A NEW AND USEFUL METHOD OF TREATING SKINS AND HIDES DURING OR AFTER THE PROCESS OF TANNING OR FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS." FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Dietz, of the City and State of New York,
United States, for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL METHOD OF
TREATING SKINS AND HIDES DURING OR AFTER THE PROCESS OF TANNING OR
FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS."
FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Dietz at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
October 1860.
I, ANDREW DIETZ, of the City and State of New York, United States, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW AND USEFUL
METHOD OF TREATING SKINS AND HIDES DURING OR AFTER THE PROCESS OF
TANNING OR FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS,"
to be as follows:-
Leather, when tanned by any of the usual methods, has a tendency, after it
is tanned and when put into use, to become hard and dry and more or less
brittle, whereby its strength and value are impaired.
My Invention or discovery consists in applying to the leather during the
process of tanning, or after it has been tanned, a material or preparation which

page_text: prevents it becoming hard or brittle, makes it soft and pliable, and causes it to
remain so, and thereby gives it greater strength and durability. This new
method of treatment may be applied or used to the best advantage during the
last stages of the process of tanning, or while the leather is being curried or
finished; but it may also be used or applied after the leather is tanned and
curried or finished.
When used and applied before the leather is curried or while it is being
curried or finished, the process is substantially as follows:-After the skin has
been taken from the tannic liquor it is hung up and partially dried, when it is
spread upon any suitable table or platform, and rubbed with honey mixed with
water in about the proportion of four ounces of honey to about half a pint of
water. The skin is then hung up, and when dry is ready for currying or
finishing. For ordinary calfskins about four ounces of honey may be applied,
and to heavier skins in proportion. I prefer that this application should be
made to the grained side of the skin after it is shaved and scoured and before
it is stuffed, but it may be applied at any time and to either or both sides of
the skin.
When such preparation is applied to or used upon leather already tanned
and finished by any of the usual methods, the leather is first soaked in water
sufficiently long to swell and loosen the tissues, and then the honey is applied
as before, though in rather larger quantities. When so treated, the hardest
sole leather least fitted for being worked becomes as pliable as the best tanned
and ordinary light leather is made as soft and pliable as that tanned and
finished after the very best methods.
The honey gives suppleness to the leather, makes it soft and pliable, and
also gives more body and strength to it; being also of a nature long to retain
a certain quantity of moisture under all conditions of the atmosphere, it causes
the leather to remain and continue soft and supple, and thus adds greatly to
its durability and value. It is also believed that the honey unites with the
gelatine of the skin, and assists to a greater or less degree in tanning the leather
and preserving the fibre of the skin.
The honey may also be used or applied in connection with any ordinary
process of tanning, and its effects will be found highly satisfactory.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Dietz in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
DIETZ, of the City and State of New York, United States, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Andrew Dietz, Her special licence that I, the said Andrew Dietz,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Andrew Dietz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times therc-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A
NEW AND USEFUL METHOD OF TREATING SKINS AND HIDES DURING OR AFTER THE
PROCESS OF TANNING OR FINISHING THEM, AND OF AIDING THE TANNING OF HIDES
AND SKINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Andrew Dietz,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew Dietz, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Leather, when tanned by any of the ordinary methods or processes, has a ten-.
dency after it is tanned, and particularly when put into use, to become hard,
dry, and more or less brittle, by which both its strength and value is impaired.
My discovery consists in applying to leather during the process of tanning,
or after it has been tanned, a material or preparation which imparts suppleness
to the leather, makes it soft and pliable, prevents it becoming hard, dry, and
brittle, and by causing it to remain soft and pliable gives it greater strength and
durability. Such treatment may be applied or made use of to the best advan-
tage during the last stages of the process of tanning or while the skin is being

page_text: curried; but may be made use of or applied after the leather has been tanned
and curried.
When used and applied before the leather is curried, or while it is being
curried, the process of treatment is substantially as follows:-After the skin is
taken from the tanning liquors it is hung up to drain and partially to dry, and
when about two-thirds dry is spread upon any suitable table or platform, and
is then covered and rubbed with honey mixed with water in about the propor-
tion of four ounces of honey to a half pint of water. It is deemed preferable
that this should be applied to the grained surface of the skin after it is shaved
and scoured and before it has been stuffed; but it may be applied to the
other side, or to both sides, and at any time. The skin is then hung up to dry,
and when dry is ready for the currying. For an ordinary calfskin I usually
apply about one-fourth of a pound of honey, and to other skins in proportion.
For the heavier skins, or when it is desired to make the leather very soft, the
honey may be applied more than once.
When this process of treatment is used upon or applied to leather already
tanned after the usual modes, the leather is first to be soaked in water suffi-
ciently long to swell and loosen the tissues, and so that the honey may enter
into and be incorporated with the tissues of the skin, and produce its desired
effect. The honey is then applied as before described. Under this treatment
the hardest sole leather least fitted for being worked is made as pliable as the
best tanned, and the thinner skins of only an ordinary character or grade are
made equal to those tanned and curried in the best manner and with the
most care.
The honey acts to give suppleness to the leather and keep it soft and
pliable, and thus prevents it becoming hard, dry, and brittle, and at the same
time gives more body and strength to the leather; and not only does it give sup-
pleness and softness to the leather when it is first applied, but the honey being
of a nature to retain under all conditions of the atmosphere a certain quantity
of moisture, it has the effect of permanently giving to the skin or leather a soft
and pliable character, which will remain in the leather, and which will not be
removed even by long and repeated immersions in water. And it is believed
that the honey not only gives and secures softness and pliability to the leather,
but also makes an union with the gelatine of the skin, and assists more or less
in tanning and preserving the fibre of the skin.
As before remarked, this treatment may be used advantageously in connec-
tion with any system of tanning, & may be applied and made use of after the
leather has been tanned & curried; but I prefer to use it during the last
stages of the process of tanning or while the leather is being curried.

page_text: I do not claim generally the use of saccharine matters in the tanning of
leather, as such have been used in various ways; but what I claim and desire
to have protected by Letters Patent is, the use and application of honey in the
tanning or treatment of leather during the last stages of the process of tanning,
or in the finishing of leather, or after the leather is tanned and finished, as set
forth.
In witness whereof, I. the said Andrew Dietz. have hereunto set my
ANDREW DIETZ. (L.S.)