A contemporary answers this question by stating that they are cut up in small pieces, and these are put for a couple of days in chloride of sulphur, which makes the leather very hard and brittle. After this is effected, the material is washed with water, dried, ground to powder, and mixed with some substance which makes time particles adhere together, as shellac, good glue, or thick solution of gumn. It is then pressed into moulds and shaped into combs, buttons, knife-handles, and many other articles.
2009-04-22