Even prehistoric man had developed primitive methods of treating hides and and skins so that they could be used for clothing. Although at first the raw hides were dried and preserved by smoking, man soon discovered the tanning effect of certain barks and woods

Man had also already learned several thousandyears ago how to dye leather. He used animal and vegetable dyestuffs,andeven today the latter still play a certain , though minor, part alongside aniline dyestuffs in the dyeing of leather

From these early beginnings there developed, with the advance of civilization and science, at first a craft and later an industry, the present importance of which is known to all.

The various materials developed as replacements or sustitutes for leather are unlikely to have much effect on its importance, sinc hids and skins will always be availble as by-products of meat production and leather possesses certain properties which replacement materials cannot match. These included lather's ability to absorb and release water vapour

All-dried leather contains rougly 14 % water. Even with a water content as high as 28-30%, leather does not ffeel damp, ie it acts as a reservoir for leather, on the other hand, can only take 3-4% water. Leather allows plactic deformation, ie. the shoe adapts to the shape of the foot, even if the fit should be too tight at first. Leather sustitutes, however, are elasctic. Any stretch which has occurred during wear is reversed overnight.In the last few years there has been a great deal of expansion in the leather industryin countries which previously exported their excess raw hides These countries, which include among others Argentina, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Turkey, Iranand some African states, arenow supplyingthe industraialized countries with semi-finished and finished leathers, and in some cases even shoes. This has inevitably led to radical changes in the leather industry in the industrialized country