"But S——, don't keep the toothpick-case in your hand, push it round the table to your neighbours, that every body may look again before they guess. I think, for certain reasons of my own, that H—— will guess right."
H——. "Oh I know what it is now!"
H—— had lately made a pump, the piston of which was made of leather; the leather had been wetted, and then forced through a mould of the proper size. H—— recollected this, as Mr. —— thought he would, and guessed that the case might have been made of leather, and by a similar process.
S——. "Is it made of the skin of some animal?"
Mr. ——. "Yes; but what do you mean by the skin of some animal? What do you call it?"
S—— (laughing.) "Oh, leather! leather!"
H——. "Yes, it's made the same way that the piston of my pump is made, I suppose."
M——. "Could not shoes be made in the same manner in a mould?"
Mr. ——. "Yes; but there would be one disadvantage; the shoes would lose their shape as soon as they were wet; and the sole and upper leather must be nearly of the same thickness."