recog- 
 nized in the following compositions by 
 numbers corresponding with those of 
 Composition number one, Chapter VIII.) 
 
 Composition No. 1. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 4th ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5 th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients in hot water 
 or hot bark liquor. After they are dis- 
 solved, pour them all together in a vat, 
 and run in a sufficient quantity of the 
 fifth run of bark liquor to make the 
 liquor cover the amount of stock pro- 
 posed to be tanned. Plunge the liquor 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 151 
 
 up well, and then throw in the sides ; let 
 them remain in this liquor for two days. 
 They should be handled once every 
 hour during this time. On the first 
 application of a hide to the ooze, I gen- 
 erally run the wheels once every half- 
 hour, say about lave minutes at a time, 
 in order to keep the liquor and stock 
 well agitated. At the expiration of two 
 days, remove the stock and cast off the 
 liquor. Then prepare a new liquor of 
 the following proportions of ingredients, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 2. 
 
 - --- lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 - - - -- lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 - - lbs. of the 3d ingredient, 
 
 - lbs. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients the same as 
 before. After they are dissolved, pour 
 
 12 
 
152 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 them all together into the vat, and use a 
 sufficient quantity of the fourth run of 
 bark liquor to cover the stock in the 
 vat ; then throw in the sides, and let 
 them remain in this liquor two days. 
 They must be handled six or eight times 
 each day during the two days. The 
 first day, the wheel should be run about 
 five minutes every hour ; and about ^ve 
 minutes every two hours the second day. 
 At the end of this period the stock must 
 be removed, and a new liquor made of 
 the following proportions of ingredients, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 3. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 „ lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients in hot 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 153 
 
 water or hot bark liquor, whichever is 
 most convenient. After they are dis- 
 solved, put them all together in the vat ; 
 then fill the vat with third and half run 
 of bark liquor ; plunge it up well, then 
 throw in the sides, and let them remain 
 in this liquor for three days ; handle 
 about five times each day. At the end 
 of the third day, the stock must be 
 removed into a stronger liquor. The 
 liquor of number three can be used for a 
 succeeding pack, and a new liquor made 
 of the following proportions for the first 
 pack, which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 4. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as before 
 
154 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 described. When they are dissolved, 
 put them all together in the vat; fill 
 the vat with the third run of bark 
 liquor ; then throw in the sides, and let 
 them remain in this liquor three days. 
 Handle about four or five times each 
 day. While the stock is green, it 
 requires more attention than when 
 nearly or about tanned. When about 
 this stage, it absorbs the tannin very 
 fast, and, consequently, requires more 
 attention. Every tanner knows (if he 
 don't, he should,) that when stock be- 
 comes nearly tanned it receives the 
 tannin much slower than when in a 
 green state. The liquor should never 
 be allowed to remain on the stock after 
 its strength is exhausted, for it will do 
 more damage in one day than can be 
 made up in four. At the end of the 
 third day remove' the sides. Use the 
 old liquor for a pack not so far advanced, 
 
TANNING- SOLE-LEATHER. 155 
 
 and make a new liquor, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 5. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as is done 
 in the preceding compositions. When 
 they are dissolved, pour them all to- 
 gether into the vat, and run in a suffi- 
 cient quantity of the second run of bark 
 liquor. Plunge it well together, then 
 throw in the stock, and let it remain in 
 this liquor four days. Handle three or 
 four times each day during that period. 
 At the expiration of this time remove 
 the sides ; use the old liquor for a suc- 
 ceeding pack, and make a liquor, which 
 I shall denominate — 
 
 12* 
 
156 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 Composition No. 6. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients in hot 
 water or hot bark liquor. After they 
 are dissolved, pour them all together 
 into the vat ; then run in a small quan- 
 tity of the first and half run of bark 
 liquor, and plunge it up well ; and then 
 lay the sides down spread out, lying or 
 extending lengthwise of the vat, with 
 dusters of fine ground bark between 
 every side (what tanners generally term 
 laying away), and let them lie in that 
 condition four days without being moved 
 or touched. A representation of laying 
 down sides of leather alternately in a 
 vat (what tanners generally term laying 
 away) is shown by the wood engraving 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 157 
 
 in front of this chapter. At the ex- 
 piration of the four days, remove the 
 stock. Use the old liquor for a pack 
 not so far advanced in the tanning, and 
 make a new liquor of the following 
 proportions of ingredients, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 7. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients the same as 
 the preceding composition. After they 
 are dissolved, pour them all together 
 into the vat, and run in a sufficient quan- 
 tity of the first run of bark liquor ; then 
 plunge it well together; and then lay 
 the sides down with dusters, as de- 
 scribed in Composition number six, and 
 let them lie in that position iive days. 
 
158 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 In some tanneries they hang their stock 
 across the middle of the side, in the vats, 
 on slats running across the vat, with the 
 butt and head down, — which is just as 
 good for some kinds of stock as laying 
 away. These ingredients may be used 
 in the same way for hanging the stock 
 in the vats, as for laying away, with the 
 exception of using the ground bark 
 when the sides are hung in the vats. 
 The liquor must be kept up as the tan- 
 ning advances. The liquor should be 
 renewed seasonably, and its strength 
 increased in a ratio proportionate to each 
 stage of tanning. When five days ex= 
 pire, remove the sides, and prepare a new 
 liquor, which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 8. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 159 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients in the same 
 way as the former. After they are dis- 
 solved, pour them into the vat all 
 together, and run in a sufficient quantity 
 of very strong bark liquor ; then plunge 
 well up, and lay the stock down with 
 dusters, as usual. Let them remain in 
 that condition six days without being 
 disturbed; at the end of the six days 
 remove the sides. Use the old liquor 
 for a succeeding pack, and prepare a 
 new liquor of the following ingredients, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 9. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients the same as 
 in the preceding compositions. When 
 
160 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 they are dissolved, pour them all to- 
 gether into the vat ; then run in a 
 sufficient quantity of real strong bark 
 liquor, and plunge it well up ; then lay 
 the sides down with dusters, as usual, 
 and let them lie in that position seven 
 days; at the expiration of that period 
 take the stock up again, and prepare a 
 new liquor, which I shall denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 10. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lb. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual. 
 After they are dissolved, pour them into 
 the vat, and run in a sufficient quantity 
 of real strong bark liquor ; plunge well 
 up ; then lay the sides down with 
 dusters of bark, as usual, and let them 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 161 
 
 lie in that position eight days. At the 
 expiration of that period, raise the stock 
 out. Use the old liquor for a succeeding 
 pack, and prepare a new liquor of the 
 following ingredients, which I shall 
 denominate — 
 
 Composition No. 11. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual, 
 and pour thern into the vat; run in a 
 sufficient quantity of real strong bark 
 liquor; plunge it well; then lay down 
 the stock with dusters, as usual, and let 
 it remain in that condition nine days. 
 At the expiration of that period remove 
 the sides, and prepare a new liquor, 
 which I shall denominate — 
 
162 EXAMPLE OF 
 
 Composition No. 12. 
 
 lbs. of the 1st ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 2d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 3d ingredient. 
 
 lbs. of the 5th ingredient. 
 
 Dissolve these ingredients as usual. 
 After they are dissolved, pour them into 
 the vat, and run in a sufficient quantity 
 of bark liquor, as strong as it can be 
 made. Plunge it well up, so that it will 
 make a liquor about forty per cent, 
 strong. Then lay the stock down in the 
 vat, with dusters of fine /ground bark 
 between every side, and let them lie in 
 that position ten days. This will make 
 sixty-three days. The heaviest stock 
 can be tanned in sixty days. I have 
 frequently tanned sole-leather in forty 
 days by the judicious use of strong 
 liquors. Leather can be made as good 
 in forty days as it can in twelve months. 
 
TANNING SOLE-LEATHER. 163 
 
 Leather tanned in forty days is much 
 heavier than that in the long tanning. 
 When these ingredients are dissolved in 
 good, hot, soft water, and mixed with 
 good bark liquor, they will make a 
 superior tanning agent, whose active 
 principles are very soluble. By being 
 gradually extracted, they will pene- 
 trate uniformly the whole of the ani- 
 mal fibres, instead of acting chiefly upon 
 the surface, and will make a heavy, 
 solid article of leather. In fact, one 
 hundred pounds of dry hides, quickly 
 tanned in good liquor made with this 
 combination, will produce about one 
 hundred and sixty-five pounds of sole- 
 leather; while one hundred pounds of 
 dry hides, slowly tanned in the old way, 
 with bark liquor, produce only one hun- 
 dred and forty-three pounds. The addi- 
 tional twenty-two pounds' weight in the 
 quick tanning serve materially to swell 
 
 13 
 
164 EXAMPLE OF TANNING- SOLE-LEATHER. 
 
 the tanner's bill. At the end of ten 
 days the stock may be taken out per- 
 fectly tanned, and, in less than three 
 months, it may be finished and in 
 market. 
 

CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CURRYING AND FINISHING LEATHER. 
 
 Cueriek. — The word currier means a 
 dresser of leather. The derivation of 
 the word currier is from the Latin, — the 
 term for skin "being corium. Both the 
 ancients and the moderns have under- 
 stood currying as the preparation of 
 tanned skins for the purpose of impart- 
 ing to them the necessary smoothness, 
 color, lustre, and suppleness. Curried 
 leather receives different designations, 
 according to the modes of dressing it 
 which are employed, — as tallowed 
 
168 CURRYING AND 
 
 leather, waxed leather, oiled leather, 
 grained leather, and fair leather, &c. 
 
