Respecting the early history of tanning, some very interesting facts are given in the Gerber Courier of Vienna, from which we extract the following The oldest method of tanning is red or bark tanning, or that in which, in addition to the wooden and iron scraping and rubbing instrument used in the preparation or improve ment of the hide or skin, limewater and astringent extracts from oak and other kinds of bark, or from other vegetable substances, are employed. It is called red tanning because the tanning substances always contain more or less colouring matter, which dye the leather through and through of a more or less reddish colour. The ancient Orientals understood the art of preparing not only common leather, but even good and often finely coloured varieties, similar to our Morocco and Cordovan. Persian and Babylonian leather has been celebrated time out of mind. Many centuries back such leather was brought from Asia into Europe — first into Turkey, Prussia, and Hungary, and thence, later, into Germany, Holland, England, France, Spain, &c., and these countries subse quently learned to manufacture leather themselves. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Turks, Russians, and Hungarians were the most celebrated tanners; subse quently England, the Netherlands, and Spain endeavoured to equal them.
