This too is sprinkled with salt and the process continues until there are about 50 skins in the pile. The salt absorbs the moisture from the skins and the resulting brine penetrates the skins killing off the bacteria. Once the hides are in this state, they will keep for a very long while, as long as they do not get wet or warm. This process is very common in temperate climates and most of the pig and calf arriving at the tannery in Edinburgh is cured this way. There can be one problem with this method.
Some bacteria can survive in salt solutions.
These can produce red stains on the flesh known as 'red heat'. However, this problem is not insurmountable. It can be solved by adding small quantities of naphthalene and soda ash to the salt or by avoiding the re-use of salt. This involves wet salting as a first stage. The hides are then hung up to dry.