 The first operation of the currier is 
 that of dipping the leather or softening 
 it. For this purpose the skins are de- 
 posited in a tub containing water, stand- 
 ing alongside of the table, in which they 
 are allowed to remain until they become 
 sufficiently moist ; or else they are 
 sprinkled with water from a brush or 
 broom, which is a much less effectual 
 method. 
 
 Shaving is the first operation of the 
 currier. After dipping and softening 
 the skins, they must be pared or shaved 
 with a curry ing-kmfe for the purpose of 
 securing uniformity of thickness and 
 regularity of surface. When, however, 
 the leather presents many weak and thin 
 parts, this operation may sometimes be 
 dispensed with or postponed until these 
 have been filled up by the action of the 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. 169 
 
 stretching-iron. While preferences are 
 given in different places to other modes 
 of working some kinds of leather, all 
 kinds, indifferently, are shaved by the 
 currier. In some tanneries the skins are 
 taken from the tan-pit, when about two- 
 thirds tanned and shaved, to reduce the 
 thick parts and let the tannin penetrate 
 the skin uniformly. It is termed by 
 some pating, and by others skiving. 
 This operation, however, is dispensed 
 with in many tanneries. The general 
 plan or method of currying and dressing 
 leather is about the same in principle, 
 as in all countries they use oil, tallow, 
 and labor, to make the leather suitable 
 for the different manufactures to which 
 it may be applied. The state of the 
 leather at the time of their application has 
 much to do with its quality and general 
 appearance when the process of currying 
 is completed. In many parts of Europe 
 
 13* 
 
1*70 CURRYING AND 
 
 they want the leather perfectly saturated 
 with oil, which they believe makes it 
 more durable in wear. In France, they 
 want a fine, light, soft, and mild article 
 of leather, but not so deeply saturated 
 with oil as to darken its color. In JEng- 
 land, the public want a stout, heavy, 
 solid article, no matter what the cost 
 may be, as they find it cheaper in the 
 end. In this country, we have a blend- 
 ing together of the whole, as our ruling 
 principle is to get the most we can for 
 our money. We find all grades, kinds, 
 and qualities of leather at prices to suit 
 the purchaser, while our best leather has 
 ready sale, and is much sought for in 
 the markets of Europe and Australia ; 
 and contracts for a constant supply of it 
 are now matters of daily occurrence. 
 Hence, we infer that we have facilities 
 for obtaining materials. Science, skill, 
 and capital are employed to an extent, 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. lYl 
 
 in manufacturing all kinds of leather, 
 that will ultimately command the mar- 
 kets of the world without fear of com- 
 petition. A detailed plan of our mode 
 of currying and dressing leather may 
 not be understood by all, but I will 
 endeavor to make it as plain as I can. 
 
 After the skins have been shaved, 
 they are placed upon a marble table and 
 the flesh side scoured out completely 
 with a brush and clean water. After 
 having thus been well worked, the flesh 
 side is stretched upon the same table, 
 and the hair side worked with a stone 
 and slicker, and scoured to extend them 
 thoroughly; the stretching-iron is then 
 well laid on, by which process all the 
 water is pressed out. The skins having 
 in this way been freed from the greater 
 portion of their watery contents, they 
 may be held in readiness for the appli- 
 cation of the oil. They then receive a 
 
172 
 
 CURRYING AND 
 
 light coat of oil on the grain or hair side, 
 and are hung up by the hind shanks to 
 stiffen or sammey (as it is termed), and 
 are then exposed, for the purpose of 
 drying, either in the open air or within 
 the building, — one hour's exposure 
 usually sufficing in summer, while in 
 winter many more are required. After 
 being sufficiently dried, they are taken 
 down, and placed upon a marble table, 
 and slicked out hard on the flesh side 
 with a slicker or stretching-iron. After 
 the skins have thus been well worked, 
 they receive a mixture of oil and tallow, 
 termed dubbing, upon the flesh side. 
 After the skins have received their coat- 
 ing of dubbing upon the flesh side, and 
 the workman has uniformly distributed 
 it over the surface with the stuffing- 
 cloth, he hangs them up by the hind 
 quarters, and allows them to remain in 
 the air long enough to absorb their con- 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. 1*73 
 
 tents of stuffing, taking care not to let 
 them be exposed to the extreme heat of 
 the sun or to a great draught of air, for, 
 if they are dried too rapidly, the stuffing 
 will not penetrate them in the gradual 
 manner necessary for the perfection of 
 the process. Twenty-four hours of ex- 
 posure are usually sufficient in summer, 
 while in winter two or three days are 
 often required, according to the state of 
 the weather. After the skins have be- 
 come sufficiently dry, they are taken 
 down, and the hair side placed upon a 
 table, and the remaining dry stuffing 
 removed from the flesh side by the 
 slicker. They are then submitted to 
 the action of the pommel, and are 
 boarded up. These instruments are 
 those best adapted for the purpose of 
 giving flexibility and a granular appear- 
 ance to the leather. The skin is first 
 folded with its grain side in contact. 
 
174 CURRYING AND 
 
 then stretched out upon a table and 
 rubbed strongly with the pommel, or 
 marguerite, each quarter being made to 
 slide under the instrument, over the 
 leather below it, first toward the center, 
 and then back to its original position. 
 This mode of working leather makes it 
 extremely flexible. To give the proper 
 grain, the skin is then stretched out 
 upon the flesh side, and pommeled from 
 head to tail and crosswise. After the 
 aforesaid process is completed, the skins 
 are then taken to the beam or table and 
 whitened. This operation is performed 
 by some with the currying knife, on the 
 beam ; and, by others, the skin is 
 stretched out upon a table, with the 
 grain side lying upon a piece of smooth 
 leather, fastened to the table, so that the 
 skin can be held by the workman and 
 whitened with a whiting-slicker, an 
 instrument made expressly for that pur- 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. 
 
 175 
 
 pose. The latter is more generally used 
 than the former. The skins are trimmed 
 off around the edges with a common 
 knife, and then about two or three dozen 
 are placed upon a table for the applica- 
 tion of the blacking. The blacking 
 composition is made of oil, tallow, and 
 lampblack. The skins are now blacked 
 while still upon the table, and are moist- 
 ened before this operation if they have 
 become too dry, as a certain degree 
 of humidity is necessary to enable them 
 to receive the color. For the purpose of 
 blacking, a mop of wool or brush of 
 horse-hair is dipped in the composition 
 and the flesh side is thoroughly rubbed 
 with it in every direction. After the 
 skins have received a sufficient quantity 
 of blacking, a size is prepared of equal 
 parts of glue and tallow, made to the 
 proper consistency, and applied upon 
 the blacking with a hard brush. When 
 
176 CURRYING AND 
 
 sizing sets, apply the glass slicker over 
 the surface, great care being taken to 
 avoid scratching it, and a fine, bright fin- 
 ish will be produced. Gum Arabic, or 
 flax-seed oil, or gum dragon may be 
 used, which will also produce a fine, 
 bright, hard finish. 
 
 Harness Leather is finished about 
 the same as calf-skins, with a little ex- 
 ception. The side or hide, whichever it 
 may be, when dry, is placed upon a 
 table and properly moistened with 
 chamber ley or sal soda. A blacking 
 composition is prepared of copperas, 
 iron rust, and bark liquor. The black- 
 ing is applied to the grain side. After 
 the application of the blacking, the 
 workman distributes a thin coat of hard 
 tallow upon the blacked surface, which 
 is well stoned in. When a fine article 
 is desired, apply to the grain side, upon 
 the blacking, a good coat of stuffing, and 
 
FINISHINa LEATHER. 177 
 
 hang it up until dry ; then take it down, 
 place it upon a table, and slick off both 
 the grain and flesh side, care being 
 taken not to scratch the finished surface, 
 and a handsome, smooth, and solid finish 
 will be produced. 
 
 Blacked Bridle is finished the same 
 as harness leather. 
 
 Russet Bridle is shaved and scoured, 
 and generally is washed with a solution 
 of vitriol and water, care being taken 
 not to have the solution too strong. 
 When tanned in the old way, with bark 
 alone, it must be subjected to a solution 
 of sumach liquor about twelve hours. 
 (This operation is entirely dispensed 
 with when tanned by this process of 
 tanning.) After being sumach ed, the 
 leather is then dipped in a tub or vat 
 containing a solution of sugar of ]ead 
 and vitriol, mixed in proper consistency 
 with a sufficient quantity of hot water. - 
 
1*78 CURRYING AND 
 
 The leather is plunged in and out until 
 the color suits the taste of the work- 
 man; it is then hung up to sammey. 
 When partly dry, the table is stuffed, 
 and the side is placed upon the stuffing 
 on the table, and well set out with a 
 glass slicker, which leaves a smooth, 
 solid surface. A little oxalic acid and 
 water is then prepared and applied upon 
 the grain with a brush (which must be 
 done with care), and a bright russet 
 leather will be produced. 
 
 Hokse Leather is finished in the same 
 way as harness leather. 
 
 Wax Leather is finished the same as 
 calf-skins. 
 
 Grained Leather is finished about 
 the same as harness leather. That which 
 is intended for shoes and boots, after it 
 is shaved to a proper thickness, is 
 pommeled or grained for the purpose 
 of giving to the leather the desired 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. 1*79 
 
 finish, flexibility, and granular appear- 
 ance. 
 
 This kind of leather is used chiefly by 
 shoemakers for the uppers of large shoes 
 or stoga boots, the hair side being placed 
 out against the frost and storms, in the 
 same way as Nature placed it upon the 
 animal's body, for protection against the 
 inclemency of the weather. 
 
