roughly divide the operation of tanning into two distinct classes: One which deals with skins without the preservation of the fur, and which turns the skin so operated upon into the material known as

n ingenious method of removing the fur of any animal to an artificial "backing"

ocess, and certainly does not lie within the province of a taxidermist to attempt; and though it is possible for a tanner to preserve the fur with the skin, yet the attempt is undesirable, by reason of the false or unnatural colour it permanently gives the fur - totally destroying the character o

ll to say that no liquid, powder, or combination of liquids or powders, is known into which a skin can be plunged, and - without the aid of manual labour - come out as leather. I mention this to correct a popular

the same for a day or so, taking it out, nailing it on a board, letting it dry, rubbing it down with pumice stone, and plunging it again and again, and repeating the drying and pumice-stoning process until the skin becomes pliable. This is

altpetre (see Formula No. 9) for small skins, finally rubbing down and dressing the skin with lard, into which a li

n and soft water sufficient to cover the skins, let this stand four hours covered, before being used, then immerse the skins, keeping them well covered for twenty-four hours (less in India), then take out, wash clean, and carefully scrape off all the fl

and then put the skins for twenty-four hours into warm oatmeal and water, stirring oc

other improvement is, to tear up the fibre with a little instrument I have invented, or rather adapted (see Fig. 35), which is simply a "hog scraper," ground up sharp all round, and then filed up into short rounded teeth whe

per with which

m over a sloping board or on the edge of a table, and to use a spokeshave, or currier's thinning knife, to thin them down - perhaps an eighth of an inch all over - then tear the fibre up with the scraper, grease them with lard, to which has been added essence of musk, and punch them for several hours or several days with a "dolly" in a tub half full of bran or har

d" (to be procured of any ironmonger) - steel wire woven on cl

orax to one-eighth part saltpetre, and left to dry in the shade for three months, after which they may be scraped, and their natural fat will, after all

ome success by Mr. R. Backhouse, of Stockton-on-Tees, whose p

pread over the entire surface, no portion being allowed to escape. As the moisture dries out of the skin, the lard enters the pores and supplies its place, and in about a week's time (the lard being carefully ren

the pores; this stretching is accompanied, or rather preceded, by careful scraping or currying with a sharp knife or razor, to remove the fleshy matters and render

els, etc.., and insectivora - bats, shrew-mice, and moles - indeed, the latter animals must be skinned almost as soon as they are dead, or the skin turns "green" and goes bad in a very

eservative (No. 4), and then finally treated with lard and essence of musk, and finished off by either of the preceding methods to render them clean and supple. A corresp

am (see Chapter I). I have given his preparation a long and patient investigation, and can recommend it for s

h half a part of saltpetre, the whole rubbed in several t

sed to dress skins with, and if left on for about a year certa

oke their deer skins, etc.., and after wo

(see ante) if it has dried on the hair or fur. In old skins washing is effective when the animal is relaxed. Freshly s

g well brushed with stiff horse or carriage brushes, and a

or black cloth, or baize, and a "pounced" border of cloth attached. The

d slit the skin underneath, in a straight line through the under lip to the tip of the tail, then make four cross cuts from the median line along the inside of the limbs down to

fat, then lay it out flat and rub it well in with the burnt alum and saltpetre (Formula No. 9). In dressing thick skins, it will be advisable to make a paste of the alum and saltpetre by mixing it with a little water, and repeatedly rub this

be exposed day by day to the sun and air, taking care meanwhile to guard it against all possible enemies. Treated in this manner, it has no "nature" in it, but is "as stiff as a board;" before this happens, however, it will

ibed. If time is no object the skin may, after the first rubbing-in of the preservative, be stretched by the old-fashioned method of "pegging out," or by the more efficient professional "frame," made of four bars of w

and the skin placed in it. If possible, change the liquor after a few days and add fresh; head the tub up tightly and the skin will keep many years. I received the skin of a polar bear, sent from the Arctic Regions

s thorough washing and steeping in water, constantly changed; after that experience alone determines the treatment to be pursued. If alum were mixed with rough salt in the proportion of two parts of

est work imaginable, and if after a fair trial he does not cry, "Hold, enough!" and hand all

wish to do skins well by any of the foregoing met