Reptile Skins in Commerce

Abstract

A FEW years ago the use of the skins of reptiles in the manufacture of shoes was regarded as a whim of the moment, but now the view is strongly held by the leather trade and by technical experts in the industry that the skins are established as a raw material for leather production on as permanent a basis as goat, calf and sheep skins. This is the view expressed by the sub-committee appointed by the Imperial Institute Advisory Committee on Hides and Skins (Bull. Imp. lust., 31, No. 2, 160; 1933). The change in outlook has taken place since 1926, when reptile skins were employed only in the making of luxury articles; now they are used for the mass-production types of shoes, as well as for bag and fancy leathers. Some of the advantages of reptile leather are that it is hard-wearing, stronger than sheep, goat or even calf skins; it shows great variety of pattern and design; and it takes colour readily. But the demand has been telling upon reptile populations in various tropical countries. In 1932, India exported 2J million reptile skins; in 1931, more than two million came from the Dutch East Indies; and serious depletion has occurred in the stock of the North American alligator, the edible terrapins of the United States, and the green turtle, the last being valued as food. An exhibition of reptile skins and their products will be opened at the Imperial Institute on February 12 at noon by Lieut.-Col. J. Colville, Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Overseas Trade.