 Patent Leather. — This leather, 
 known in commerce as " Patent 
 Leathee," is very largely used for 
 dress boots and shoes, and for fancy 
 mountings. There are various methods 
 of manufacturing it. Two distinct op- 
 erations are resorted to in the manu- 
 facture of polished leather, — one of 
 which is the preparation of the surface 
 for receiving the varnish, and which is 
 effected by closing the pores of the 
 leather, and making a proper ground by 
 repeatedly rubbing the surface with pul- 
 
180 CURRYING AND 
 
 veralent substances, and incorporating 
 them with it ; and the other is the 
 varnishing of the leather thns dressed 
 with suitable brilliant and transparent 
 materials. The bases or medium of the 
 substance used for both these purposes 
 is linseed oil, made drying by boiling 
 with metallic oxides or salts, and reduced 
 to a sirupy consistence by the prolonged 
 action of heat. Five gallons of linseed 
 oil are boiled with four pounds four and 
 a half ounces of white lead, and the 
 same quantity of litharge, each in a 
 state of fine division, until it becomes of 
 the consistence of thick sirup. This 
 mixture is then intimately united with 
 one of the ochres, or with powdered 
 chalk, according to the fineness of the 
 skins which are to be prepared, and is 
 uniformly spread upon either side of the 
 leather, and well worked into the pores 
 with appropriate tools. The leather is 
 
FINISHING LEATHER. 181 
 
 dried, after the application of each coat, 
 by hanging it up, or, what is better, lay- 
 ing it out upon frames or racks in the 
 drying room. The success of the whole 
 process depends very much upon the 
 care with which the skins prepared with 
 it have been selected, tanned, and 
 curried. 
 
 14* 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE TEXTURE AND QUALITY OF LEATHER. 
 
 Leather. — The manufacture of leather 
 has been estimated as only fourth in 
 importance among the national manu- 
 factures of Great Britain. Leather is 
 the skin of animals so modified by 
 chemical means as to have become un- 
 alterable by the external agents which 
 tend to decompose it in its natural state. 
 It is evident, from what has already 
 been observed, that well-tanned leather 
 is a homogeneous substance, entirely free 
 from unchanged gelatin or fibrin; but 
 
186 THE TEXTURE AND 
 
 if the articles used in its preparation 
 have been deficient in tanning ingre- 
 dients or otherwise wanting in quality ; 
 if the various processes have been im- 
 perfectly or carelessly performed ; or if 
 unforeseen accidents have occurred, the 
 excellence of the leather is impaired ; 
 and this is generally to be discovered by 
 making a section of it. Well-tanned 
 leather exhibits, when cut, a shining 
 surface and compact body, and is of a 
 uniform color, except upon the hair side, 
 and has a nutmeg appearance internally. 
 Those signs are commonly looked for in 
 the tail, the back, and the neck, which 
 are the thickest parts of the skin. 
 Badly made or inferior leather is com- 
 monly detected by its section being of a 
 yellowish or blackish color, alternately 
 with streaks of a black or whitish hue, 
 and by its structure being loose and 
 deficient in density and compactness ; 
 
QUALITY OF LEATHER. 187 
 
 and a number of other circumstances 
 give to leather a spongy and loose 
 texture, and render it deficient in the 
 requisite color and durability. These 
 defects are of such a nature that, when 
 once tanned, the leather cannot be im- 
 proved or restored to a better condition. 
 Some hides are called horny, — -parts of 
 which, from want of proper softening, 
 are dry and almost as hard as horn ; and 
 these are entirely unfit for shoe or boot 
 leather, as the tan has not perfectly 
 penetrated the hard parts. Others con- 
 tain extremely minute perforations made 
 by worms, which allow water to filter 
 through, and render them useless for 
 either sole-leather or carriage-tops. 
 Many hides are injured by the butch- 
 ers, who damage the flesh side by a 
 reckless manner of skinning. These 
 imperfections can only be remedied by 
 shaving the surface down to a uniform 
 
188 THE TEXTURE AND 
 
 thickness, at the risk of making the hide 
 thin and weak. Shoemakers using sole- 
 leather which has been made from 
 hides damaged upon the hair side, either 
 in depilating, in paring, or in rinsing 
 them, should be careful to place the 
 flesh side out ; otherwise, as soon as the 
 hair surface has become a little worn, 
 the sole will become spongy and easily 
 absorb moisture. A common mode of 
 determining the quality of leather is to 
 allow a drop of water to fall from the 
 end of the finger upon the hair side, on 
 a cut surface. If the drop preserves its 
 circular form, and does not extend, the 
 leather is supposed to be well tanned ; 
 while, if the water is soon absorbed, it is 
 regarded as an evidence of its substance 
 being spongy and badly prepared. It is 
 believed by some that leather is im- 
 proved in quality by age ; and it is a 
 common reproach against shoemakers 
 
QUALITY OF LEATHER. 189 
 
 that they make use of too fresh mate- 
 rials. Exposure for a certain length of 
 time is, doubtless, advantageous; but 
 leather is not improved by being kept 
 longer than two years ; and is apt, after 
 that time, to diminish in weight, — 
 making it necessary to store it in damp 
 cellars. The resistance and durability 
 of the leather made into soles of boots 
 and shoes are much increased by their 
 being laid aside for some time before 
 being worn. The coloring of leather 
 during the process of tanning arises from 
 a dark brown substance, existing more 
 or less in the infusions of tanning mate- 
 rials, and called, by Sir Humphrey 
 Davy, apotheme. This sparingly soluble 
 substance is generated by the oxidation 
 of extractive matter, and is gradually 
 formed when infusions of tanning mate- 
 rials are exposed to the air, — all the 
 varieties of tannin being, to a certain 
 
190 THE TEXTURE AND 
 
 extent, liable to this transformation. 
 Hence it is that the uppermost hide of 
 the vat, being the most exposed, is the 
 most highly colored. This color, or 
 hloom 1 as it is technically termed, varies 
 somewhat with the kind of tannin em- 
 ployed and the treatment or manage- 
 ment during the process of tanning. 
 Leather tanned with materials contain- 
 ing the gall variety and ellagic acid, 
 or the pure tannic acid of tannin, is 
 bloomed much higher and handsomer 
 than with any other coloring matter, 
 and which cannot be obtained in bark 
 liquor alone. The pale or bright bloom 
 or color is the product of the decompo- 
 sition of strong or weak tannin respect- 
 ively employed. Weak liquor yields 
 ]ess bloom, and stronger more, being 
 richer in tannin. When properly man- 
 aged, the bloom attaches itself perma- 
 nently to the animal tissue and forms a 
 
QUALITY OF LEATHER. 191 
 
 beautiful, saleable color. The fawn color 
 is the favorite bloom. In this quick pro- 
 cess, the tannin being exposed for a much 
 shorter time, yields a richer bloom than 
 by the old and lengthy methods of 
 tanning. Consequently, as time is an 
 important element in the formation of 
 tanning, by this process we diminish 
 time, labor, and expenses materially. 
 The more expeditiously the different 
 processes can be accomplished the bet- 
 ter will be the quality of leather pro- 
 duced. It is considered, however, by 
 some, that it may be tanned too rapidly 
 to be good. A greater mistake never 
 was entertained by any intelligent mind. 
 After the leather has received all the 
 necessary operation of finishing, it is 
 then placed in the sales-room or store 
 for the examination of purchasers, who 
 generally make a very close and accurate 
 
 15 
 
192 QUALITY OF LEATHER. 
 
 examination of its texture, tannage, and 
 quality. 
 
 An examination of the texture and 
 quality of leather, in the commission 
 house or store room, is represented by 
 a wood engraving in front of this 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 REMARKS ON TANNING. 
 
 The views I entertain and herein 
 endeavor to express on this subject are 
 the results of a practical experience in 
 the manufacture of leather of various 
 
 * The Clinton Tannery.— In the old method, years ago, 
 tanners were usually satisfied to locate their tanneries in 
 the midst of a bark forest, upon a small spring, with 
 merely a sufficient quantity of water for the manufac- 
 turing purposes, and work the machinery by the old and 
 tedious process generally known as horse-power. The 
 principles governing this reaction have been, in more 
 recent days, developed by the most skillful and experi- 
 enced manufacturers of leather. The combination of con- 
 venience and advantages derived from water-power — the 
 readiness and cheapness with which bark may be ob- 
 
196 REMARKS 
 
 kinds, and by very many experiments^ 
 prompted by a desire to improve in the 
 manufacture of one of the first and most 
 important articles of every-day con- 
 sumption. Perhaps there is no branch 
 of domestic manufacturing where there 
 is so much room for, and need of, im- 
 provement, as in the tanning of leather. 
 This country has been, and still is, over- 
 run with patented alleged improvements 
 in every branch of manufacturing busi- 
 ness ; and great improvements in almost 
 every branch of manufacturing certainly 
 have been made. 
 
 tained — has induced the tanner at once, without reflection, 
 to locate upon Nature's elements, a place apparently 
 formed for the designed purpose, and build a factory upon 
 the most improved plan and of the largest size. The tan- 
 nery is a wooden frame building, 240 feet in length, 40 
 feet in breadth, and 3 stories (each 8 feet high). Adjoin- 
 ing the north end of the tannery is a bark-house 90 feet 
 long, 40 feet wide, and 16 feet high, with windows in each 
 side, through which bark is received. Within the area of 
 the tannery are contained 76 vats, affording about 15,652 
 cubic feet of room for tanning purposes, with sufficient 
 
ON TANNING. 
 
