The person who enters a glove shop of reputation—or the glove department of any high class store—to buy gloves, probably has a very limited notion of the variety of fabrics and workmanship represented by the goods before him. To this single line of merchandise nearly every country in the world contributes to-day; not merely in the historical sense, in which we have watched the glove evolve through the centuries, but also in point of materials and processes actually used. The glove counter, little as we may appreciate it, brings together the riches and skill of the Orient, of Africa, of Europe, and of the Western World. A glance at some of the names, familiar to us all, as cape and mocha, immediately suggests their origin in far distant countries. And yet, perhaps for economy of expression—if not from positive ignorance—the general public divides all leather dress gloves into just two classes, “dressed kid” and “undressed kid.” Everything with the grain surface, or smooth finish, is designated by the former term; the latter is popularly applied to gloves with the grain surface removed, or finished on the flesh side of the skin. To the initiated, however, gloves are distinguished primarily by the different kinds of leather of which they are made; and, still further, by the great variety of qualities which each kind of leather is capable of exhibiting. In the glove trade men talk of “cape,” “suede,” “doeskin,” “lambskin,” “kid”—nor is the meaning of each of these nearly so obvious, nor so simple, as would casually appear. If, in every case, the name were properly applied to skins which came from a distinct type of animal, grown in one particular district, whose hide was tanned into leather by its own peculiar process, then the quality and character of each kind of leather would be practically uniform. But such is far from being the fact. When first used, no doubt, each of these terms meant a certain, well-defined thing. Now, however, in the evolution of processes of production, the meaning has been enlarged; and virtually any of these designations covers a much wider scope, even departing radically, in many instances, from its original application. Let us take, for example, the “cape” glove. In the first place this name was used to distinguish a glove made of skins from the Cape district of South Africa. These skins were large spread, heavy, rather tight grained, and are still used in the production of genuine cape gloves. But the soft, pliable, widely-worn glove, in various weights, now commercially known as cape, is manufactured from sheep and lamb skins grown in many lands, and tanned and dressed by the method called “napa dipped.” What was once the name for a glove made from one type of skins is now the designation for hand-wear made from leather of a particular tannage, for which skins of many types, grown in many lands, are used.