" Kid " gloves are made chiefly from lamb and kid skins, whick have to pass through many processes, such as washing, hairing, paddling, tanning, staking, colouring, and polishing. First the skins, each about 4 ft. long and 3 ft. wide, are soaked for one or two days in cold water contained in wooden vats; the soaking tubs each contain about 600 skins. The latter pass to a' circular drum having a horizontal axle, a diameter of about 8ft., a width of about 4 ft., and making about one revolution per second. Wooden pins projecting into the interior of the drum keep the skins in motion, so that a continuous stream of water thoroughly saturates the skins and frees them from dirt. At the end of fifteen minutes the skins are removed to the lime pits, which may be about 8 ft. long, 5 ft. wide, and 8 ft. deep, and capable of holding many hundreds of skins. The lime and water loosen the hairs, and at the end of a fortnight the skins are taken out with lung-handled tongs, and the excess of lime is removed by placing them in cold water and running them backwards and forwards over a paddle wheel, 3 ft. in diameter, 6ft. long, and making-forty revolutions per minute.

After this paddling, the skins are spread over an oval-shaped wooden bench, and the hair is scraped off with a tool resembling a carpenter's draw-knife. A similar bench is used in fleshing - the next operation - in which all particles of flesh are cutoff, the skin is given an even thickness, and the ragged ends are trimmed. After being washed in the revolving drum for thirty minutes, they are again fleshed to remove the grease, paddled in warm water, spread out on benches, and slated to remove surplus dirt. After again being paddled, the skins are drenched in a tub of bran and water, being paddled in the drench for twelve hours; this removes the last traces of lime and opens the pores preparatory to tanning. The latter operation is performed in a revolving drum, the tanning liquor being a mixture of alum, salt, flour, yolks of eggs, and water. The drum makes eighty revolutions per minute. and at the end of twelve hours the skins are removed and hung up for twenty-four hours in the drying-room, heated to a temperature of 110° F. The dry skins are damped with water and softened in a mill, consisting of two perpendicular swinging planks, having heavy wooden blocks at their lower ends; in front of these blocks the skins are placed and squeezed and pressed together until soft.

The next operation is staking, performed by drawing the skins over a knife-edge. After a little time in the drying-room, the skins are again staked, this staking tending to soften the skins and to remove the dried flour left from the tanning. After ripening for a few months, the skins may be dyed, being first washed in a drum of cold water for twenty minutes and then placed for twenty-four hours in a revolving bath of egg-yolk, which softens the skins and makes them pliable. In colouring, the skins are slicked out smooth on a lead-coveivd table and washed with potassium bichromate and soda. The dye is then poured on and rubbed in with a brush. Iron sulphate is used for black, zinc sulphate for drab, and sulphate of alum for tan. After dyeing and staking, the skins are finished by polishing on a flannel-covered wheel. The tanned skins are made up into gloves as described on p. 286.