 197 
 
 For the tanning business there have 
 been but few patents granted which 
 have proved useful ; yet it will not do, 
 in this age of progress, to condemn, un- 
 tried, every new thing that may be 
 offered. Let every alleged improvement 
 rest entirely upon its own merits ; for, 
 whatever its merits may be, they will, in 
 time, be known. We are too inquisitive 
 a people to let true merit languish for 
 want of encouragement. Perhaps no 
 class of manufacturers has been so much 
 humbugged by pretended improvements 
 as tanners; for almost everything that 
 
 conductors for drawing the liquor to the pumps or junks — 
 1 set under the bottom of the vats, and 1 within 3 inches 
 of the top. Both set of conductors are connected with 
 the junks, and also to the sewer or the waste-way, for the 
 purpose of conveying off waste liquors and waters. Each 
 of the junks are furnished with a pump of sufficient ca- 
 pacity to deliver all the necessary ooze charged with 
 tannin. Eight of the aforesaid vats are arranged in the 
 handling-house, furnished with paddle-wheels for handling 
 stock ; 3 of these are placed on one side and 5 on the 
 other. The beam-house contains 13 vats — equivalent to 
 15* 
 
REMARKS 
 
 has been presented has utterly failed to 
 answer the purposes pretended. There- 
 fore it is quite necessary that the tanner 
 be cautious in adopting anything new; 
 for his business is one requiring a heavy 
 outlay of capital, and any unfortunate 
 experiment he may try may prove a 
 serious loss. But if an improvement be 
 made, and then fully proved and demon- 
 strated — proved as represented — then 
 the sooner the tanner avails himself of 
 the advantage of it the better ; for those 
 who take hold of all good improvements 
 in their business are those that are most 
 successful. 
 
 4,098 cubic feet — for liming, bating, and soaking purposes. 
 It has connected with it a hide-mill and washing-machine, 
 for softening, washing, and cleansing the hides. There 
 are 4 leaches — equivalent to 5,120 cubic feet of room — for 
 extracting the tannin from bark for the tanning of hides, 
 which are furnished with two copper heaters. The upper 
 or north end of the tannery is built against a bank, making 
 the second story on a level with the surface of the earth. 
 Under the north-east corner (in the tannery connected 
 with the beam-house) is a sweat pit (built of stone), ar- 
 
ON TANNING. 19& 
 
 There is yet, in my opinion, much to 
 learn in the art and mystery of tanning. 
 It is, to all intents and purposes, a chem- 
 ical process, and requires much practical 
 experience as well as mental research. 
 What is tanning but a chemical opera- 
 tion from the beginning to the end — 
 changing hides into leather ? The manu- 
 facturing of leather, more than any other 
 mechanical branch of business, is a chem- 
 ical process, almost wholly relying upon 
 the skill and judgment with which the 
 principles of tanning are conducted. 
 To attain the requisite skill in the 
 
 ranged upon the most approved plan. In the opposite 
 corner, on the same level, is the machinery room, where 
 the water-wheel is attached to the gearing for the purpose 
 of running the different work in the factory. In the cen- 
 ter, between these two rooms, is a room for depositing 
 ground bark after falling from the bark-mill, which is 
 placed on the second story. In this room, under the bark 
 mill, are elevators, for carrying the ground bark up into 
 -the third story for the purpose of supplying the leaches. 
 See Diagram, which is represented by a wood engraving 
 in front of this chapter, and as follows : A is the bark- 
 
200 REMARKS 
 
 laboratory of the chemist is evidently 
 impossible. It can only be acquired in 
 the tanning process itself by careful and 
 close observation. The question has 
 been frequently asked, How long does 
 it take to tan sole-leather ? By the old 
 method of tanning, with bark alone, it 
 takes from eight to fifteen months ; by 
 this system of tanning it takes from two 
 to three months, according to the thick- 
 ness of the sides, the strength of the 
 liquor, and the number of sides in the 
 vats ; and the quicker tanned the better. 
 I would here remark, that several con- 
 
 room, 20 feet in length, 13 feet in width, and 8 feet high, 
 made very close, for containing fine ground bark as it falls 
 from the bark-mill, and preserved until conveyed by a 
 truck-car to the tan-pits for laying away the stock. B is 
 a sweat pit, for sweating hides, which destroy, dissolve, or 
 soften the bulbous roots of the hair in the place of lime, 
 and thus the hair is removed ; this room is built of stone, 
 and is, in the area, 20 feet in length, 11 feet in width, and 
 8 feet in depth. C is the machinery department, 11 feet 
 wide, 20 feet long, and 8 feet high. D is the water-wheel, 
 placed on the north-west corner of the tannery, 20 feet in 
 
ON TANNING. 201 
 
 siderations must be noticed in order to 
 meet the questions understandingly. 
 
 Fwst, I should say that the hides (as 
 everyone knows), if heavy, require more 
 time than if comparatively light. 
 
 Second, If the hides are fresh, they 
 are capable of being properly softened ; 
 and, if so, the process of tanning can be 
 completed much sooner than in case of 
 old and hard hides, that cannot be soft- 
 ened with the same facility. 
 
 Third, If the hides have sufficient 
 room in the vat, so as not to lie crowded,, 
 they will tan much faster than when 
 crowded. 
 
 diameter, and 8 feet wide, with an over-shot power equiv- 
 alent to 50-horse power, driven by water brought from 
 the Schuylkill River, in a race, from a dam made expressly 
 for that purpose. T is the water-wheel shaft, extending 
 from the wheel into the machinery-room, and there con- 
 nected by gearing to the work in the tannery. E is an 
 entrance to the sweat pit. F is an entrance to the ma- 
 chinery room G is 4 leaches, each 16 feet in length, 8 
 feet in width, and 10 feet in depth ; the 4 leaches will con- 
 tain 5,120 cubic feet of bark and water for the manufac- 
 
202 REMARKS 
 
 Fourth, As the tanning advances the 
 liquor should be renewed seasonably, 
 and its strength increased in a ratio pro- 
 portionable to each stage of tanning. 
 
 Fifth, When the process of tanning 
 is once commenced, it should not be 
 allowed to cease until the stock is com- 
 pletely tanned; and, in order that the 
 process may be continually going on, the 
 stock requires a constant increase of the 
 strength of the liquor. 
 
 Sixth, The question is, Is the leather 
 to be tanned so as barely to pass in 
 market, or to be well prepared, so as to 
 make firm and solid leather? This 
 
 ture of tannin ; the bottom of the leaches are 3 feet above 
 the level of the top of the tan-pits, which makes them 
 occupy the second story as well as the first; the room 
 occupied by the leaches, furnaces, and entrance to the 
 machinery and sweat-rooms is about 2*7 feet lengthwise in 
 the tannery, and the fall width, which is 40 feet. H is 2 
 copper heaters (placed in the bottom of the leachers), each 
 3 feet in diameter and 15 feet long, tapering off at one end 
 to 12 inches in diameter; the 12-inch pipe runs four times 
 through the leaches, and enters a stock about 18 inches 
 
ON TANNING. 203 
 
 involves a consideration of much im- 
 portance. 
 
 Seventh, Is it reasonable to suppose 
 that it requires from one to seven years, as 
 we are told it formerly did in England, 
 to make leather from hides, when the 
 same work can be accomplished in the 
 space of three months ? 
 
 But persons unacquainted with the 
 nature and principles of tanning gen- 
 erally suppose that the longer time skins 
 are undergoing the process of tanning 
 the better will be the quality of the 
 leather produced. This is a great mis- 
 take. But how did this opinion gain 
 
 below the top of the leach, making each heater 75 feet in 
 length, including the small and large portion ; each heater 
 runs through two leaches. / and V is the mouth of the 
 furnace in the heaters, where fuel enters and heat is ob- 
 tained for heating the leaches. / is the stock or chimney, 
 to which the heaters are connected, for discharging smoke 
 and gas from the furnace. K is a hide-mill or fulling 
 stock (for a full description see Chapter IV). W is a 
 washing-machine (for particulars see Chapter IV., page 
 49). Y is 3 pools for soaking dry hides ; each pool is 9 
 
204 REMARKS 
 
 credence and become so general? By 
 (in my opinion) tanners, who do not 
 understand the first principles of their 
 calling, attempting to tan quickly by 
 apj)lying strong liquors, at first, to hides 
 not properly cleansed and prepared in 
 the beam-house for the liquors, and by a 
 neglect of handling, or a proper degree 
 of agitation while the process is going 
 on. If you want to tan quickly, and 
 produce good and heavy leather, have 
 your skins properly prepared in the 
 beam-house. This is the grand starting- 
 point in the manufacture of good leather, 
 and much more depends upon this 
 
 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, — which will hold 
 810 cubic feet of water ; this soak and wash-room occu- 
 pies 18 feet by 40. L is the beam-house; the portion 
 used for unhairing and bating the hides is 48 feet in length 
 and 40 feet in width, making the beam-house, soak and 
 wash-room 66 feet in length and 40 feet wide. M is 6 
 vats, 9 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, — for liming 
 and bating purposes. N is 4 vats or pools, 8 feet long, 1 
 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, — used for the purpose of wash- 
 ing and rinsing the hides. X is a trap-door, to hoist the 
 
ON TANNING. . 205 
 
 branch of the manufacture than most 
 tanners suppose. If for limed stock, 
 either for upper or sole-leather, have 
 your hides in good order for the lime, — 
 that is, soft enough, but not too soft, for 
 dried skins may be very much injured 
 by being softened too much. (A hide, 
 when just taken from the animal, should 
 be the criterion ; it is then best suited for 
 the lime.) Then put them in the lime, 
 and have them frequently agitated, and 
 keep them in no longer than will be 
 sufficient to loosen the hair that it may 
 be removed. After the hair is com- 
 pletely removed, the skins are washed 
 
 stock up into the upper stories by means of a pulley or a 
 
 hoisting tackle. Q is the handling-house, 26 feet long and 
 
 40 feet wide (see description in Chapter X). P is 2 
 
 pumps, for pumping the liquors from the junks, which are 
 
 each 10 feet square and 12 feet deep; when full, will hold 
 
 2,400 cubic feet of tanning liquor. S is 8 handlers, 3 of 
 
 which are 7 feet in width. 8 feet in length, and 6 feet in 
 
 depth ; the 5 on the opposite side are 4 feet wide, 8 feet 
 
 long, and 6 feet deep; these vats are used for the first 
 
 introduction of skins to the tanning ooze. U is 68 tan 
 16 
 
206 - REMARKS 
 
 in a. vat full of water, and are then sub- 
 jected to a weak liquor at first, which 
 must be gradually strengthened until 
 the stock is completely tanned. 
 
