Dyed Leather.

Manufacturer and builder 3, 1891

Modern leather manufacturers, says the Shoe and Leather Reporter, are surpassing the ancients in the diversity and beauty of the colors they are introducing. Many of the shades produced in upper leather are highly attractive. The Thebans were thought to have attained great proficiency in this art, but the variety of colors they are credited with was meager compared with the iridescent display of our epoch. Remnants of leather found in Theban tombs reveal the use of acacia and other trees in the tanning process. The Jews, after the exodus, probably put into practice the knowledge obtained of this art under the Pharaohs, in preparing ram's skins dyed red for the service of the tabernacle. The love of colors is as old as the human race. The art of dyeing leather, so long practised on the Mediterranean, was afterward attained with difficulty by other European countries. But we need no longer go to Egypt or the Mediterranean for instruction concerning it.