390

SKINS—ROUGTI-TANXED AND SOLE LEATHER—AWARDS.

[Class XVI.

made into black morocco, which, from the circumstanceof our first supplies having been derived from Spain , stillretains the name of black Spanish leather.

East India goat skins are small in size and extremelyshort in the hair: they are appropriated for ladies’ shoes,and occasionally dyed for covering chair-seats.

Kid Skins.

Kid skins are collected in the south of France, Ger-many, Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland. French skins arethe most perfect, and of the finest quality; those fromIreland , of which there are 60,000 skins annually ex-ported, are also highly valued. East Indian kid skinsare adapted for light shoes, but are occasionally madeinto gloves. As soon as the kid begins to feed on herbage,the fineness and delicacy of the skin are injured, and theskin becomes unsuited for the best gloves; it is then usedfor shoes, braces, and binding-leather, for which purposesit is well adapted on account of its great strength andelasticity.

Seal Skins.

The seal has been already mentioned among the fur-producing animals; the particular species whose skinsare manufactured into leather are found in great numberson the shores of North America, from Newfoundland totlie Arctic Ocean . As many as 600,000 have been caughtin one season, and a large tleet of vessels is employed inthis trade. The oil which the animal produces is theprincipal inducement to its capture ; but the skin, whichis worth from 3s. to 4s\, forms no inconsiderable sumwhen estimated upon the large numbers that are broughtto this country. The seal, when young, has long, white,silk)* hair, which it sheds in a few weeks, and becomescovered with hair of a coarser and darker colour. In thelatter state it is best adapted to the purposes of theleather-dresser. When carefully manufactured, the skinhas greater strength in proportion to its substance thanany leather that is usually worn. It is generally madeinto black enamelled leather for ladies’ shoes, and ismuch used for shoe-binding, where great strength isnecessary. From experiments tried on seal, porpoise,and whale leather, that are exhibited in the Canada de-partment, it appears probable that the skins of the marinemammalia have greater strength than those of laud-animals.

Skins and furs in the undressed state are liable to beeaten through by the grub of a small beetle (.Dermestesvilpinus ;. The eggs are generally deposited in somecrevice about the head of the skin. These produce aswarm of hairy grubs, which feed upon the pelt, andgrow to the size of small caterpillars. Instances havebeen known where the entire value of a foreign packageof skins has been destroyed by these insects, and theannual loss occasioned by them in this country is com-puted to be from 200(.)/. to 5000/. They are found to bemost destructive when skins are packed iu midsummeror autumn, at which season the insect dies abroad anddeposits its eggs unperceived as the skins are drying inthe air. The collections of skins packed in spring andwinter are not liable to this injury. Camphor andtobacco-leaves have been tried against the depredationsof this insect, and eacli has been attended with some suc-cess, but not so entirely as to recommend either of themas a complete preventive.

Rough Tanned and Sole Leather.

The number of exhibitors in this subdivision is 53, ofwhom 15 are in the English department, 9 in the French ,and 29 in other sections of the building.

The sole leather in the English department has for themost part been tanned with oak bark, but we notice somevarieties in the collection of Messrs. Boutcher, Mor-timer, and Co., and in the Australian division, in bothof which there are specimens that have been tanned withmimosa bark. The Hon. Z. Pratt, of Prattsville, NewYork (102, United States , p- 1440), exhibits leather tanned•with the bark of the hemlock tree: several exhibitorshave employed valonia as a principal ingredient. In theNew Zealand colletftion there are some remarkable va-

rieties; and in the Russian department we find specimenssaid to be cured with rye.

Although many vegetable extracts have been discoveredwhich are useful in tauning, inasmuch as they shorten theprocess and economize the cost of production, yet nomaterial has yet been found which combines so manyvaluable qualities as oak bark for tanning sole leather; itfills more completely the pores of the hide, and preventsthe great absorption of water to which leather tannedi with other material is liable.

The simplest method of tanning sole leather, still prac-tised in some of our colonies, is, to shave the hair fromthe hide with a sharp knife, and to steep the pelt inbark liquors for a year; by which time the gelatine ofthe hide has chemically united with the tannin, and theprocess is complete. In England it is customary to re-move the hair by immersion in lime-water ; if this processis carried beyond the proper point it dissolves too much1 the soluble gelatine, and renders the leather porous.

Since the abolition of duties on tanned hides and skins,a considerable increase has taken place in the importationsfrom foreign countries, with obvious advantages to theforeign manufacturer and English consumer. Both cur-ried and varnished calf leather of excellent quality arebrought from France, Germany, and Switzerland , andlarge numbers of curried boot-fronts. From Australia and the East Indies arrivals of tanned leather are morefrequent, and supply at moderate prices the increasingwants of the community. In many cases the economy oftanning on the site of produce is considerable: the labourand tanning materials are both procurable at less cost;much is saved by the diminished freight of the manu-factured article; and the leather is less liable to damageby moth and worm, to which imtanned skins are exposediu their passage to this country.

As many beautiful and well-manufactured leathers havecome under the notice of the Jury, which have beenexhibited by proprietors, or by those who have only to asmall extent superintended the manufacture, the Juryhave recognized the merit of these productions by in-cluding the exhibitors with those manufacturers whomthey consider entitled to Honourable Mention.

The Jury award Prize Medals to the following Ex-hibitors :—

Cox, W. II. and Co., Russell Street, Bermondsey, Lon-don (293, p. 529), for two foreign butts very well tanned.

Crawford, H. M., Philadelphia (51, United States ,p. 1436), for calf skins tanned in oak bark.

Draper, R. and H., Kenilworth (293, p. 529), for aremarkably heavy and well-tanned English hide, weighing90 lbs.

Duport , V., 16 Rue des Francs Bourgeois St. Marcel,Paris (182, France , p. 1182-3), for three split hides oftwice the usual leugth. The increase of surface is in-geniously obtained by a peculiar mode of splitting. Amachine divides the hide into two surfaces, commencingat the neck and continuing nearly to the opposite ex-tremity; where the splitting terminates the hide is neatlycut to preserve a uniform thickness, and when opened outextends from 17 to 18 feet.

Fieux and Co., Toulouse ('210, France , p. 1183), forwell-manufactured sole and harness leather.

Hepburn, John and Thomas, Long Lane, Bermondsey (293, p. 529), for an English crop butt, of good substanceand texture, and well tanned in every respect.

Landron Brothers, Meurng-sur-Loire (1639, France ,p. 1255), for well-tunned sole leather.

Peltereau, Auguste, Chateau Regnault, Indre-et-Loire (677, France , p. 1211), for sole leather of excellentquality, tanned by two methods.

Peltereau, F., jun., Chateau Regnault, Indre-et-Loire (949, France , p. 1225), for sole leather of excellent quality,tanned in oak bark; some of the specimens have beentanned without the usual application of lime.

The Jury make Honourable Mention of the followingExhibitors:—

Beauchau pe Bar£, A., Namur (262, Belgium , p. 1159),for tanned hides, applicable for soles and pump-buckets.