 Leather is an article of universal use. 
 It is worn by the civilized and by the 
 savage, the high and the low, the rich and 
 the poor of all nations, from the icy 
 regions of the north to the burning 
 sands of the tropic. It was known and 
 used by man long before the first alphabet 
 was invented — before the waters of the 
 deluge had rolled over the face of our 
 planet — before the Tower of Babel was 
 
 vats, — 24 of which are 8 feet in length, 1 feet in width, 
 and 5-J- feet in depth ; the balance, being 44 vats, are 7-§- 
 feet long, 3£ feet wide, and 5£ feet deep. is the doors 
 for passing in and out the tannery. R is a railroad, of 2-£ 
 feet track, running through the center of the tannery, 
 running from the bark-room down through the center, and 
 out at the lower end, and around to the bank of the river, 
 for carrying out the waste materials and carrying the stock 
 through the different parts of the factory ; and also a rail- 
 road running across in front of the furnaces, and out at 
 
ON TANNING. 207 
 
 erected — or the foundations of the ever- 
 enduring Pyramids were laid. 
 
 Leather is an article of manufacture, — 
 entirely a compound substance, a chem- 
 ical product. Although it is made of 
 the skins of animals, it is as different 
 from the raw material as oil — one of 
 its two ingredients — is from soap. 
 Skins are principally composed of gela- 
 tin, which is soluble in hot water, and is 
 converted into glue by repeated steep- 
 ings in warm water. Leather is simply 
 the raw material combined with other 
 substances, which render it elastic and 
 insoluble in water. Various substances 
 
 each side, down on the lower side to the wood and coal- 
 yard, and, on the upper side, across the turnpike to the 
 storehouse. This latter road is for carrying hides from 
 the warehouse into the tannery, and the leather into the 
 warehouse, and also for bringing fuel into the factory for 
 heating purposes. The second story of the building is 
 occupied for finishing purposes, and is furnished with a 
 railroad, running through the center from one end to the 
 other, for the convenience of the workmen. The third 
 story is used for drying the stock, which is also possessed 
 
208 REMARKS 
 
 are employed to obtain this result ; and 
 different qualities of leather are pro- 
 duced by the different ingredients em- 
 ployed and the modes of using them in 
 its manufacture. 
 
 The process of manufacture is named 
 tanning, and the principal substance em- 
 ployed is tannic acid. This acid is found 
 in various substances. Good upper- 
 leather should have the following quali- 
 ties, — elasticity, softness, and insolubility 
 in water. Good sole-leather should be 
 close in the grain, firm, but slightly 
 elastic, and perfectly water-proof. Tan- 
 nic acid is extracted from various sub- 
 
 with the convenience of a railroad. The bark-shed, on 
 the north end of the factory, is 90 feet long, 40 feet wide, 
 and 16 feet high, with a railroad in the center, running 
 from the upper or north end down to the bark-mill. The 
 floor of the shed is on a level with the floor in the second 
 story of the tannery. The shed will hold, when full, 450 
 cords of bark, besides other sheds of similar size, within 
 one and three hundred yards distant from the factory, but 
 connected by railroad. 
 
 This commodious edifice is situated on the east bank of 
 
ON TANNING. 209 
 
 stances containing tannin, by immersing 
 those ingredients in hot water, and there- 
 by forming a decoction of tanning ooze. 
 By simply steeping the hides in this tan- 
 liquor, the tannin leaves the water, com- 
 bines with the gelatine of the skin 
 chemically, and forms our " understand- 
 ings," which we term Leather. This is 
 the theory of tanning ; but, in carrying 
 it into practice, the manipulations are ex- 
 ceedingly various, and the qualities of the 
 leather manufactured depend on a very 
 extensive range of processes, machinery, 
 and chemical substances. All the pro- 
 cesses of tanning are laborious, expensive, 
 
 the Schuylkill River, about 1^ miles from Clinton Village, 
 which is situated on the w6st side of the river, nearly 
 opposite the tannery. The factory is about one mile from 
 the Kittanning or Blue Mountains, where bark is obtained 
 in an abundance at a very small cost, and is used in con- 
 nection with my chemicals. The main road or turnpike 
 from Pottsville to Reading is about 20 yards distant, and 
 parallel with the frontof the tannery. On the same level, 
 about 100 yards from the tannery, is a storehouse, 20 feet 
 by 50, and 2 stories high. On the same side of the road, 
 16* 
 
210 REMARKS 
 
 and tedious. It formerly required months 
 and years to tan leather from hides ; and 
 the cost of manufacturing leather from 
 the raw material amounted to millions 
 of dollars annually ; but now time and 
 expense are materially reduced. 
 
 Inventive genius has done wonders in 
 facilitating chemico-physical processes of 
 this art. Only think for a moment of 
 the change which has come over the 
 spirit of the tanner's dream. Three, and 
 even seven years, were once considered 
 necessary for the perfection of certain 
 kinds of leather,' — such as that which 
 furnishes our shoe -soles. The machinery- 
 
 a short distance above the storehouse, are about 20 dwell- 
 ing houses, and also a fine, commodious hotel, and several 
 mechanical shops. This commodious factory, and all the 
 convenience of water power, and facilities of shipping 
 hides and leather, are represented by a wood engraving 
 in front of this chapter. About 400 yards from the north 
 end of the tannery — which is seen on the engraving — is a 
 bridge, built across the Schuylkill River, through which 
 is a road leading up to Clinton, which is also seen in a 
 distant view from the factory. About 300 yards from the 
 
ON TANNING. 211 
 
 aided process by which these wonders 
 have been accomplished, has been known 
 and used in this country for some years. 
 
 By the aid of this new process, whose 
 principle is to bring the skins into rap- 
 idly-repeated contact with the tanning 
 liquor, leather is formed more rapidly 
 and expeditiously, and of a better qual- 
 ity. But no important improvement 
 in any manufacturing business can 
 come into general use without the co- 
 operation of energetic business men 
 engaged in it. 
 
 In this age of improvements it cannot 
 
 tannery is a dam, built across the river, 30 feet high, by 
 the Schuylkill Navigation Company, for the use of their 
 canal. A little above the dam is a race, made for the pur- 
 pose of supplying the factory with water, affording a very 
 extensive power to turn the different machinery or works 
 in the tannery ; and also a tail-race or waste-way, lor car- 
 rying the waste water from the factory into the river. On 
 the opposite side of the river from the tannery, between 
 the river and Clinton Village, is a canal, or the Schuylkill 
 Navigation ; and between the canal and the village is seen 
 
212 REMARKS 
 
 possibly be considered a fixed fact that 
 everything has arrived at its u manifest 
 destiny" of perfection. There is room 
 for improvements in every branch of 
 manufacturing business. As to the art 
 of tanning, I consider it yet in its 
 infancy. 
 
 The only way to progress is to make 
 efforts to improve ; and the failure of a 
 thousand plans should never be held up 
 as a bugbear, or a barrier to arrest the 
 introduction and trial of a new and 
 reasonable process to improve any art. 
 It is my opinion that improvements will 
 
 on the engraving the Reading Railroad, running from 
 Philadelphia to Reading and Pottsville. The railroad 
 depot is also represented by the engraving, which is one 
 mile from the tannery. 
 
 This large leather factory, referred to in the illustration, 
 was constructed upon my improved plan, and produces 
 double the amount of tanned leather in one year than any 
 other tannery in the State of the same size and expense. 
 This factory is tanning about 15,000 sides a year, besides 
 a great number of small skins. At the Clinton Tannery 
 
ON TANNING. 213 
 
 yet be made in the manufacture of 
 leather of such a character as will 
 reduce its manufacturing cost at least 
 one-half. 
 
 After several years' experimentiDg in 
 the tanning of leather, and in trying to 
 facilitate and expedite the process of 
 manufacturing it, — I was very successful. 
 However, experimenting with a variety 
 of materials is very tedious, laborious, 
 and expensive. In a pursuit of this kind 
 the patience of Job is often required. 
 Attempts at improvement, perseveringly 
 repeated, will in the end seldom fail. 
 
 the greatest strength of liquors used for handling, as indi- 
 cated by Pike's barkometer, is 13 degrees ; that employed 
 in laying away varies from 35 to 50 degrees. Much care 
 and judgment is necessary in proportioning the continually 
 increasing strength of the liquors to the requirements of 
 the leather in different stages of the process. A glance at 
 the illustration, and also at these notes, will at once con- 
 vince any one that the advantages of such an establishment 
 can not be surpassed by any other in the States. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 THE MECHANIC'S TRUE POSITION. 
 
