Career Lecture Series No. 17. Leather Industry 19th April 1939

These alkalies induce the absorption of water by the hide fibres by increasing the osmotic pressure of the solution absorbed by the hide in relation to the osmotic pressure of the solution outside the hide in the soaking bath. [...] The older the lime and the larger the numbers of packs of hides and skins passed through it, the more the bacteria that grow in it and the more is the solu- tion of hide substance by it. [...] In the tan- liquors two different phenomena are involved as the tannage pro- ceeds : fiirst, the diffusion of the tan-liquor into the pelt, and the second, the absorption of the tannin by the already separated fibrils of the corium from the diffused tan-liquor whereby they are coated with the tannin. [...] The better the brains and the scientific technical training of the men in the leather indus- tries of India, the greater is the chance of the realisation of our ambition and the sooner will we reach the goal. [...] The use of leather shoes and leather goods among the civilian population is already large and is increasing with36 the spread of education, the rise in the standard of living and the industrialization of the country.