This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920. Excerpt: ... LEATHER AND ITS USES The coats that are worn by cattle, sheep, and other animals are called skins. After these skins have been tanned, they are called leather. Many articles of clothing are made of leather. Let us name some of them. Boots, shoes, coats, caps, aprons, belts, gloves, and mittens are the most important. Have you ever seen any one wearing an apron of leather? Besides those of sheep and cattle, the skins of goats, deer, horses, dogs, kangaroos, alligators, and of some other animals are made into leather. Calfskin makes the best shoes for men and boys. Only the skin from the under side of an alligator's body can be used. Can you tell why? A place where skins are tanned is called a tannery. An acid obtained from the bark of the oak, hemlock, and some other trees is much used in tanning. On this account tanneries are often found where these trees grow in abundance. There are other things also that are used in tanning. Let us visit a tannery and see how the work is done. Here are great quantities of skins or hides. Some of them have come from the cities where large numbers of animals are killed for food. Can you name any of these cities? Some come from Mexico and seme from the plains of South America. The hides are placed in large vats partly filled with a liquid containing lime. This liquid loosens the hair, which is afterward scraped off with a blunt instrument. The lime is now washed off by throwing the hides into the water. Here is another man scraping the skins. He is removing bits of flesh that were left clingug to them. You have often noticed the pores in the skin m the back of your hand. The perspiration comes through the pores. There are pores in the skins of the lower animals, too. In order to open the pores of the skins, so that the tan...