Animal Proteins — Text and Context

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In Category - Inventions Industry
Bennett, Hugh Garner Project Gutenberg 2012 Not confirmed
Leather; Glue; Gelatin Readers of public-domain and historical texts
Project Gutenberg digital edition en

Edition facts

Words 93,355
Reading time 406 min
Text sections 10

The catalog record for Animal Proteins — Text and Context provides practical reading context through 93,355 words, 6 hr 46 min estimated reading time, and 10 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 18.6 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Leather,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

An editorial note on Hugh Garner Bennett's 1921 technical handbook, examining its precise chemical language, industrial focus, and period-specific assumptions about leather, glue, and gelatin production.
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Editorial Edition Score 4.8/5

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

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  • Description quality20 pts
  • Title & short description10 pts
  • Source metadata20 pts
  • Text length15 pts
  • Chapters / structure15 pts
  • EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

Read the Text

Minor typographical errors and inconsistencies have been corrected. Some words had inconsistent hyphenation throughout the book; these have been made consistent.

In the mathematical and chemical expressions, the caret character represents "to the power of", e.g. e^2 means e-squared. Curly braces are used to represent underscores, e.g. n{1} means n with a subscript of 1. Equal signs are used to represent =bold words=, and underscores are used to represent italics.

On page 152 NaCO{23} has been corrected to Na{2}CO{3}. On page 212, the variable n has been replaced with the correctly subscripted forms n{1} and n{2}.

The index entry for Hemlock bark had no page number in the original text, so the correct page number, 34, has been supplied.

Ions are shown as Fe+++, instead of using superscripts.

There is some inconsistency in the notation used in the original text for chemical formulae such as Na{2}Cr{2}O{7}(2H{2}O). These have been regularized to use the modern mid-dot, for example, Na{2}Cr{2}O{7}·2H{2}O.

Greek letters in the original have been represented in this version by the name of the letter enclosed in square brackets, e.g. [alpha].

HUGH GARNER BENNETT, M.Sc. (LEEDS)

MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF LEATHER TRADES' CHEMISTS; FORMERLY ASSISTANT LECTURER AND DEMONSTRATOR AT THE LEATHER INDUSTRIES DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

AUTHOR OF "THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER"

BAILLIÈRE, TINDALL AND COX 8, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN 1921

(_All rights reserved_)

The rapid development of Applied Chemistry in recent years has brought about a revolution in all branches of technology. This growth has been accelerated during the war, and the British Empire has now an opportunity of increasing its industrial output by the application of this knowledge to the raw materials available in the different parts of the world. The subject in this series of handbooks will be treated from the chemical rather than the engineering standpoint. The industrial aspect will also be more prominent than that of the laboratory. Each volume will be complete in itself, and will give a general survey of the industry, showing how chemical principles have been applied and have affected manufacture. The influence of new inventions on the development of the industry will be shown, as also the effect of industrial requirements in stimulating invention. Historical notes will be a feature in dealing with the different branches of the subject, but they will be kept within moderate limits. Present tendencies and possible future developments will have attention, and some space will be devoted to a comparison of industrial methods and progress in the chief producing countries. There will be a general bibliography, and also a select bibliography to follow each section. Statistical information will only be introduced in so far as it serves to illustrate the line of argument.

Each book will be divided into sections instead of chapters, and the sections will deal with separate branches of the subject in the manner of a special article or monograph. An attempt will, in fact, be made to get away from the orthodox textbook manner, not only to make the treatment original, but also to appeal to the very large class of readers already possessing good textbooks, of which there are quite sufficient. The books should also be found useful by men of affairs having no special technical knowledge, but who may require from time to time to refer to technical matters in a book of moderate compass, with references to the large standard works for fuller details on special points if required.

To the advanced student the books should be especially valuable. His mind is often crammed with the hard facts and details of his subject which crowd out the power of realizing the industry as a whole. These books are intended to remedy such a state of affairs. While recapitulating the essential basic facts, they will aim at presenting the reality of the living industry. It has long been a drawback of our technical education that the college graduate, on commencing his industrial career, is positively handicapped by his academic knowledge because of his lack of information on current industrial conditions. A book giving a comprehensive survey of the industry can be of very material assistance to the student as an adjunct to his ordinary textbooks, and this is one of the chief objects of the present series. Those actually engaged in the industry who have specialized in rather narrow limits will probably find these books more readable than the larger textbooks when they wish to refresh their memories in regard to branches of the subject with which they are not immediately concerned.

