Abstract
THE author in his preface claims that this volume is merely a collection of notes he has made during the past twenty years on the practical and scientific aspect of the puering, bating, and drenching of skins. “Puering” and “bating” are two processes commonly used in the manufacture of light and fancy leather from various skins. They consist of steeping the skins prior to tanning in a fermenting solution of excrement—in the case of “puering,” dog excrement is used; in “bating,” hen or pigeon manure. Subsequent to either of these processes the skins are “drenched,” in which process they are placed in a fermenting solution of bran, which, by reason of its acid nature, swells the skins prior to tanning. The original of the words puering and bating is French—puer, to stink; bête, animal. The aim of scientific technologists is to substitute these two disgusting processes by cleaner materials which can be scientifically controlled. Puering and bating of skins reduce them in thickness, take out the lime and grease, and make them soft and velvety. Mr. Wood has put together his notes upon these subjects in such a way as to make this volume indispensable both to leather trades chemists and to those who wish specially to study the subject. It is, in short, a text-book bringing together in handy form all that has been done and all that is known of this, one of the most complicated processes in connection with leather manufacture.
The Puering, Bating, and Drenching of Skins.
J. T. Wood. Pp. xv + 300. (London: E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd.; New York: Spon and Chamberlain, 1912.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
P., J. The Puering, Bating, and Drenching of Skins . Nature 90, 130 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/090130a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/090130a0