injurious materials, as the leather may have been tanned with an excess of strong extracts which have not properly combined with the fibres, with the result that the excess is easily removed in contact with water. However, methods of fixing tanning extracts on the fibres of the leather have been devised (see p. 117). A careful note should be made of the time required to soak the leather through; if water is absorbed rapidly, the leather is, naturally, unfit for soles. After the tanner has taken great pains to produce the paleness of tint required, the shoemaker buffs away the grain, thereby reducing the resistance of the leather to wear, and then generally covers it with a black, tan, or white dressing. In its turn, this finish is likewise spoiled the first time the leather is worn. There could be nothing more futile than the elaborate finishing of sole leather to make it pale in colour, as it means that fully 80 per cent. of the leather produced has to be bleached in some way or other; and the manner in which this process is effected has a direct influence on reducing the wearing quality of the leather. If, for example, the colour of the leather is brightened with myrobalans, or sumach, or with extracts of these materials, the wearing quality is not affected; unfortunately, this method is not largely used, as it does not increase the weight of the leather and would tend to make it soft. A large proportion of sole leather is treated with strong sulphited extracts, which both bleach and increase the weight of the leather. In some cases, the leather is placed in vats containing hot tanning extracts to increase the bleaching effect and add to the weight. The gain of weight by this surplus tannage may be, and often is, from 8 per cent. to 10 per cent., and, whereas the tanner a century ago used to get only slightly above 50 per cent. of leather on the weight of the raw hide, it is no uncommon thing nowadays to get a yield of nearly 70 per cent. The tanners are hardly to be blamed for this practice, which really ought to be stopped; it is almost entirely due to the demand of buyers for leather at a low price per lb., irrespective of its superficial area compared with a higher-priced and often cheaper article. It is only fair to state that those boot manufacturers who have taken careful costings of their leather have not suffered great loss in this way, but most repairers buy common leather in order to be able to do their work at fixed prices usual in this trade. A large proportion of this leather is under-tanned or weighted, and, in either case, absorbs water like a sponge. This kind of leather is quite unfit for soles, and ought to be condemned, as it not only absorbs moisture but also retains it for a long time, so that it is frequently a cause of colds and other complaints arising from chills.