acid, are now almost entirely used in substitution for the older-fashioned disgusting process. These substitutes have resulted on the researches of J. T. Wood; and it has been recently shown by A. Seymour-Jones and J. T. Wilson that the depleting action of pan- creatic enzymes is due to their solvent action upon elastins. The addition of ammonium chloride or boracic acid is for the purpose of effecting the removal of the lime; the enzymes by their liquefaction of the elastins bring about that degree of flaccidity required on most light leathers before tanning.
Currying. The older-fashioned process of impregnating leather with grease by the application of a dubbin consisting of a mixture of tallow and cod oil, when manufacturing the so-called " waxed " leathers for boot upper leather, has now almost become a thing of the past. Chrome tanned " box " and " willow " calf leather have al- most entirely supplanted the old-fashioned greasy leather for use in the manufacture of boot uppers for general wear. For leather in- tended for army boots and boots for agricultural and similar pur- poses, the method of grease impregnation by drum-stuffing is the one universally practised. In the manufacture of belting leathers, and leather for hydraulic purposes, hose pipes, leather buckets, etc., the method of impregnating by dipping the leather in melted greases is very commonly practised. This is carried out by placing the previously thoroughly dried leather in a suitable vat, which can be heated by means of a steam coil to any desired temperature, and which contains a mixture of melted paraffin wax, and hard tallow or wool stearine, etc.; the leather being immersed for a few moments until complete permeation has been effected, when it is withdrawn and then scoured for the purpose of removing grease from the grain and flesh surfaces.
Sulphonated Oils. Sulphonated oils, the original of which was the so-called Turkey Red Oil, made by treating castor oil with sul- phuric acid, have now been generally adopted in the fatliquoring and dressing of leather of all kinds. On account of the fact that these oils are acidic in character and are not adversely affected by acid solu- tion, their employment has been considerably extended in respect of their application in the nourishing and fatliquoring of dyed leather. Properly prepared Sulphonated oils have no adverse in- fluence on leather which has been dyed with acid colours, with the consequence that they greatly facilitate the manufacture of dyed leathers and enable the fatliquoring operation to be done in the same solution as' the dyeing has been performed, if this method of application is to be desired on the grounds of economy.
Sulphonated oils specially prepared for the leather industry consist of Sulphonated wool olein, Sulphonated castor oil, sulpho- nated neatsfoot oil, and Sulphonated mineral oils. All these have been used for this purpose in addition to being used for oiling leather in the tanned condition prior to drying, in substitution for cod oil, mineral oil, etc., which were almost universally used previously for this purpose; the emulsion which results on dilution of these oils with water is useful in the direction of producing a lighter-coloured leather than is the case when the older-fashioned process is employed.
Glove-Leather Dressing. The alum, salt, flour and egg process ordinarily practised in the manufacture of sheep and lamb skins for the lighter grades of glove leather has been either partially or entirely substituted by many manufacturers, who have adopted the chrome tanning process. For the heavier grade of glove leather required for men's wear, chrome leather would appear to possess many ad- vantages over the ordinary alum and salt process; the leather being softer, more tensilely strong, and stouter in substance than that produced by the alum and salt method, in addition to being water- proof and enabling the gloves to be washed after wear, which is not practicable with alum leather, the tannage of which is readily re- movable by washing, causing the gloves to lose softness on drying.
The dyeing of glove leather is now more extensively carried out by the aid of coal-tar colours in substitution, either entirely or par- tially, for the wood and natural dye-stuffs previously used.
Suede Leather. Suede leathers finished with a velvet-like surface or " nap " are now largely employed in the manufacture of gloves, fancy leather articles, trimmings for clothing, ladies' hats, shoes and handbags, etc. These goods are invariably finished on the flesh side, and the larger proportion of these leathers are made from E. India tanned (" Persian ") sheep.
These goods, after the usual preparation and retanning with sumach, are dried, nailed, strained out on boards, and then buffed on the flesh side to obtain the desired fineness of " nap." After buffing, they are wetted down and dyed, and afterwards fatliquored with Sulphonated oil, being finally dried, and finished either on the buffing- wheel or by " scurfing " with an emery-covered scurf er.
Suede glove leathers are tanned by the alum, salt, flour and egg process, or by the chrome tanning process, and are then fluffed on the flesh side, fluffing several times on a fine emery or carborundum wheel, being afterwards re-dyed with a mixture of natural dye-stuffs and " topped " with a suitable coal-tar colour; the finishing opera- tions consisting of staking and re-wheeling.
Calfskins with a suede finish are generally finished on the grain side, the goods previous to dyeing being buffed on a rapidly rotating carborundum buffing wheel, after setting and drying; the goods being re-buffed lightly or the required " nap " raised by rubbing over with an emery-covered block after dyeing and drying.
Aldehyde Leather. Sheep fleshes tanned by the aldehyde process and finished white are now largely used in the manufacture of wash- able gloves. This tannage effected by means of formaldehyde, orig- inally invented by Payne and Pullman in 1898, has come into considerably extended use in this branch of the leather industry.
The goods, after liming, are frizzed and then delimed and leathered in the drum with a weak solution of formaldehyde rendered slightly alkaline by the addition of washing soda or soda ash, to which French chalk or other white filling agent is sometimes added. The goods, after leathering, are dried, staked and wheeled on both sides, and finally calendered to produce the fine nap-like surface.
Chrome Tanning. The rapidity with which this method of tanning converts pelt into leather, combined with the strength, appearance, and wearing properties of the finished leather, has caused this method to be almost universally adopted in the manufacture of boot upper leather; glac6 kid (i.e. chrome tanned goatskins), " box," " willow " calf, and side leather.
Considerable improvements have been made in the manufacture of chrome tanned leather. These improvements consist chiefly in modifying the original processes invented by Schultz and Martin Dennis; the former inventing the "double-bath " process which is employed almost exclusively in the manufacture of glaci? kid, and the latter the " single-bath " process which is used on calf and side leather. The more accurate adjustment of quantities combined with a chemical control of the tanning process and greater skill in the finishing processes are chiefly responsible for the improved manu- facture, rather than any material alteration in the general process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. H. G. Bennett, Animal Proteins (1921); A. Harvey, Tanning Materials (1921), Practical Leather Chemistry (1920); A. Watt, Leather Manufacture (5th ed., 1920); H. C. Stand- age, Leather Workers' Manual (and ed., 1920); L. A. Fleming, Prac- tical Tanning (3rd ed., 1920); H. R. Procter, Leather Chemists' Pocket Book (2nd ed., 1919); H. G. Bennett, The Manufacture of Leather (3rd ed., 1919); H. R. Procter, The Making of Leather (1914); J. T. Wood, The Puering, Bating and Drenching of Skins (1912); M. C. Lamb, Leather Dressing (2nd ed., 1909). (M. C. L.)
LECOCQ, ALEXANDRE CHARLES (1832-1918), French musi- cal composer (see 16.355), died in Paris Oct. 24 1918.
LEE, SIR SIDNEY (1859- . ), English man of letters (see 16.363), was knighted in 1911. His lectures on The French Renaissance in England and Great Englishmen of the i6lh Century were published in 1910; and his later works include Principles of Biography (1911) and Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance (1915). He became president of the English Association in 1917 and dean of Arts in the university of London in 1918.
LEE, VERNON, the pen-name of Violet Paget (1856- ), English author, was born in France of English parentage Oct. 14 1856, and made her home at Maiano, near Florence, identifying herself with her adopted country and making special study of its art and history. Amongst her publications are Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy (1880) and many volumes of essays; certain novels and stories, such as Miss Brown (1884); A Phantom Lover (1886); Hauntings (1890); Vanitas (1892); Sister Bemienula (1906) and Louis Norbert (1914); a play in verse, Ariadne in Mantua (1903), and Satan the Waster, a philosophic trilogy (1920), as well as a volume of political essays, Gospels of Anarchy (1908).
Her half-brother, EUGENE LEE-HAMILTON (1845-1007), who was also born in France Jan. 6 1845, was educated in France and Germany and at Oriel College, Oxford, afterwards entering the diplomatic service. He married in 1898 Annie E. Holds- worth, author of Joanna Traill, Spinster; The Years that the Locust Hath Eaten, and other novels. He published a number of volumes of poetry, as well as a translation of Dante's Inferno, and (with his wife) Forest Notes (1899). He died at Florence Sept. 7 1907.
LEGROS, ALPHONSE (1837-1911), Anglo-French artist (see 16.380), died in London Dec. 8 1911.
LEHMANN, LIZA (1862-1918), English singer and composer, was born in London July n 1862, the daughter of the artist Rudolf Lehmann. She studied singing under Alberto Randegger and Hamish MacCunn, making her debut in 1885, and became extremely popular as a concert singer. In 1894 she married Herbert Bedford, the composer, and retired from the concert platform, devoting herself henceforward chiefly to composition. Her most popular works are the song cycles In a Persian Garden (1896, words from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) and The Daisy Chain (1900), and various Shakespearean songs, while she also produced a light opera, The Vicar of Wakefield (1907) ; the music
