appointed technical consultant to the Austrian Hide and Leather
Commission, and in this capacity was called upon to act as general
adviser to the trade. The ultimate object of my scientific researches
was then to investigate the chemistry of this particular field, and this
has led me to present a picture, complete as far as it goes, of this
branch of chemical technology.

The intention of the present volume is to communicate to the reader what
has so far been scientifically evolved and practically applied in this
field. First of all, however, it may illustrate the extreme importance
and the universal applicability of the synthetic tannins in the making
of leather. The modern leather industry cannot, to-day, be without these
important products, but also in those tanneries, where the synthetic
tannins have not so far been regarded as indispensable, their use is
strongly recommended. Just as in the case of the coal-tar dyes, the
synthetic tannins will make us independent of foreign supplies, and thus
keep within our own borders the vast sum of money required in former
days for the purchase of foreign tanning materials. May this book prove
the means of providing an incentive for a still wider application of the
synthetic tannins.

GRASSER.

GRAZ, _August_ 1920.




TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE