Shagreen.

Shagreen. This term is applied to the skins of sharks, rays, and other fish included in the order Selachia, whether they are artificially prepared or not. These skins are furnished with a covering of small nodules or grains of dentine, which is of a hard nature and resists wear of the surface better than ordinary leather. In the shagreen used by cabinet-makers for smoothing wood, the grains or papillae are sharp-pointed and closely set, but in the case of the skins of allied species these grains are comparatively flat and of different outlines. Such skins, when prepared like parchment, dyed and smoothed, present an attractive appearance, and are used for covering small caskets, boxes, cigar cases, spectacle cases, and similar articles. Shagreen was formerly a good deal employed for covering also watch cases, instrument cases, &c. The name shagreen (Persian sāghri, meaning the back of a beast of burden) is also, and perhaps was originally, applied to the skins or to portions of the skins of horses, asses, and other animals prepared by unhairing and scraping them. Each piece is then stretched on a frame, and while they are still moist the seeds of a species of Chenopodium are sprinkled on the surface and forced in by means of the feet or of a press. The skin is then left to dry, and when the seeds are beaten out it has a pitted appearance. It is next pared down with a knife nearly to the bottom of these depressions, after which it is macerated in water till the pits swell and give the skin a pimped appearance resembling that of a shark. A steeping in a warm solution of soda and afterwards in brine completes the dressing, and it can then be dyed. The covers of old Persian manuscripts are made of this shagreen, which is also used for horse-trappings and shoes in the East. Wood has been embossed by a process somewhat similar to the way leather shagreen is made. See EMBOSSING.