 In passing through our land and ob- 
 serving the young, the eager, and the 
 intelligent who are destined hereafter to 
 fill high posts of trust and honor, — that 
 from these would come your princely 
 merchants, your aldermen, mayors, rep- 
 resentatives, men of iron nerves, warm 
 hearts, and clear heads, ready to com- 
 pete for the highest places in the pulpit, 
 at the bar, or on the forum, and even, 
 perhaps, the highest omce in the gift of 
 a free people, — why may they not rank, 
 
218 the mechanic's 
 
 by their industry, intelligence, and vir- 
 tue, among those whom America will be 
 proud to number among her devoted 
 
 TRUE SON OF AMERICA. 
 
 and patriotic sons? Not for ourselves 
 alone is the grand law of Nature 
 inscribed on all the Creator's works, — 
 not for ourselves alone, but for others, 
 does the sun dispense his beams, — not 
 for ourselves alone do the clouds distil 
 their showers nor the teeming earth 
 unlock her treasures! So, my brother 
 mechanics, it is not for ourselves alone, 
 but for others, and for all, that the 
 
TRUE POSITION. 219 
 
 blessings of heaven are so plentifully 
 bestowed upon man. All that any of 
 us can say is, that we are the almoners 
 of God's bounty, and that what consti- 
 tutes the true wealth of this great 
 country — it is labor! Fix it as you 
 will — let who will live upon our bread 
 and meat — still, labor lies at the founda- 
 tion of all, and, without it, neither 
 society nor civilization could exist. He 
 who derides labor, or undervalues it, 
 strikes at the order of Nature, the 
 foundations of society — at civilization, 
 and at Christianity itself. Labor is the 
 very Gold of Ophir — the true, intrinsic 
 wealth of a nation. The gold of elo- 
 quence or the silver of rhetoric I have 
 none, but such as I have give I unto 
 
 17 
 
220 
 
 THE MECHANIC S 
 
 THE FARMER PLOWING. 
 
 The hardy tillers of the soil are the 
 foundation, and our industrious, working 
 mechanics, the builders of our mighty 
 fabric of national wealth, independence, 
 and happiness. The laboring men and 
 mechanics of our country are the true 
 bone and sinew of the land — the main- 
 spring and support of the machine of 
 government. They are, in truth, the 
 creators of a nation's wealth — the great 
 artificers of national prosperity. If the 
 tyrant, Louis XIV., in the glory of 
 his most splendid reign, could utter, in 
 the pride of his borrowed royalty, the 
 
TRUE POSITION. 221 
 
 sentence, " I am the State," with how 
 much more truth can we, the working 
 men of the nation, say — and how much 
 more noble and true does it sound when 
 we, the people, say — " "We are the 
 State ? " Where the mechanics are 
 down-trodden and depressed — made 
 hewers of wood and drawers of water 
 to those who have robbed them of their 
 rights — there, such a monster as Louis, 
 and other crowned heads, might well 
 say, " I am the State.' 7 But let labor be 
 honored as it is here — let light be shed 
 upon the great depths of despotism as we 
 now see it beginning to beam in Eu- 
 rope—and you will see the people there, 
 as here, rising in their majesty and say- 
 ing to their banished monarchs, "We 
 are the State." Let there be no more 
 kings nor queens ! The mechanic is not 
 only the architect and builder of his own 
 fortune, of society's and of a nation's 
 
222 the mechanic's 
 
 prosperity, but his is one of the most 
 independent classes in the community. 
 The professional man depends upon his 
 mental gifts or acquirements ; and when 
 he fails to gain the popular favor, or, by 
 some sudden change, loses it, he is put to 
 desperate shifts to earn a livelihood. 
 You have seen the crest-fallen lawyer, or 
 the proud statesman or politician, hum- 
 bly suing for aid at the comfortable 
 fire-side of the mechanic. The skillful 
 artisan is an independent man ; for, place 
 him in whatever part of the world you 
 may, he can always secure his bread, 
 because he is capable of doing something 
 that is useful to his fellow-man. The 
 story of the two men cast away among 
 savages is an apt illustration. One was 
 a gentleman, the other a basket-maker ; 
 the basket-maker was well treated be- 
 cause he could do something for himself; 
 but the savages, in their simplicity, could 
 
TRUE POSITION. 223 
 
 not understand what a gentleman is, 
 and the basket-maker's handiwork saved 
 the poor gentleman from starving. In 
 the circles where true refinement never 
 dwells, you may hear the expression 
 sometimes used, as if in derision or com- 
 miseration, " 0, he is only a working 
 mechanic [-" It may seem strange, but 
 there are men, and women, too, who can 
 boast no other lineage themselves, and 
 who, when told of this poor man's mis- 
 fortune, or that man's sudden fall, pass 
 over the matter with the cold remark of, 
 a He is only a mechanic!" There are 
 more happy, prosperous, noble men 
 among the laboring mechanics of this, 
 our land, than in any other class of equal 
 numbers. There was a certain man, 
 called Felix, in the Scriptures ; his coun- 
 trymen were a proud race, and hated the 
 laboring mechanic; but one of these 
 despised men — a tent-maker — made this 
 
 IT* 
 
224 THE MECHANIC S 
 
 same Felix tremble, although only a me- 
 chanic. Noah was a shipwright; Solo- 
 mon an architect; and those who built 
 the pyramids, and planned the ancient 
 cities, whose ruins all the historians, 
 philosophers, and learned men of mod- 
 ern times are yet unable fully to ex- 
 plain, — the great temples of the holy city 
 of Jerusalem, — the renowned structures 
 of Tyre and Sidon, of Balbec and Perse- 
 polis, of Babylon and Palmyra, Thebes 
 and Memphis, — wondrous monuments of 
 the East, whose magnificence no modern 
 art can excel, — who built them ? O, it 
 was only mechanics ! And then, who was 
 the first mechanic ? The great Author 
 of our being, that first built the world ; 
 and then, as the sublimity of mechanism, 
 He made us "fearfully and wonder- 
 fully." Give your attention for a mo- 
 ment to the impulse given to modern 
 improvement and the change wrought 
 
TRUE POSITION. 
 
 225". 
 
 upon the face of the whole world by 
 the invention of Faust, who gave light 
 and knowledge to all mankind. To the 
 discoveries of Columbus, the science of 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SETTING TYPE. 
 
 Franklin, the ingenuity of Arkwright,. 
 the genius of Fulton and of Whitney, — - 
 mechanics all, — what does this nation 
 owe ? — what does the civilized world owe, 
 to these great men ? All the improve- 
 ments that were ever made by all the 
 kings and emperors, and by all the 
 
226 the mechanic's 
 
 artists, poets, philosophers, and states- 
 men that ever lived, you may pile up in 
 one scale, and they are outweighed by 
 the discoveries of Faust, Fulton, and 
 Whitney ; and yet these men earned 
 their bread by the sweat of their brow ! 
 We have a right to be proud that 
 Franklin, and Fulton, and Whitney 
 were all countrymen of ours, although 
 only mechanics. Young as we are as a 
 nation, such is the free scope and tend- 
 ency of our institutions, and the salubrity 
 of our glorious climate, to foster the full 
 energies of the mind and to produce the 
 whole man, that, in all the useful me- 
 chanic arts, we are outstripping the 
 nations of the old world. In arts, and 
 in arms, and in every worldly pursuit of 
 man, our advancement stands unequaled 
 since the world began. You all have 
 duties to perform as citizens, neighbors, 
 members of the great community of 
 
TRUE POSITION. 227 
 
 working and active men. Rome was 
 not built in a day ; nor can anything 
 great or noble in human ingenuity be 
 accomplished without labor. It is the 
 boast of the workingman that he can do 
 what he says. The mechanics of our 
 country, active and intelligent as they 
 are, may proudly hold up their heads, as 
 a body, and say boldly to the politicians 
 and the orators of the day, " What you 
 promise we perform." While making 
 some observations on this glorious re- 
 public, destined to be the greatest in the 
 world, for evidences not only of what 
 mechanics can do, but what they have 
 done, go into your public edifices, your 
 exchanges, your temples devoted to the 
 worship of God, and your halls of edu- 
 cation, and there you will see the handi- 
 work of labor. Look into your banks, 
 your city councils, and then abroad into 
 your States, and the most successful, the 
 
228 
 
 most illustrious and beloved, are the 
 ones who early learned the lesson of 
 labor and how to think for themselves ; 
 they were always up to their business, 
 but never above it. 
 
