AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF CURING AND TANNING HIDES OR SKINS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Towers, of the City, County, and
State of New York, in the United States of America, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF CURING AND TANNING HIDES
OR SKINS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Henry Towers at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 4th January 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN, that I, WILLIAM HENRY TOWERS, of the City, County; and
State of New York, in the United States of America, have invented "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF CURING AND TANNING HIDES OR SKINS," and I do
hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the said
process.
The process of tanning or curing hides or skins for the great variety of
uses to which they are applied is one of no little consequence to the
domestic and mercantile world, and I claim that my newly discovered

page_text: method of reducing untanned skins or hides to practical use is cheap,
novel, simple, and of great practical utility. And thus I explain:-Raw
hide or the skin of an animal freshly taken off when it becomes dry is
unyielding, stiff, and urifit for use until it has been subjected to some
process which will effect chemical changes in the gelatinous tissue contained
therein, and this gelatinous tissue or glue remaining in its original raw
state is what gives the dry skin its stiffness and rigidity, and hence the
wariety of ways to render the hide or skin soft and pliable for practical use,
either in the manufacture of boots and shoes and all articles connected
with them, or in curing furs and like articles, or to whatever uses hides or
skins may be put. These processes often accomplish the object at the
expense of the hide or skin by rendering them rotten, and hence of lesser
value; they also involve much labor and that of a disagreeable nature.
Now to accomplish the same object that substances containing tannin salts
and the various processes of tanning have in view, namely, softening and
rendering pliable hides or skins so that they may be used, I use alcohol or
any liquid containing alcohol in sufficient quantities to effect the object.
Take a piece of untanned deer skin and immerse it in alcohol, and in ten
minutes the skin will conie out with its gelatinous tissue and oily matter
dissolved, and it has become soft and pliable for use, and, moreover, the
action of the alcohol upon the skin is such that instead of rotting and
destroying it preserves that part which gives strength to the hide or skin:
The time in which skins may be tanned or rendered soft and pliable by
immersing in alcohol of course will depend upon the thickness of the skin;
strips or shoe strings cut from untanned hide will become soft in a few
minutes, while skins containing much gelatinous tissue will require a longer
period of time. Take a whole hide after the hair is removed and immerse
in alcohol, and in a very short time it will be ready for the process of
saturating with oil, and thus be ready to make into boots and shoes, or for
any purpose desired. But in curing skins retaining the fur or hair on the
same, my Invention or process of tanning is invaluable; in a very short
time the skin immersed in alcohol will become soft and pliable for use, and
what is of the greatest consequence to the furrier, the alcohol will remove
the oil from the fur itself, thus accomplishing a double purpose and in a
very short time. After the hides or skins or strips have been taken from
the alcohol they should be stretched or broken up by rubbing. I not only
use alcohol without any preparatory process, but I also make use of alcohol
after the skins have been raised or swollen by any of the preparatory pro-
cesses of tanning to complete the curing process.

page_text: What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is
the use of alcohol in curing and tanning skins as above set forth.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 19th
day of December 1865.
W. H. TOWERS.
(L.S.)