Taking into account the liming necessary for unhairing only, as shown in the table, it will be noted that the percentage of loss is invariably greater in old limes than in new ones, and less in limes sharpened with sulphide of sodium than where lime alone is used. The only exception to this rule is in No. 15, where a sulphide lime 4 weeks old shows the least loss of any in the time required for unhairing; and indeed sulphide limes if kept strengthened with the requisite addition of sulphide, seem to deteriorate very slowly, No. 8, with a lime 5 months old, showing a result which may still be considered good. Another point especially noted by Eitner is the slight action of old limes during the first stages of liming, as compared with their rapid solvent effect as the hair becomes loosened. The loss in any case does not appear to be so great as the advocates of other unhairing processes have often claimed. If we assume that all the dissolved hide-substance might have made leather, the worst loss on oxhide only limed to the point of unhairing amounts to less than 3¹⁄₂ per cent. on the possible total; and it must be remembered that at least a part of this consists of dissolved epidermis matter, which could not by any possible method have been converted into leather. It will be noted in Nos. 2, 4, 10, 12 and 16, what considerable losses are produced by plumping limes after unhairing, but it must be borne in mind that, in the case of dressing-leather, solution of at least a part of the cementing matter is essential to produce the necessary softness and flexibility. Eitner calculates the dry pelt-weight from that of the green hide on the assumption, based on experiment, that 100 parts of the original skin corresponds to 32 parts of dry pure pelt in green oxhide, 25 parts in green calf-skins, and 56 parts in dried calf-skins. In some of the smaller skins, such as kid worked for glove leather, where great softness and stretch is required, the loss is necessarily much greater than in ordinary dressing-leathers, amounting, in the case of kid, to from 20 to 27 per cent.