Gold-beater's Skin

Gold-beater's Skin, a very thin but tough membrane prepared from the external coat of the cæcum—a part of the great intestine—of the ox. It is drawn off in lengths of 25 inches or more from the other coats, immersed in a weak solution of potash, and scraped with a blunt knife upon a board. After a soaking in water, two of these pieces are stretched upon a frame, dried, and then separated by a knife. Each strip is again fixed with glue to a frame, and washed over with a solution of alum. When dry it is next coated with fish-glue, and afterwards with white of egg. The piece of membrane is then cut into squares of 5 or 5½ inches. A gold-beater's mould contains from 900 to 950 of these squares, and to furnish this nearly 400 oxen are required. Besides its application in gold-beating, this fine membrane is used in the dressing of slight wounds.