  ??????“What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time, Be but to sleep and feed? A beast—no more. Sure, He that made us with such large discourse, Looking before, and after, gave us not That capability and godlike reason To fust in us unused.” Professor Procter, in his paper, entitled “Problems of the Leather Industry,”185 says: “There is, however, no reason that all the necessary effects both of puering and bating should not ultimately be attained by purely chemical treatment without the risk and uncertainty which must always attach to bacterial and ferment action.” While I agree with him in this, still it is well to remember that in the case of one of the very oldest of the fermentation industries, that of the production of alcohol, a comparatively simple body, the natural process has not yet been replaced by a chemical one, and I believe this applies also to the manufacture of vinegar. Chemical methods of bating may be used for leathers like chrome and alum leather, but even here natural processes like drenching, in which acids are produced gradually during the working of the skins, give more beautiful results. With vegetable tanning materials, the Finally, the author regrets that the subject of the work is not an inspiring and lofty one, such as is astronomy for example.186 Limited in extent, imperfect in execution, and in parts only suggestive in character, this little book may perhaps serve as a foundation, on which students of the science of tanning may raise the superstructure of their own experience and eventually perfect the processes touched upon, so that the use of such filthy materials may be entirely avoided. In that case the author’s intention will be fulfilled. FINIS |
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