Leather and its production / [H.R. Proctor].

  • Proctor, H. R. (Henry Richardson), 1848-1927.
Date:
1929
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Leather and its production / [H.R. Proctor]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    LEATHER AND ITS PRODUCTION THE skins of animals have been used for clothing from very early times, and some way must therefore have been known of converting them into leather, and so preserving them from decay. At first, no doubt, skins were generally prepared with the hair or wool upon them, as furs and wool mats still are, but for most purposes in these days, the first step in the production of leather is to remove the hair, which is generally done by soaking the skins for a week or more in a mixture of lime and water. The natural skin consists of two layers, the inner or true skin, which has nerves and blood-vessels, and which bleeds and hurts when it is cut; and the thin outer or scarf skin which has neither of these, and which consequently feels nothing. On the palm of the hand, for example, where the scarf skin is fairly thick, it is easy to pass a needle through it without producing any pain. The hairs, which have bulbs like little onions, are planted in the true skin, but the scarf skin passes down underneath them and lines the holes ; and as it is softened and dissolved by the lime, the hair is easily scraped off with a blunt two-handled knife. This is done by the tanner on a sloping “beam” of a rounded form, and on it the fat and loose flesh is also cut and scraped off the inner or flesh side of the skin with a sharp tool. After . washing in water, the heavier hides of cows and oxen are ready to be tanned, but lighter hides and skins, and espec¬ ially those for very fine and soft leathers, such as morocco and kid, require a further treatment to free them from the