 There are two great levers which sus- 
 tain us, — the one is employment ; the 
 other, the knowledge of how to regulate 
 and improve it. In other words, they 
 are the union of occupation and instruc- 
 tion. Nothing can give more satisfaction 
 to the mind than the enjoyment of the 
 necessaries and comforts of life flowing 
 from the industry of him who earns 
 them. This is the fruit of occupation ; 
 and the improvements of society follow 
 in proportion as the occupied mind ad- 
 vances in proper cultivation. The absurd 
 idea, that labor is inconsistent with learn- 
 ing or respectability, is one of the 
 errors of weak minds, ignorant of the 
 nature of the ligaments which bind 
 
TRUE POSITION. 229 
 
 society together. It is one of the follies 
 of antiquated fashion which is passing 
 away ; and we are now beginning to 
 consider the mechanic trades, and all 
 branches of honest industry, as the co- 
 ordinate and necessary associates of 
 education, integrity and manliness. The 
 history of the social operations of man- 
 kind teaches us that, in all periods of 
 time, they have altered the destinies of 
 individuals as well as of nations, and 
 have had their influence upon ages to 
 come. The physical industry of man is 
 certainly a high quality; but, vigorous 
 as it is, it gains so much by its associa- 
 tion with a cultivated intellect, that 
 while the one, when alone, resembles the 
 rough materials of handicraft, and the 
 other the latent genius that is to fashion 
 them, they, both united, represent the 
 perfection of skill and its fruitful appli- 
 cation to the production of human hap- 
 
230 the mechanic's 
 
 piness. In former days, trades were 
 merely physical ; none of the sciences, 
 and but few branches of the fine arts, 
 entered into their action. True, there 
 were some few exceptions, dependent 
 upon individual condition and scholar- 
 ship ; but, generally, labor in any calling 
 was strictly and exclusively mechanical. 
 There is now, however, a progressive 
 spirit which belongs to the times. 
 Whether it has resulted from the insti- 
 tutions of this country — which, by cast- 
 ing off the trammels of political tyranny, 
 and by the abundance of our land for 
 an easy support, have enabled men to 
 think more freely and consistently with 
 the object of their creation and posi- 
 tion — or is a part of a pervading princi- 
 ple which the Divine Being has permitted 
 to spread through the world, is a prob- 
 lem for solution. Be this as it may, we 
 see that there is evidently an advance in 
 
TRUE POSITION. 231 
 
 the different trades and their branches, 
 a more intimate relationship between 
 mind and the labors of the operator, a 
 clearer working through the lights of 
 reason, so that, even among the inferior 
 callings, the lamp of science sheds its 
 rays, even if it is seen only in nickerings 
 from the distance at which it stands. It 
 has been said that all men have their 
 mental affinities ; that some pass un- 
 heeded away, without having left any 
 " footprints in the sand of time," only 
 because the period of their sojourning 
 presented no occasions, no elective influ- 
 ence to draw out their energies or their 
 talents, while the great are but the 
 creatures of opportunity, or who, having 
 been touched by the Ithuriel wand, have 
 sprung out into light, brightness, and 
 renown. Opportunity is certainly a 
 great ingredient in any effort ; and with- 
 out it, either offered or acquired, no 
 
 18 
 
232 THE MECHANIC S 
 
 voluntary act can well succeed. The 
 tanner should have a thorough knowl- 
 edge of chemistry ; and, by applying his 
 acquired knowledge to the branch of 
 industry which has engaged his special 
 attention, he makes a good leather 
 manufacturer and becomes a well- 
 instructed man in the general business 
 of life. The characteristic traits of a 
 man are also elements of his future ; but 
 still it should add to the credit of the 
 individual, who, cultivating an under- 
 standing of his nature and his latent 
 abilities, uses them to advantage in that 
 " tide in the affairs of men, which, taken 
 at the flood, leads on to fortune." The 
 time was, and in some degree still is, 
 when reputation in honors was princi- 
 pally founded upon, and esteemed for, 
 distinction in literature, the fine arts, the 
 emblazonments of wealth, and the posi- 
 tions which they respectively gave. The 
 
TRUE POSITION. 233 
 
 rest, like hewers of wood and drawers 
 of water who served at the building of 
 Solomon's temple, were supposed to be 
 sufficiently compensated by the daily 
 penny paid for their labors. No mark 
 or memorial was left upon the edifice of 
 their works ; and, except in the narrow 
 circle of their industry, none knew of 
 their labors or their zeal. In the gen- 
 eral operations of the society of the 
 good and hardy tanners, it is not to be 
 expected that the mere ordinary com- 
 ponents of that great whole shall be 
 held in any special remembrance, either 
 in the present or the future. Much will 
 be, as has already been, done by the 
 agency of those very qualities in placing 
 honorable occupation of labor upon the 
 true level of its merits. Tanner, pause, 
 and accompany me, for a moment, to 
 what has already been observed relative 
 
234 the mechanic's 
 
 to labor and industry; mark out the 
 way, and forget not to follow it. 
 
 The end crowns the work, and so have 
 the good results of labor left a crown 
 upon the name more endearing to the 
 good man than all the pomp and cir- 
 cumstance that power, alone, or wealth 
 could purchase. The days of chivalry 
 arising from the power of kings and 
 nobles, the empires of war and victo- 
 ries, crusades of faith, and the necessary 
 maintenance of the followers of such 
 errantries, as well while they lasted as 
 in a the cankers of a long peace," were 
 the beginnings of the false distinctions 
 which made idleness honorable and left 
 industry with only the reward of its own 
 products. It takes time to accomplish 
 any revolution which shall be of perma- 
 nent benefit ; and it is proper it should 
 be so, as improvements are worked out 
 in the progress of experience which 
 
TRUE POSITION. 235 
 
 could not be made in a leap from one 
 condition to another. The doctrine of a 
 necessity for useful occupation in all men 
 is a great element in this change. Men 
 do not begin to think calmly or wisely 
 in the turmoil of exciting pursuits. It 
 is only when they are falling into their 
 proper places in the great community, 
 and putting their shoulder to the wheel 
 to do something useful, that they per- 
 ceive their relative positions, their obli- 
 gations, and the duties which belong to 
 them as integrants of the whole. It is, 
 therefore, industry which is the ground- 
 work of reform, both moral and politi- 
 cal; it is the basis of domestic virtue, 
 comfort, and plenty ; and the producer 
 of what sustains a nation and improves 
 its condition. When to this is added 
 education, its followers are the support- 
 ers of man in all his conditions, wants, 
 
 18* 
 
236 the mechanic's 
 
 advances, and elegancies of life, and are 
 the safeguards of society. 
 
 These reflections arise spontaneously 
 from the nature of the subject we are 
 discussing, as being intimately connected 
 with the career of the good man, re- 
 claiming or saving from time what would 
 otherwise be lost. If it be creditable to 
 perpetuate the knowledge of the deeds 
 of man in arms — of wars that have deso- 
 lated the earth and left misery and sighs 
 to be felt again in after ages by those 
 who deprecate and sympathize while 
 they read — how much more worthy an 
 effort is it to record in imperishable 
 form the good civic conduct of those 
 unpretending men who have labored 
 during their lives for the common weal, 
 and who make, in every field, two 
 blades of grass grow where only one 
 srrew before \ 
 
TRUE POSITION. 237 
 
 In the world's broad field of battle- 
 In the bivouac of life — 
 
 Be not like the driven cattle ; 
 Be a hero in the strife ! 
 
 Lives of great men all remind us, 
 "We can make our own sublime, 
 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footsteps in the sand of time. 
 
 Let us, then, be up and doing, 
 With a heart for any fate ; 
 
 Still achieving, still pursuing, 
 Learn to labor and to wait. 
 
 It belongs to you, my brother me- 
 chanic, to rise in the world. You who 
 are willing to be advised by those who 
 have experience, consult the wise and 
 good and profit by their examples. If 
 you would succeed in life, let your motto 
 be not only to look ahead, but go ahead. 
 Set your mark high, and strive to reach 
 
238 the mechanic's 
 
 it. You can succeed if you will remem- 
 ber, my friends, the almost omnipotent 
 power of perseverance, the power of 
 industry and of labor — you who are just 
 beginning the world— that fourteen or 
 sixteen hours a day are sure to foot a 
 good account and seldom need an 
 indorser. " Order is heaven's first law," 
 and the Scripture tells us to " Let every- 
 thing be done decently and in order." 
 The man of method is generally a suc- 
 cessful man. The neglect of this great 
 principle has ruined its tens of thousands. 
 An excellent rule is, Let nothing be ne- 
 glected that can be done to-day. What- 
 ever you undertake, pursue it steadily if 
 you wish to succeed ; for wherever there 
 is a will there is a way ; then forget not 
 the advice of the wise man, "And 
 with all thy getting get understanding." 
 Bear in mind that the laboring mechanic 
 should educate his head, his hands, and 
 
TRUE POSITION. 239 
 
 his heart. He will thus learn to distin- 
 guish good from evil, to know how to 
 supply his wants and add to his com- 
 forts, and how to dispense blessings to 
 all around him. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE TANNERS' CHEER. 
 
 Award of cheer to the hearty tanner, 
 And a blessing on his trade ;i 
 
 A leather bough shall be his banner, 
 Over all the land displayed. 
 
 Amid the forest-giant's winding, 
 While far away the hunter's coil 
 
 Round the wild bull's neck is binding, 
 He marks the noblest for his spoil. 
 
 Work on, ye Pitmen all! 
 
 And let the hide be sound; 
 Work on! joy to the land 
 
 Where working-men abound! 
 
244 the tanners' cheer. 
 
 His labor gives the world protection 
 
 In an ever changing form, 
 From the summer sun's reflection 
 
 And the winter's raging storm. 
 
 It guards the tread of the sturdy yeoman, 
 And guides his plow-horse over the mead ; 
 
 It adorns the lovely foot of woman, 
 And reins the patriot's battle steed. 
 
 Work on, ye Curriers all! 
 
 And let the beam resound; 
 Work on ! joy to the land 
 
 Where working-men abound! 
 
 The wit and lore of bygone ages, 
 His labor saves from swift decay; 
 
 It guards the Bible's holy pages, 
 And grasps the follies of the day. 
 
 It aids the loom's bright imitation 
 
 By turning every busy wheel ; 
 It bears the stream to stay the conflagration, 
 
 And sheathes the warrior's flashing steel. 
 
THE tanners' cheer. 245 
 
 Work on, ye Tanners all! 
 
 And let the song go round; 
 Work on! joy to the land 
 
 Where working-men abound ! 
 