Hugh Garner Bennett's Animal Proteins (1921) opens with a preface that frames the work as part of a series intended to treat technology from a chemical rather than engineering standpoint, emphasizing industrial application over laboratory method. The author's diction is consistently exact: chemical formulas are given with molecular weights, and processes are described with quantitative precision—percentages of pelt weight, equivalent weights of salts, and titration procedures. This is not a general survey but a handbook for practitioners, assuming familiarity with terms like 'pickled stock' and 'basic alum solutions.'

Chemical Precision as Authorial Voice

Bennett's prose is dominated by numerical data and chemical notation. In the chroming section, he writes that 'K₂Cr₂O₇ has a molecular weight of 294, and Na₂Cr₂O₇·2H₂O a molecular weight of 298, in practice they may be considered interchangeable, weight for weight.' Such statements reveal an authorial choice to prioritize operational equivalence over theoretical distinction. The text regularly includes tables of bath compositions (e.g., 'Schultz 5 2½ — —') and titration instructions: 'Each c.c. N/10 thiosulphate corresponds to 0.0033 gram CrO₃ or 0.0049 gram K₂Cr₂O₇.' This voice assumes a reader who can interpret these figures without explanation, suggesting the work's intended audience was already technically literate.

Industrial Context and Market Pragmatism

Bennett repeatedly ties chemical choices to economic factors. He notes that 'the sodium salt is cheaper and more often used' and that 'the choice of a process often depends largely upon market prices.' The preface situates the book within post-war industrial expansion, stating that 'the British Empire has now an opportunity of increasing its industrial output.' This pragmatic tone extends to equipment recommendations: drums are 'preferable because more concentrated baths may be used' and are 'also preferable for hides and heavy skins,' while paddles are chosen 'where grain is important.' The author's language reflects a world where chemical efficiency and cost-effectiveness are inseparable.

Period Assumptions in Technical Description

The text contains assumptions that mark it as a product of its time. Bennett writes of 'pickled goods' and 'depickling' as standard operations, and his discussion of 'alum and salt' pickles assumes a baseline knowledge of traditional leatherworking. The use of terms like 'whitening' (a form of calcium carbonate) without definition implies a shared vocabulary with contemporary tanners. Additionally, the preface's reference to 'the war' (World War I) as a catalyst for chemical development places the work in a specific historical moment. The author's confidence in the interchangeability of certain chemicals—'7 parts of the former and 10 parts of the latter may be considered equivalent'—reflects a period when empirical substitution was common practice.

Structure as Monograph, Not Textbook

The book is divided into sections rather than chapters, each intended 'to deal with separate branches of the subject in the manner of a special article or monograph.' Bennett explicitly aims to 'get away from the orthodox textbook manner,' suggesting a deliberate structural choice to appeal to readers who already possess standard textbooks. The sections are self-contained, with their own bibliographies, and the overall arrangement follows the sequence of industrial processes: from raw materials through tanning to finished products. This structure mirrors the factory workflow, reinforcing the book's practical orientation. The index entry for 'Hemlock bark' (page 34) indicates the inclusion of vegetable tanning materials, though the excerpts focus on chrome tanning.

Readers approaching Animal Proteins should expect a dense technical manual, not a popular science work. Bennett's language rewards careful attention to numerical details and chemical notation. The book is best read as a primary source for early 20th-century industrial chemistry, revealing how practitioners balanced theory, cost, and craft. Those unfamiliar with tanning terminology may benefit from a glossary, but the text's precision offers a clear window into a specialized world.

That rainy afternoon, I kept returning to Bennett’s precise chemical formulas for glue, struck by how engineering hides inside such humble materials. Later, I found myself wondering about the ironwork holding that whole vertical logic together—and stumbled onto Elevator Systems of the Eiffel Tower, 1889 — Key Ideas to Explore. Different decades, same quiet obsession with what lifts things upward.

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