Armadillo.—The skins of this animal were exported from Brunei (Borneo) to Singapore to the value of 121 dol. (of 4s. 2d.) in 1879.
Ass.—Hankow exported 24021/2 piculs (of 1331/2 lb.) of asses' skins in 1878, and 1068 piculs in 1879.
Buffalo.—Manilla (Philippines), in 1878, exported 379 tons of buffalo-skins, value 12,130l., and 274 tons of cuttings, 6579l. Hankow exported 1091 piculs in 1878, and 1238 in 1879. Brunei (Borneo) sent 1362 dol. (of 4s. 2d.) worth to Singapore in 1879. The approximate London market values of buffalo-skins are:—Batavia, 4d.-7d. a lb.; Bengal, 3d.-6d.; other sorts, 21/2d.-61/2d.
Calf.—Hamburg exported to Great Britain of calf and other skins in 1876, 20,731 cwt.; in 1877, 27,550; in 1878, 14,583; and in 1879, 19,287 cwt. The Hawaiian Islands sent 168 pieces to Germany in 1879. Christiania shipped 31,000 kroner (of 1s. 11/2d.) worth to Great Britain in 1878, and 300 kr. in 1879. The exports from Archangel (including seal) in 1878 were 335 pieces to Holland, and 23,108 to Germany: total value, 2343l. Honolulu, in 1878, exported 651 pieces, being 500 to Germany, 135 to China, and 16 to the United States. Memel, in 1879, sent landwise over the Russian frontier for German markets, 34,400 pieces, value 5450l. The approximate London market value of calf-skins is 15d.-34d. a lb.
Deer.—San José (Costa Rica) exported 12,121 lb. in 1878. Kiungchow (China) exported 17,544 pieces, value 541l., in 1879. Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela), in 1879, sent 77,305 pieces (168,1761/2 lb.) to New York, and 14,695 pieces to Germany. Guatemala, in 1879, exported 2353 pieces to Germany, 693 to New York, and 100 to Belize. Panama shipped 765l. worth of deer and other skins to the United States in 1879. Costa Rica exported 82,168 lb. in the year ended April 30, 1879. Puerto Cabello (Venezuela), in 1879, shipped 2466 kilo. (of 2·2 lb.) to Great Britain, 11,619 to Germany, 6182 to the United States, and 1281 to Holland. The Commercial Society of Mozambique sold 41 deer, 391 buck, 2168 blesbok, and 3071 other antelope skins at Rotterdam in June 1876. The approximate London market values of deer-skins are: Blesbok, Cape, 6-17d. a lb.; Deer, East Indian, 22-50s. a doz.
Dog.—Dog-skin makes a nice, thin, tough leather, but most of the gloves sold as dog-skin are made of lamb-skin.
Dugong and Manatee.—The skins of these animals, more important perhaps as oil-yielders, are smooth, bluish-black in colour, and nearly 1 in. thick. They are well adapted for machine-belting. About 50 are shipped annually from Queensland.
Fish.—Although the skins of fish are chiefly gelatinous, and easily soluble in water, some are of a firm, strong texture, and of a useful character. Up to within a few years, however, their employment for practical purposes has been rather limited, and it is only comparatively recently that attention has been more generally directed to their utilisation on an extended scale. At a Maritime Exhibition held at the Westminster Aquarium in 1876, a Norway exhibitor showed a variety of tanned fish-skins, among which were:—Tanned whale-skins; upper leather, made from the white whale, the source of the so-called porpoise hide used for laces; skins of flatfish, prepared for gloves; skins of soles, tanned and dressed for purses; skins of thornbacks, prepared as a substitute for sandpaper; and skins of eels, dressed and dyed, suitable for braces, &c. Shoes have been made at Gloucester, Mass., from the skins of the cusk or torsk (Brosmus vulgaris), the use of which has been patented, and an industry is said to be carried on at Colborn, Canada, with the skins of species of siluroids for glove making. In Egypt, fish-skins from the Red Sea are used for soles of shoes. The skin of the losh or burbot (Lota maculata) is used by the people in many parts of Russia and Siberia to trim their dresses. It is also utilised by some of the Tartar tribes as material for their summer dresses, and the bags in which they pack their animal skins. The spiny and tuberculous skins of many sharks and allied fishes are largely employed, under various trade names, for polishing woods, and for covering boxes, cases, &c. From a certain portion of the skin of the angel shark (Squalina angelus) the Turks make the most beautiful sea-green watch cases. Turners, ebonists, and carpenters in Europe use the rough skin of the blue dog-fish (Squalus glaucus), like emery paper, for smoothing their work and preparing it for polishing. This shark-skin is also made into shagreen. That most used at present appears to be the skin of the ray (Hypolophus sephen), which is very common on the Malabar coast. The house of Giraudon, Paris, makes excellent use of them for morocco and tabletterie. At the recent Paris Exhibition this establishment exhibited numerous illustrations of the ornamental application of the prepared skin in large office-table inkstands, candlesticks, boxes and caskets, paper-knives, reticules, card-cases, photograph frames, bracelets, scent bottles, &c. The fish called chat (Squalus catulus) at Marseilles is smaller than the angel fish, and furnishes a product known as peau de rousette. This skin is reddish, and without spots, and of a uniform grain, flat, and only used to make cases and other articles known as shagreen. Peau de chien de mer is another name given to some species of Squalus. That found on the French coasts is known under the names of chien marin, rousette tigrée, &c. Turners, cabinet makers, and carpenters use the skin for scraping and smoothing their work, and it is also used for like purposes by metal workers. This skin, when worked up with the tubercles with which it is studded, takes the name of galuchat, and is usually dyed green, to cover cases, sheaths, and boxes. Under the name of chagrin, these skins used to be much employed in Turkey, Syria, Tunis, and Tripoli—that made in Tripoli being considered the best. It was coloured black, green, white, and red. France imported 18,000 lb. of ray-skins in 1863, chiefly from Portugal.
Goat and Kid.—Our imports of undressed goat-skins in 1883 were:—From Russia 18,355, 2523l.; Sweden 1296, 229l.; Norway 19,391, 3316l.; Denmark 11,012, 1856l.; Germany 52,571, 5856l.; Holland 13,336, 1858l.; Belgium 40,518, 4632l.; France 81,798, 14,121l.; Italy, 5708, 987l.; Austrian territories 37,827, 3844l.; Turkey 38,166, 4580l.; Egypt 16,228, 933l.; British Possessions in South Africa 1,176,535, 139,632l.; Aden 39,800, 4797l.; British India: Bombay 122,242, 10,487l.; Madras 169,642, 17,895l.; Bengal 2,568,526, 203,256l.; China 93,738, 5864l.; Australasia 44,340, 5518l.; United States of America 6822, 845l.; Chile 16,756, 2553l.; Brazil 159,949, 16,189l.; Argentine Republic 12,000, 952l.; other countries 3239, 229l.; total 4,749,795, 452,952l. Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) sent 317 pieces (284 lb.) to New York in 1879. Tripoli exported 7000l. worth in 1879, and 3000l. in 1880. In 1880, a number of raw goat-skins were sent from the Marche and Romagna to the United States, weighing about 11/2 kilo. (of 2·2 lb.) each, and to be used chiefly for ladies' shoes and pocket-books. Shanghai, in 1878, exported 164,285 pieces. Tangier, in 1879, sent 12 cwt., 60l., to Great Britain; 3637 cwt., 18,185l., to France and Algiers; 10 cwt., 50l., to Spain; total, 14,636 doz., 18,295l.; and 3046 cwt., 13,707l., in 1880. The Hawaiian Islands, in 1879, shipped 24,940 pieces to the United States (Pacific ports). In 1879, Christiania exported 65,000 kroner (of 1s. 11/2d.) worth of goat and sheep skins to Great Britain. The shipments of goat and kid skins from the French East Indies fell from 5500 in 1876, to 4894 in 1877, and 300 in 1879, with none since. The shipments from the Cape to Great Britain were 794,637 in 1878, 657,509 in 1879, and 934,810 in 1880. Cadiz, in 1877, sent 404 kilo. (of 2·2 lb.) of kid skins, value 84l., to Great Britain, and 3866 kilo. 805l., to France. Puerto Cabello (Venezuela), in 1879, despatched 28,684 kilo. to Germany, 124,964 to the United States, 14,295 to France, and 18,536 to Holland. Honolulu sent 64,525 pieces to the United States in 1878. Samsoun (Turkey) exported 130,700 kilo., 6796l., to France in 1878. The Cape exports fell from 1,478,761 pieces in 1874, to 687,570 in 1879. Memel sent by sea 7 cwt., 73l., in 1879. Tientsin (China) exported 38,107 piculs (of 1331/3 lb.) in 1879. Mogador (Morocco) forwarded 112,974 doz., 59,243l., to Marseilles in 1878, and 8407 bales, 48,000l., in 1880; these skins are used for the manufacture of morocco leather, for which they are peculiarly suitable, owing to their fineness of grain, caused, it is said, by the rich diet, consisting of the fruits of the argan tree. The approximate London market values of goat-skins are:—East Indian, 4-15d. a lb.; best tanned, 2s. 4d.-3s. 8d.; inferior to good tanned, 9d.-2s. 5d.; Cape, best, 11-18d.; Cape, inferior to good, 8-14d. Turkey is one of the largest rearers of goats, and consequently the manufacture of morocco leather is extensively carried on in that country. Formerly, nearly all the buck-skins found their way to London, but they were displaced by Indian goat-skins; and, for a time, the exportation of Turkish buck-skins experienced a check, the result being the establishment of a large number of manufactories in Vienna and the different Austro-Hungarian provinces. These establishments have prospered and been enlarged, and get the major portion of their goat-skins from the London market. It is, however, proposed in Austria to do without the London market in future, and to institute at Trieste periodical sales of goat-skins, which will be, especially for Vienna, of great advantage from the point of view of cost of transport. Notwithstanding the exportation of buck-, goat-, and sheep-skins from Turkey, there are still sufficient remaining in the country to form the basis of a very flourishing and entirely indigenous industry. The Turk is very unskilful in the manufacture of sole leather; but the article in which he excels is morocco leather for slippers, tanned exclusively with sumach. The production of tanned buck-skins reaches yearly a total of nearly a million skins, and of sheep half a million; the best kinds are those of Philippopolis, Samakof, and Peristra. The Bulgarian skins are not so well tanned as those mentioned, although the quality of the raw skins is superior. The best at the present day are those of Sophia.