 See illustration in front of this chapter, representing a 
 party of Tanners singing the above words. 
 
 rt 
 
I'l II" 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 COPY OF PATENT, GRANTED APRIL 14, 1857. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE LETTERS PATENT 
 SHALL COME: 
 
 Whereas, David H. Kennedy, of New 
 Alexandria, Pennsylvania, has alleged 
 that he has invented a new and useful 
 composition for tanning hides, which he 
 states has not been known or used before 
 his application ; has made oath that he is 
 a citizen of the United States ; that he 
 does verily believe that he is the original 
 and first inventor or discoverer of the 
 
250 COPY OF 
 
 said composition, and that the same hath 
 not, to the best of his knowledge and 
 belief, been previously known or used, 
 has paid into the treasury of the United 
 States the sum of thirty dollars, and 
 presented a petition to the Commissioner 
 of Patents, signifying a desire of ob- 
 taining an exclusive property in the said 
 composition, and praying that a patent 
 may be granted for that purpose, — 
 
 These aee, therefore, to grant, 
 according to law, to the said David H. 
 Kennedy, his heirs, administrators, or 
 assigns, for the term of fourteen years, 
 from the fourteenth day of April, one 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, 
 the full and exclusive right and liberty 
 of making, constructing, using, and 
 vending to others to be used, the said 
 composition, a description whereof is 
 given in the words of the said Kennedy, 
 in the schedule hereunto annexed, and is 
 made a part of these presents. 
 
PATENT GRANTED. 251 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have caused 
 these letters to be made patent, and the 
 seal of the Patent Office has been 
 hereunto affixed. Given under my 
 hand, at the city of Washington, this 
 fourteenth day of Apri], in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and fifty-seven, and of the independence 
 of the United States of America the 
 eighty-first. 
 
 Jacob Thompson, 
 Secretary of the Interior. 
 [l. s.] S. T. Shugept, 
 
 Asst. Comm'r of Patents. 
 
 Countersigned, and sealed with the 
 seal of the Patent Office. 
 
 19* 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 COPY OF SPECIFICATION OF PATENT. 
 
 THE SCHEDULE REFERRED TO IN THESE 
 
 LETTERS PATENT, AND MAKING PART 
 
 OF THE SAME. 
 
 To all to vjJiom these presents shall come: 
 Be it known that I, David H. Ken- 
 nedy, formerly of Reading, in the county 
 of Berks, but now of New Alexandria, 
 in the county of Westmoreland, and 
 State of Pennsylvania, have invented or 
 discovered certain new and useful com- 
 positions of matter to be used in the 
 tanning of leather ; and the following is 
 
254 
 
 COPY OF 
 
 a full, clear, and exact description of 
 the manner of preparing and using the 
 same: 
 
 This composition consists of 
 
 pounds of or of ; 
 
 pounds of of ; pounds 
 
 of of or of 
 
 ; ... pound of of ; 
 
 . . . pounds of ( of ) ; 
 
 . . . pound of or ; 
 
 These ingredients should be dissolved 
 separately in hot water, or in a hot 
 decoction of tan bark, which is prefera- 
 ble, and then poured into a tank, and 
 thoroughly stirred together to form the 
 tanning liquor, which may be drawn off 
 as required, to supply the vats or vessels 
 in which the hides are to be tanned. 
 
 The tanning liquor thus formed in the 
 tank is in the most concentrated form, 
 and only suitable to apply to hides in 
 the advanced stages of the tanning pro- 
 
SPECIFICATION OF PATENT. 255 
 
 cess, and must be largely diluted with 
 water or bark-water before it is applied 
 to hides at the commencement of this 
 process ; or else, before applying it to 
 such hides, it should be partially spent 
 by having had hides in a more advanced 
 state steeped in it. 
 
 The strength of the liquor should be 
 increased as the tanning progresses, — * 
 care being taken to handle the hides fre- 
 quently in the early part of the process, 
 while the liquor is weak ; but less hand- 
 ling will do as the process advances. 
 Hides intended for sole-leather may 
 (near the close of the process) be laid 
 down in a vat, alternately with layers of 
 ground bark, and then a liquor, com- 
 posed of three parts of the composition 
 before mentioned and one part of strong 
 bark liquor, should be poured into the 
 vat until it covers the hides. Hides 
 thus laid down may continue undis- 
 
256 copy of 
 
 turbed until fully tanned — say from ten 
 to fifteen days. Light skins need not be 
 laid down, as they will be thoroughly 
 tanned by merely handling in the liquor. 
 
 Hides will be tanned by this process 
 quickly or slowly, according to the 
 amount of handling and the strength of 
 the tanning liquor. When a tan-yard 
 has become impregnated thoroughly 
 with the chemicals employed, the tan- 
 ning will be performed with less expense 
 than at first, the quality of the leather 
 will be noticeably improved, and the 
 time required for tanning diminished. 
 
 When the before mentioned tanning 
 compound is employed with hemlock 
 bark, in the proportion of fifteen pounds 
 of the compound to about one hundred 
 and twenty-eight cubic feet of the bark, 
 the leather produced will have the color, 
 pliancy, and other desirable qualities of 
 the best oak-tanned leather. In this 
 
SPECIFICATION OF PATENT. 257 
 
 way the expense of oak-tanned leather 
 will be greatly reduced, while the quality 
 will be fully maintained. 
 
 What I claim as my invention, and 
 desire to secure by lettees patent, is 
 
 the combination of , the 
 
 of .... , of , or 
 
 of , and of , . . . , 
 
 — , or , — , dissolved 
 
 in water or tan-bark liquor, for the pur- 
 pose of tanning hides and shins substan- 
 tially as herein set forth. 
 
 In testimony whereof I have hereunto 
 
 subscribed my name. 
 
 David H. Kennedy. 
 
 David Bedfoed, ) w . x 
 James B. Dun^ } Wltaesses - 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page. 
 
 Advantages of this Process 32 
 
 American Ox-hides 41 
 
 African Hides 45 
 
 African Skins 61 
 
 Albumen, nature of , . . . . 61 
 
 Buenos Ayres Hides 38 
 
 Brazilian Hides 39 
 
 Bull-hides 41 
 
 Beam-house 81 
 
 Bating 91 
 
 Census — Tanning Interest in 1855 22 
 
 Capitalists, Facts and Estimates for 28 
 
 Cow-hides 40 
 
 Calcutta, or Nagore Hides 46 
 
 Calf-skins 48 
 
 Chemistry Defined 97 
 
 Clinton Tannery 195 
 
260 INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Copy of Patent 249 
 
 Copy of Specification 253 
 
 Depilation, Rationale of 15 
 
 Domestic or Slaughtered Hides 44 
 
 Deer-skins 54 
 
 Epidermis 62 
 
 Example of Tanning One Hundred Calf-skins, 121 
 Example of Tanning Ox-hides for Patent 
 
 Leather 133 
 
 Example of Tanning Sole-leather 149 
 
 France — Its Trade in Leather 19 
 
 Fibrine, Nature of 62 
 
 Goat-skins 51 
 
 Gelatine, Mulder's View of 65 
 
 Grained Leather 178 
 
 Hair, Primitive Mode of Removing 15 
 
 Hides Suitable for Tanning, 35 — Buenos Ayres, 
 38— Brazilian, 39— Large Ox, 40— Bull, 41 
 — From Diseased Carcass, 43 — Frauds in 
 Sale of, 43 — Domestic Slaughtered, 44 — 
 California, 44 — Spanish and African, 45 — 
 Nagore, 46 — Yearlings, 45 — Horse, 51 — 
 Mode of Salting, 55 — Washing and Soaking, 69 
 
INDEX. 261 
 
 Page. 
 
 Ingredients Used in Tanning, 95 — Properties 
 and Prices of 99 
 
 Lime, Use of, in Tanning, 15 — Its Effects on 
 
 Hides, 87 — Its Antiseptic Properties 88 
 
 Liquor for Coloring and Graining 122 
 
 Leather, Statistics of, 22 — Egyptian Workers 
 of, 14 — Steps in Manufacture of, 14 — Cur- 
 rying and Finishing of, 167 — Shaving, 168 
 — Harness, 176 — Blacked Bridle, 177 — 
 Russet Bridle, 178— Horse, 178— Wax, 178 
 — Grained, 178— Patent, 179 — Texture and 
 Quality of, 185 — Bloomed, 190 — Examina- 
 tion of, 192 — Its Antiquity, 206 — Manufac- 
 ture of 207 
 
 Madagascar Hides 45 
 
 Mechanics, True Position of . . . . 217 
 
 Method, One Year's Work by Old, 28— By 
 New, 29 — Advantages of New, 32 — Saving 
 by New 32 
 
 Nagore Ox 46 
 
 Ox-hides for Patent Leather 133 
 
 Patent Leather, Hides Used for 44 
 
262 INDEX. 
 
 £age. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davy and Others, Investiga- 
 tions of 16 
 
 Skins, Calf, 48 — Goat, 51 — Sheep, 52— Deer, 
 54 — Composition of, 59 — African, 61 — Li- 
 quor for Coloring and Graining 122 
 
 Spanish Hides 45 
 
 Salting Hides 55 
 
 Splitting-machine 141 
 
 Tannery, Clinton 195 
 
 Tannin, Mulder's Opinion of, 65 — Affinity with 
 Gluten 66 
 
 Tanning, Antiquity of, 14 — How Effected, 17 
 — Advantages of Patent Process of, 26 — In- 
 gredients Used in, 95 — Composition for, 109 
 — Composition No. 2 110 
 
 Unhairing, Composition for, 81 — Drawbacks 
 on the Old Plan, 87— Remarks on 195 
 
 Work by Old Method, 28— By New 29 
 
 Water, the Influence of its Quality in Tanning, 
 75 — Rain the Purest 77 
 
 Yearlings, Hides of Neat 45 
 
 jun -o «w 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 niinnnr 
 
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