Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/212

186&#93; i86] T A N paring leather from raw skins and hides, so as to Tender it more pli- ant and durable. The processes employed for this purpose, are various j every tan- ner adopting some peculiar me- thod : we have therefore selefted the followin^r which is pra(5tised with little dinerence, in the metro- polis and its vicinity j where the leather is divided into three sorts, known under the names of hacks, or butts, hides, and skins. The strongest hides are selected for the lulls ; and, after being di- vested of the horns, they are laid in heaps for one or two days during the summer, and for the space of five or six, in the winter. Next, they are suspended on poles in a svioke-house, or room cont.fining a fire made of wet tan, to induce a slight degree of putrefa6tion, so that the hair may be stripped off j an ob- ject which is effedted by spreading •uch hides on a wooden horse, and scraping them with a curved knife. They are then immersed in water, to be cleansed from all dirt, and extended a second time on the horse, when all extraneous matters must be carefully removed. The bides are now steeped in a pit containing ome, or a strong liquor, prepared by infusing ground oak- bark in water; after which tl>€y are plunged into another pit, con- taining water powerfully impreg- nated with oil of vitriol, or with an acid obtained from rye or barley. They are next immersed in another pit filled with water ; a stratum of bark being strewed between each hide. In the course of 5 or 6 veeks, the skins are taken outj and the water, together with the decayed bark, being removed, the pk is a second time £Ued with TAN ooze; the hides arc again mace- rated, with similar strata between each, for three months. The wimc operation is then repeated a tJtird, and, after the lapse of three months, a fourth time : here the hides re- main for three months longer, at the expiration of wlucli they are completely tanned ; being thus drawn out, they are suspended on poles ; when, afte.rbeing compressed by a steel pin, they are beaten by wooden hammers, or leett-es, to render them smooth ; and then dried for sale. The leather known under the name of hides, is made from the skins of cows, and those of lighter oxen, in the following manner : The horns are first taken off, the hides washed and immersed in a pit full of lime-water, where they remain for a few days ; after which the hair is stripped off, as above described. They now undergo various processes, similar to those already detailed, excepting that the ooze is not atfirstof equal strength} and that the hides are shifted every second or third day, for the space of six months, into a stronger li- quor; being at length put into a very rich ooze, where they are turned twice every week, for two or three months. Thus prepared, they are carried to another pit, with layers of bark arranged be- tween each hide ; the process being again repeated for a similar period, when they are taken out, and treat- ed in the same manner as the lulls. Both species of leather here described, are employed for the soles of pumps, shoes, boots, &c. ; being finer or stronger, as occasion may require. The last division of leather Is that of xkins, which iocludeg all that is