This kind of leather is well known to the general public under the name of wash-leather, but it is, perhaps, not so widely known that there is practically no real chamois leather available, since the species of animal bearing this name is almost extinct. Nowadays, "chamois," or "shamoy" is made from the flesh split of sheep skin, and the method whereby the leather is produced is described as the oil tannage. The chamois leather dresser may also do the preliminary work of fellmongering, but more often he receives the pelts, or "fells," from the fellmonger. Although the pelts have been in a lime liquor known as the fellmonger's "gathering limes," the process of liming has to be continued and carefully regulated. Too much liming makes the pelts loose, owing to the development of bacteria. This effect would cause the finished leather to be soft and spongy. On the other hand, under-liming fails to remove sufficient of the cement substance which binds the fibres of the pelts; consequently, the leather produced from these pelts is thin and somewhat gristly. After being limed, the skins are "cobbed" (_i.e._, the bits of wool or hair left on by the fellmonger are removed) and the pelts are then fleshed by machinery. The next operation, splitting, is very important and requires skilful attention to get good results. The Reeder machine is largely in use, but the band-knife machine is also suitable. The top half of the sheep skin (_i.e._, the grain side) is utilised for the manufacture of skivers, while the under portion, or flesh side, technically called "lining," serves as the raw material for chamois leather. The best linings are generally sorted out for making into parchment, which, of course, commands a much higher price than chamois. Linings for chamois are then submitted to the operation of either re-splitting or frizing, the object being to remove the loose tissue lying between the grain and flesh. The pelts are re-split in the case of cheap chamois, but frized if intended for choice finish. Frizing is an operation peculiar to the making of chamois and glove leather. It is done with a very sharp knife, similar to the fleshing knife, and on a more upright beam than that used by tanners. The work requires great skill, frizers being among the best paid workers in the trade. Frizing done, the linings are freed from lime by washing them in the drum tumbler, or paddle-vat, through which cold water is allowed to flow continuously for two or three hours. When lamb skins, which are too thin to split, are made into chamois leather, the grain is removed by frizing.